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Juneteenth Celebration set for Saturday at Oxford Intermediate School
By Alyssa Schnugg
News editor
The annual Juneteenth celebration will be held on June 17 at the Oxford Intermediate School.
The new federal holiday is officially June 19; however, since it falls on a Monday the local celebration will be held Saturday.
The celebration will be held from 5 to 9:30 p.m. with entertainment provided by Bird Williams Band, The Love Sisters, Psalms 150, The Gospel Stars and more.
Kids will enjoy waterslides, bounce houses and face painting while adults can browse local vendors and support small businesses.
The Oxford Police Department, the Oxford Fire Department, Boswells and Healthy Kids of Mississippi will also have displays set up.
The Juneteenth celebration started in Oxford more than 15 years ago when residents living on and near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive would gather together with friends and family to celebrate.
The event grew yearly from a small neighborhood block party with around 10 vendors to about 60 vendors at last year’s event.
Due to its growth over the years, the celebration moved from the streets in the Martin Luther King Drive neighborhood into the nearby Oxford Intermediate School parking lot.
On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger led the Union Soldiers to Galveston, Texas to announce the end of the war and the freedom of all enslaved people.
Two years ago, Pres. Joe Biden signed a resolution establishing June 19 as a federal holiday.