The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board joins Juneteenth Minnesota to celebrate the 2007 Twin Cities Juneteenth Festival Saturday, June 16. The festival offers a dynamic exploration of African American history, culture, and wellness through a mix of new and old programs and activities. Events will be held at Lincoln Community School and Theodore Wirth Park. More than 50,000 people are expected to participate.
Highlights include the display of the world’s largest map of Africa, the inauguration of the Juneteenth African American History Pavilion with a re-enactment of the lives of the Tuskegee Airmen, sunrise tethered hot air balloon rides, the parade of African American women’s church hats, the Juneteenth Day Parade, and the 2nd Annual African American Breast Cancer Survivors Walk.
The festival is a rich assortment of more than 100 marketplace vendors (small businesses, corporations, non-profit and health organizations, food and beverage vendors); three music and entertainment stages; art, reading, and history villages; parades and walks; and a community breakfast.
Special appearances include members of the renowned “Tuskegee Airmen” in the History Pavilion, members of the Minnesota Lynx at the Reading Village and T. Mychael Rambo as the parade Grand Marshal. Related programming includes a series of community wellness and betterment forums, a Double Dutch jump rope contest, and the theatrical production Kumbayah . . . the Juneteenth Story.
The festival begins at Lincoln CommunitySchool with activities from 6-10 a.m., including hot air balloon rides, free community breakfast, breast cancer survivors walk and the parade, from 6-10 a.m. The school is at Penn Ave. N and 12th Ave. N. The festival moves to Theodore Wirth Park from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. featuring the marketplace, entertainment and various cultural activities. The park is along Glenwood Ave. between Xerxes and Theodore Wirth Parkway.
A community observation in Minnesota for the past 22 years, Juneteenth commemorates the historic events of June 19, 1865, when African slaves in Galveston, TX learned, 2 1/2 years after the fact, that the Emancipation Proclamation had freed them. Juneteenth is observed locally and nationally as a day of reflection, empowerment and preparation for future challenges. Using historical and culturally specific information to ensure a better future for African American individuals, families, and communities is a key aim of Juneteenth programs and activities. For info visit www.minneapolisparks.org or www.juneteenthminnesota.org.