Champaign Park District has been hosting a Juneteenth celebration for several years now. This year’s event will be Saturday, June 17th from 12 to 3 p.m. at Douglass Park. There will be music and vendors and a whole bunch of family friendly activities, including arts and crafts, a bounce house and obstacle course, and of course the splash pad.
You can continue the celebrating at The Lake House at Crystal Lake Park on Sunday, June 18th from 2 to 4 p.m. Urbana Park District will have food and fishing and music from DJ Silkee. Their Urvana Mobile Recreation Unit will be there providing kids’ activities, and you’ll have an opportunity to walk through the special Juneteenth MTD bus and learn about Black history.
June 19th, 1865, is the day the last enslaved people were freed in Texas, more than two years after the Empancipation Proclamation. Last year, President Biden declared Juneteenth a federal holiday.