BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Vermont’s largest city is holding its first official Juneteenth celebration this weekend, commemorating the end of slavery.
Live performances, food, and activities will be offered all weekend, WPTZ-TV reports.
The emancipation proclamation was signed in 1863 but Juneteenth recognizes when the last enslaved people were told about the order.
“June 19, 1865, is significant because that is the date in which enslaved people were free. Yes, they were legally free two years earlier but the reality of it is, there were a whole lot of them who didn’t know it,” said celebration organizer, Traci Griffith.
President Joe Biden signed a bill into law on Thursday making June 19 a federal holiday.
Burlington’s event will be an annual one. Tyeastia Green, Burlington’s director of racial equity inclusion and belonging, said it will be a day of celebration but also a day of education. “A lot of people didn’t know what Juneteenth was,” she said.
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