Juneteenth celebrations begin tonight in Alexandria
The annual Central Louisiana Juneteenth Association Celebration will begin Thursday and continue until Saturday, June 18.
Events start at 6 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, 915 3rd St., with Juneteenth Downtown Rocks. The event will feature a Youth Showcase. Then from 3-7 p.m. on Saturday, the Quiz Bowl will be held at City Hall.
Next Tuesday at 6 p.m., the Empowerment Summit will be held at the Bolton Community Center, 315 Bolton Ave.
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At 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Lil Nathan & and the Zydeco Big Timers will take the stage for Juneteenth Rocks.
Then Thursday at 6 p.m., a worship service will be held at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 11 16th St with guest Pastor Jerry Black of Atlanta, Ga.
Juneteenth Sister to Sister will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at the Broadway Resource Center, 712 Broadway Ave., with poet and writer Sha'Condria Sibley.
The annual parade and celebration will be held Saturday at Cheatham Park Field, 2956 Jones Ave. Line-up begins at 5 p.m. Parade ends at Cheatham Park. The Guest artist will be Kory Broussard & Zydeco Unite. Also performing will be TaylorMade and the TaylorMade Band and R&B artist Eddie Howard.
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. It started in Texas after Union Troops arrived in 1865 and told the slaves they were free due to President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. The date was June 19th. The words were merged into "Juneteenth."
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Alexandria gears up for Juneteenth celebrations starting Thursday
