The show went on for the Juneteenth Atlanta Parade and Music Sunday as organizers relied on a fundraising campaign to offset a loss of federal spending.
“It definitely will go on regardless,” said Brad Lewis, one of the founders and producers of the festival. “It’s the heart of the people, the desire of the people.”
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Lewis and Bob Johnson started the festival 13 years and it has grown into one of the largest Juneteenth festivals in the Southeast. It featured a parade from the King Center to Piedmont Park on Saturday and a 5K run and walk on Sunday. It also offered an array of food, vendors, music and bounce houses for the kids.
Lewis said it cost anywhere from $300,000 to $400,000 to host the festival every year. But his partner said recent cuts to diversity, equity and inclusion programs meant the festival lost about $70,000 in federal funding this year.
“We had the Army, the Navy, the Marines, all of those were sponsors for the last five years,” Johnson said. “We got a letter saying due to orders from higher up, we have to pull out of Juneteenth.”
Organizers lost that chunk of funding just as they were planning for this year’s event.
“So we’ve just been hunkering down, trying to save were we could save and doing our best to maintain,” Lewis said. “I mean, the festival is extremely. It gives opportunity to build solidarity.”
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Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021. It celebrates June 19, 1865, the day slavery completely ended in America. Although the Emancipation Proclamation was signed more than two years earlier, it took that long for enslaved people in Galveston, Texas – the westernmost reaches of the Confederacy – to receive the news.
Nathaneal Andre, 25, was among those competing in the 5K run. He said knowing the history of Juneteenth, and seeing a community come together to celebrate it, gave him extra motivation while running.
“It kept me going because a couple of times, I wanted to walk, but I just kept pushing because there were a lot of people who came before me who paved the way to make sure we can do things like this, so you have to finish strong,” he said.
Fenton Jones, 30, also ran in the 5K and had the same shot of energy and resolve. “It’s a celebration of our history and where we’ve come, and how resilient we are as a people and a community and how far we’ve come.”
The celebration continued until 10 p.m. Sunday. If you’re interested in donating to the festival, there’s a link at www.juneteenthatl.com.
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