Daytona Beach's Juneteenth celebration expanding to include parade

Eileen Zaffiro-Kean, The Daytona Beach News-Journal
·3 min read

DAYTONA BEACH — This year's Juneteenth celebration in Daytona Beach promises to be the city's biggest ever.

For the first time, Daytona Beach will celebrate Juneteenth with a parade and a 5K run.

Daytona's annual Juneteenth Family Festival and banquet will also be held next month.

Dancers performed at a past Juneteenth celebration in Daytona Beach. (Photo: Photo by Duane C. Fernandez, Sr./Hardnotts Photography LLC.
Dancers performed at a past Juneteenth celebration in Daytona Beach. (Photo: Photo by Duane C. Fernandez, Sr./Hardnotts Photography LLC.

Everything you need to know about Daytona's Juneteenth run and parade

Daytona Beach's celebration of the national holiday that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans will begin with the 5K run the morning of June 17.

The race will be held at Daytona's Riverfront Esplanade that's located along Beach Street between International Speedway Boulevard and the Main Street bridge. The race begins at 8 a.m.

There's a $30 registration fee, and participants will get T-shirts. For more information, go to freedomday5K.com.

The inaugural Juneteenth Celebration Parade will begin at 10 a.m. on June 17 in Daytona Beach's historic Midtown neighborhood. The parade route will begin on Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard and end on George Engram Boulevard.

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The Juneteenth Committee is looking for parade participants, which can include marching bands, dance troupes, civic groups, local businesses, religious organizations, youth groups, military members, law enforcement, senior groups, clubs and performers.

Anyone interested in participating in the parade can call 386-227-7220, email wilkinsonc@cookman.edu or visit www.juneteenthdaytona.com/events to download the entry form. The deadline to submit the entry form is June 9.

Daytona Juneteenth festival plans

Right after the parade, the 25th Annual Juneteenth Community Festival will get underway at 11 a.m. at Cypress Park, located on the southeast corner of Nova Road and George Engram Boulevard. The festival is a free, all-day event that will feature entertainment, vendors, activities for children and more.

The family-friendly festival will include live music, more than 100 vendors selling food and a variety of merchandise, dancing, children's games and educational activities. Proceeds from the event will go toward college scholarships.

Angela Jennings, at right, tells Linda McGee, longtime Daytona Beach Juneteenth Festival Committee chairwoman, about neck shackles, also known as the "runaway collar," at a Juneteenth celebration in Daytona Beach. Jennings brought her Sankofa African American Museum on Wheels to the city's Juneteenth event.
Angela Jennings, at right, tells Linda McGee, longtime Daytona Beach Juneteenth Festival Committee chairwoman, about neck shackles, also known as the "runaway collar," at a Juneteenth celebration in Daytona Beach. Jennings brought her Sankofa African American Museum on Wheels to the city's Juneteenth event.

Those interested in becoming a vendor at the festival can contact Antoinette Noelien at 386-400-2906, or go to www.juneteenthdaytona.com/vendor to download a registration form. The deadline to submit the vending registration form is May 12.

Juneteenth banquet grand finale

The Juneteenth festivities will continue on June 19, when the 25th Annual Hometown Heroes Awards Banquet will be held at the Mori Hosseini Student Center on the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University campus. Daytona Beach-area residents who make a difference in the community will be honored at the banquet, which will include a full-course dinner and live entertainment.

For more banquet information, visit www.juneteenthdaytona.com.

The backstory on Juneteenth

The genesis of Juneteenth goes back 158 years. On June 19, 1865, Union Gen. Gordon Granger read federal orders in Galveston, Texas, stating that all enslaved people in the state were free. Texas was the last state to free its slaves.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation had freed slaves two and a half years earlier, and the Civil War had largely ended with the defeat of the Confederate states in April of 1865, Texas was the most remote of the slave states and had a low presence of Union troops, so enforcement of the proclamation had been slow and inconsistent.

The 2022 Juneteenth Family Festival at Cypress Street Park in Daytona Beach included a train.
The 2022 Juneteenth Family Festival at Cypress Street Park in Daytona Beach included a train.

Florida slaves also got the news more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863. Florida's slaves were finally told they were free on May 20, 1865, a month earlier than slaves in Texas.

May 20th has become known as Florida's Emancipation Day. Slavery became illegal in the state when Union Brigadier Gen. Edward McCook formally announced the Emancipation Proclamation from the steps of the Knott House in Tallahassee on May 20, 1865, 11 days after the end of the Civil War.

You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: A parade, festival and banquet will mark Daytona's Juneteenth party