By Shay Lelonek / News Director

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Hundreds of people in the community came together on Friday, June 19, for St. Cloud’s 30th annual Juneteenth event at Lake George Municipal Park.

For the first two years of the event, attendees took a shuttle to Minneapolis to attend the Juneteenth event in the Cities, said Robert Johnson, who is part of the African American Male Forum in St. Cloud. The forum is one of the original sponsors of Juneteenth in St. Cloud.

The event started at Riverside Park in St. Cloud, but over the years, the event has grown so much that they had to move locations to Lake George to fit more vendors, and attendees.

“People have changed, demographics have changed … more people are living in St. Cloud, more people are finding out about Juneteenth … so it is growing in numbers,” said Dr. Jarrod Hall, who is the founder of the event.

Now, the event features over 75 vendors, and several food trucks as well as plenty of other activities for attendees to enjoy. Live music and speakers took the main stage, and a group of people danced together throughout the day.

Juneteenth celebrates the day that celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. The day was officially recognized as a U.S. federal holiday on June 17, 2021. However, the holiday started in 1865 to commemorate the enforcement Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas.