A 'smokin' hot time at Juneteenth Fest

The temperature was hot on Saturday in Elkin and so was the entertainment and fun at the fourth annual Juneteenth Festival hosted by community group Bridge of Unity. Saturday’s festival included live music, food trucks, a barbecue cookoff, live wrestling demonstrations and more.

The festival has grown in the few years since its inception and was held this year at the new stage and festival grounds near the Heritage & Trails Center in Elkin.

As part of the festivities, Elkin Mayor Sam Bishop read a proclamation for Juneteenth. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021 but has long been celebrated in Black communities in America as the final fall of slavery. Juneteenth is the recognition of June 19, 1865 when, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, enslaved people in Galveston, Texas finally learned of their freedom.