Juneteenth festival draws hundreds to CAC

Music, kid-friendly activities and local vendors rang in the Juneteenth holiday with a festival at the Central Arizona College Maricopa campus Saturday.

Organizer Audrey Archibold of Kingdom Legacy Weddings and Events said the festival brought in upwards of 600 people throughout the afternoon.

“We had a really great turnout,” she said. “There’s a lot of people that have come through and supported us. It’s great to see the support of Maricopa and to celebrate something so good to show how far we have come as a nation.”

Two dozen small businesses and community organizations, as well as several food trucks, sold their wares.

Juneteenth commemorates the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation on June 19, 1865, declaring the freeing of enslaved people two years earlier. The day came to be known as Juneteenth, a portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth.”

Archibold called the annual celebration “a beautiful thing.”

“We just want to share that history with everyone and for them to know we have come such a long way,” Archibold said. “Yes, the history was sad, but it’s happy to see that everyone’s gathered together and celebrate together.”

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