Juneteenth celebrations set for Saturday in Terrebonne and Lafourche

Terrebonne and Lafourche have two Juneteenth festivals this weekend celebrating American freedom.

Both parishes are hosting public gatherings Saturday in recognition of when the final group of slaves were freed in America. In 1865, word traveled slowly, and many slaves who were free were not informed of it and, therefore, continued life enslaved.

"Let's celebrate that this is the true day that every American was set free," Traig Wagner Sr. said. "It's to make sure my kids, my nieces, my nephews, my cousins, everybody in our community, understands the significance of this holiday and the fact that it's true, that it really happened."

Wagner is director of Thibodaux Express, a nonprofit basketball organization that is hosting the Lafourche Parish Juneteenth festival.

Lafourche's Juneteenth celebration will be in Thibodaux's Martin Luther King Park, 1445 Martin Luther King Dr. It begins at 2 p.m. and will have about 10 live performances, as well as games like Quiz Bowl.

Wagner said he learned of Juneteenth when he was in college at Nicholls State University in 2003. The history of the event had been passed on through oral tradition for years, and while Wagner had heard of it when he was younger, it wasn't until 2003 that he learned it was true from students from other Southern states. He said now, at 40, he feels he has a duty to the younger generations to pass on this history.

"It's very emotional," said Diana Collins, youth director of the Terrebonne National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "The majority of kids know what Juneteenth is now, and that's a good thing. These kids know where their parents' parents came from."

Terrebonne's Juneteenth celebration will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Dumas Auditorium.

There will be multiple soloists and choirs performing, about a dozen in total, and vendors, including health resources and food. There will be an awards ceremony for noteworthy members in the community.