For the 18th year, Jefferson City will celebrate its annual Juneteenth Heritage Week.
The week kicks off Sunday with the Father's Day Banquet and ends with the festival June 15.
Juneteenth celebrates the ending of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865, when the last slaves were freed in Texas.
The first event during the celebratory week, the Father's Day Banquet, will feature speaker Marrix Seymore Sr., dean of the School of Education at Lincoln University. The Father of the Year will also be crowned at the banquet, scheduled at 2 p.m. Sunday at Lincoln University's Scruggs Student Center Ballroom. Tickets costing $16 are available to the public.
Other events leading up to the festival include the Umoja Jamii Movement Dance Camp for ages 5 and older and the Little Mr. & Miss Juneteenth Pageant. The dance camp will be 5-8 p.m. June 10-14 at Pawley Theater, and the dance group will perform at the festival.
The pageant will be at 7 p.m. June 14. Children ages 4-9 may request an application via email at [email protected] or by calling 573-821-7559; applications are due by Monday.
Before the festival on the 15th, there will be an Emancipation Program at the Soldier's Memorial on the Lincoln University campus. The program will honor men and women who served in the Armed Forces with a ceremony and laying of a wreath.
The festival will begin after the Emancipation Program at 11 a.m. June 15 at Ellis-Porter Riverside Park. It will feature food, games, booths and activities for all ages. The festival will also host a Juneteenth's Got Talent competition.
Along with the dance performance and presentation of the Juneteenth court, there will also be performances by Jefferson City Boys & Girls Club Drum Line, Reverence For God Gospel Groups, and Charlotte Fletcher and the Soigee Band.
The theme of this year's celebration is "If there is no struggle, there is no progress." Gwen Edmondson, vice president of Juneteenth Jefferson City, compares the theme to the saying "no pain, no gain."
"People of color have come a long way through struggle," Edmondson said. "Through those struggles, we have made progress, and if we don't struggle through those challenges, we won't make progress."
Auditions for the Juneteenth's Got Talent competition will be this Saturday and June 13 at the Lincoln University ROTC Building, 903 Lafayette St. Those interested in participating must register for auditions at juneteenthjcmo.org.