Juneteenth celebration draws crowds to Storey Square

Hot weather did not hamper area residents from attending Fayette County’s first Juneteenth Unity Fest celebration at Storey Square in Uniontown on Wednesday.

Crowds of people lounged in lawn chairs or sat on benches to watch live entertainment performances, including Legacy Arts Project, which performed African drum and dance.

R&B and hip hop music played as visitors munched on dishes from food vendors offering African American, Caribbean and Southern cuisine and more.

And there were plenty of family-friendly activities and inflatables to keep children entertained.

Terry Vassar, president of One Voice One Community and committee chair of the celebration, and president of the Fayette NAACP, said the all-day celebration commemorates the end of slavery in the United States and honors African American heritage.

One Voice One Community and East End United Community Center co-hosted the event.

“I’m really excited the community came out to support Juneteenth and the emancipation of us as a people,” said Vassar. “After the (Emancipation Proclamation), there were still slaves in bondage, and this is just a big day for us as a community in Fayette County and us as a nation that this actually was made a national holiday in 2021.”

It was on June 19, 1865 – more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation – that Union soldiers led by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the proclamation that put an end to slavery. Six months later, the 13th Amendment officially made slavery illegal throughout the country.

Celebrations of the holiday, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, started in Texas, but spread out across the United States.

One of the highlights of Wednesday’s Juneteenth celebration was the Soul Food Cook-Off, where community members competed in three categories: fried chicken, potato salad, and macaroni and cheese.

The marketplace included small businesses, arts and crafts, and community resource vendors.

Cynthia Winfrey Grooms of EEUCC came brightly dressed in Juneteenth colors: red, green, black and yellow.

“It’s a great feeling that we’re having a Juneteenth celebration to bring the community together and I’m happy to be a part of it,” said Grooms. “I’m happy to have it here in Uniontown.”