Local Juneteenth celebration, 2021
LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) In celebration of Juneteenth, a family fun day was held Saturday at the Clifton Chenier Center in Lafayette.
The event featured live blues and reggae bands, african drumming and dancers, the spoken word, and of course lost of good food.
Juneteenth, a day to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States, gets its name from June 19, 1865, the day that Union General Gordon Granger announced in Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War was over and that enslaved African Americans were free.
On Thursday, President Biden signed a law making Juneteenth a federal holiday.
“All Americans can feel the power of this day, and learn from our history,” Mr. Biden said at a ceremony at the White House, noting that it was the first national holiday established since Martin Luther King’s Birthday in 1983.
He said signing the law was one of the greatest honors he will have as president.
The law went into effect immediately, making Friday the first federal Juneteenth holiday.