Juneteenth festival
Event marks historic date
ABOVE: Sonia White (left) and Genesis Shepard pet horses at the Juneteenth Family Fun Festival. Juneteenth commemorates soldiers’ arrival in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to inform the last slaves they were free — 2 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. RIGHT: The free event at Latimer Lakes Park in Horn Lake included a water slide where Aiden Johnson (left), Malik Morgan and Mariah Williams cool off. The festival, which was sponsored by DeSoto County African American History Symposium, also had live blues and gospel music, a fraternity and sorority step show, arts, crafts and a Corvette car show.