Juneteenth Celebration Includes Festival, Parade For H-F Communities

HOMEWOOD-FLOSSMOOR, IL — Residents of Homewood and Flossmoor are invited to honor and celebrate Black culture, with a festival and parade set in commemoration of Juneteenth. The HF Juneteenth Festival is touted as the Southland's largest Juneteenth celebration.

With a festival planned for Saturday, June 17 and a parade on Monday, June 19, the festival organized by Flossmoor-based You Matter 2 is a celebration of African American culture as expressed through food, music, dance and arts.

"Our mission is to provide an environment that celebrates and showcases the uniqueness, power, and endurance of African Americans," the website for the event reads. The festival is held in the south parking lot of Homewood-Flossmoor High School, 999 Kedzie Ave., in Flossmoor, from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The festival includes children’s activities, a farmers market, food trucks and entertainment including dance groups, poets, a Tina Turner impersonator and SandyRedd, a contestant from Season 15 of "The Voice."

The 2022 event reached an estimated 5,000 people, according to a description from You Matter 2. General admission is free, with a $10 donation welcome. A soft play unlimited pass for $15, for children ages 6 months through 5 years old. An early bird unlimited activity pass is also available, for $35. This includes access to an inflatable zip line/slide, Toxic Meltdown, Berry Go Round, Soft play or mechanical bull (3 Bull Rides). Price will increase day of festival. Tickets can be purchased in advance online.

The festival will also honor a "royal court," including Mini Miss Homewood-Flossmoor Juneteenth Parker Duncan, Little Mr. and Mrs. Homewood-Flossmoor Juneteenth Evan Roberson and Phallon Davis, Junior Mr. and Miss Homewood-Flossmoor Juneteenth Joshua Thomas and De'Aunta Burns, and Miss Homewood-Flossmoor Juneteenth LaNiya Whitlock.

"To be able to bring our community together like this really started as a dream and turned into impacting 5,000+ people," the organization wrote. "To be able to uplift and expose 145 Black-owned businesses has created a source of networking & community! To be making history and creating a norm where Black culture is celebrated has shown that how we’re viewed is not the reality of who we are."

The celebration will wrap up Monday, June 19, with a 9 a.m. parade from Western Avenue Elementary, 940 Western Ave., to Parker Junior High, 2810 School St.

The Monday, June 19, national holiday commemorates the day in 1865, more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, when word finally reached the last enslaved people in Texas that the Civil War had ended, and they were free.

Also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day and Jubilee Day, Juneteenth is the oldest-known celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed legislation making it a federal holiday, the first since the addition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.

• Related: What Is Juneteenth? Celebrating The End Of Slavery

Because Juneteenth is an official U.S. holiday, banks, federal offices and post offices in Homewood-Flossmoor will be closed Monday, June 19. Some state, county and local government offices may be closed, as well.