The annual Huntingdon County Juneteenth Celebration will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 27, at Portstown Park in Huntingdon. The Huntingdon County Juneteenth Celebration Committee serves as host for this event.

Anthony Bullett, committee chair, said the event is later this year so as not to interfere with celebrations in neighboring counties.

“Our celebration was among the first in the area and we are heartened by the proliferation of festivals in our vicinity,” he said. “We also want to acknowledge the efforts of Harriet Gaston, academic advisor at Penn State Altoona, for her efforts to coordinate Juneteenth activities in Huntingdon, Centre, Bedford, Blair and Cambria counties.”

Huntingdon’s celebration this year includes entertainment by fan favorites Urban Fusion and Eric Ian Farmer. Joining them are the Standing Stone Kickers, the Servellos and storyteller Janice Bishop.

There will also be new food vendors offering such down-home favorites as brisket, chicken, ribs, greens, baked beans and more. The Morris Family will be there serving hamburgers and hot dogs, too.

The event is free of charge.

About Juneteenth

Juneteenth National Independence Day, June 19, was designated as a national holiday by the 117th U.S Congress and President Joe Biden. The holiday commemorates the day, June 19, 1865, that General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas.

To some, June 19 is the true Independence Day of the United States as it marked the first time that everybody in the country was free. Juneteenth celebrations originated in Texas in 1866 and then spread throughout the country over the next 153 years.

The Huntingdon County Juneteenth Celebration began in 2010 by the late Greg Banks, a Huntingdon native. The original intent was to bring African American families from Huntingdon and Mt. Union together for an afternoon of fellowship in historic Blair Park.

In 2014 the event was moved to Portstown Park and opened to the public with members of the Huntingdon County Juneteenth Committee coming from throughout Huntingdon County. Current members of the committee include Anthony Bullett, Anita Nwaobilo, Judy Trice, Darlene Chivers, Charlotte Ridge, Lori Harris, Sylvia Morris and Betsy Mason. Payne Church provides meeting space for the committee.