6-09-2025 10:08pm

Save the Date: June 14th Alamogordo Juneteenth Festival 2025

Chris Edwards Editor

Save the date and come celebrate the diversity of Alamogordo on Saturday, June 14, 2025, 10 am to 2 pm at Washington Park and join the annual Juneteenth Celebration.

What is Juneteenth?

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War had ended and that all enslaved individuals were now free. This momentous occasion marked the end of slavery in the last Confederate state.

Freedom was granted through the Emancipation Proclamation signed on January 1, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln. Texas was the farthest of the Confederate states, and slaveholders there made no attempt to free the enslaved African Americans they held in bondage. This meant that President Lincoln’s proclamation was unenforceable without military intervention, which eventually came nearly 2.5 years later.

From 1865 forward, the day has held special meaning for people of African descent in the United States.

Juneteenth continues to be celebrated in cities around the nation through a series of parades, family reunions, speeches, and consuming of specific foods with a red color including barbeque, watermelon (an African fruit), and “red soda water” (primarily strawberry soda).

The use of the color red in ceremonies is a practice that enslaved West Africans brought to the United States. Contemporary food items that maintain this cultural connection include kola nut tea and hibiscus tea, also known as bissap in the Caribbean or jamaica (ha-MY-kah) in Latin America; large numbers of kidnapped and enslaved West Africans were sent to both areas.. Strawberry soda is the contemporary replacement of these teas in US Juneteenth celebrations. Juneteenth is an important date on the timeline of slavery history in the United States.

The history of the celebration in Alamogordo dates to the pandemic.

Everett Brown, event organizer told the Alamogordo Daily News in an article a few years back that when he moved to Alamogordo from Washington in 2007, he had no idea what Juneteenth meant, let alone what it was.

“When I moved here in '07, I had no idea what Juneteenth was, didn’t hear it, never heard about it and I was in the nation's capitol so you would think it was hot out there, but it wasn’t,” Brown said.

Brown said he grew up in the south where he was certain it was something not prevalent to the area.

“It probably wasn’t until about 2012 when I started hearing about it and actually reading about it, then when COVID happened some friends and myself decided to start with a potluck out in the park for Juneteenth and it we grew it from there,” Brown said.

Brown said the goal of the Alamogordo event is not simply to celebrate the day and the history but to inform people and youth that don’t know. Its an educational day to:

Celebrate Freedom. Embrace Unity. Honor History.

Join the Alamogordo Juneteenth Coalition for a powerful and joyful celebration of Juneteenth—our national holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

Organizers calling on YOU, the community, to get involved!

Organizers are currently seeking:

• Volunteers to help set up, support the event, and tear down

• Vendors to sell goods or services ($30 reservation fee)

• Churches & Non-Profits to share resources (FREE setup)

• Local Businesses to donate door prizes (We’ll shout you out!)

Vendor & Volunteer Registration NOW OPEN!

Email: alamogordonmjuneteenth@gmail.com

Phone: 575-443-3155

Your support honors this newly established federal holiday while uplifting our local community.

"Let’s make monumental strides—together and join us!," says Everett Brown.