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ALLIANCE ‒ The city’s Juneteenth celebration is becoming so popular that, for the first time, events will happen over multiple days.

The Juneteenth Community Festival will run June 20-21 with family-friendly fun that includes music, food, a parade and fireworks.

Also planned are a basketball tournament, flag football tournaments, children’s activities, a community cookout and a car show.

Ande’marie Green and the Pink Ace Association are organizers of the two-day festival. Here’s schedule of planned events:

June 20, 2025

  • Youth Flag Football Tournament: Registration for ages 7-12 is under way. Games will start at noon at Maple Beach Park. Cost is $175 per team (12 players). Register until 11 a.m. June 20. For more information call 330-581-5815 or 330-774-6707.

June 21, 2025

  • Adult Flag Football: Starts at 9 a.m. at Maple Beach Park. Entry fee is $250 per team.
  • Parade: Steps off at noon from Maple Beach Park, turns left on Oak Avenue, then right on East Patterson Street, left on Martin Luther King Jr. Viaduct, takes a slight left on South Liberty Street and ends at Thompson-Snodgrass Park.
  • Community Cookout and Car Show: Event follows parade at Thompson-Snodgrass Park at 530 S. Liberty St. Entry fee for a car show is $25; call 330-581-5815 to register your vehicle. Food and music are free. Craft and fashion vendors will be on hand, along with free children’s activities.
  • Basketball Tournament: Starts at 2 p.m. at Thompson-Snodgrass Park. Cost is $10 per player, ages 7 and older. There will be cash prizes for adults and non-cash prizes for children, along with trophies.
  • Talent Show: Free event starts at 2:30 p.m. at Thompson-Snodgrass Park.
  • Fire Performance: Starts at 5 p.m. with juggling.
  • Performances: Start at 7 p.m. with Wolfpack Cheerleaders, Renewed Life Ministry Praise Dance Team and Dajeun Dickerson Jr.
  • Fireworks: Begin at dusk near Thompson-Snodgrass Park.

Green said the decision to move to a multiple-day celebration came after positive feedback in previous years. “People wanted more,” she said.

It was supposed to be even bigger.

Green and the Pink Ace group had announced events planned for June 19 and June 22, which would have created a four-day festival. Those events, though, have been canceled or moved to a different date due to venue miscommunication.

“Come and enjoy it all,” Green said. “Everyone is welcomed.”

Reach Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or ben.duer@cantonrep.com. On X (formerly Twitter): @bduerREP.

The history of Juneteenth

Juneteenth is marked each year on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. It is one of the oldest African American holidays.

About 250,000 slaves in Galveston, Texas, were freed June 19, 1865, by the Union Army. Texas was the last state to still have slaves. The announcement occurred two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

It became a federal holiday in 2021.

Sources: National Museum of African American History, Britannica