Amarillo 2024 Juneteenth Parade and Park Celebration

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) – The Juneteenth celebration continued this weekend in Amarillo with the 2024 Juneteenth Parade and Park Celebration. The parade began Saturday at 10 a.m. with over fifty entries participating in the event.

“It’s been a tradition in our community since I was a little kid, and so actually being a part of putting it together and seeing it all come to fruition, it just really makes my heart happy,” said Juneteenth Celebration CO Chair Melodie Graves.

Graves said that every year the celebration grows with more people coming out to celebrate the history and importance of Juneteenth.

“It just feels, I’m just elated to see all the people come together, no matter their color, creed, religion, all those things,” said Graves. “We can all come together and celebrate freedom today. That’s what it’s all about. That’s how we make the change.”

The celebration continued at Bones Hooks Park for a park celebration with more family fun.
101 Elite Men is one organization that was part of the event setting everything up in the morning before the parade and then feeding people at the park.

“We come back over here, and then we start serving throughout the day. We have free food, free beverages, and then we have a little bit of information for, like, some of the partnerships we have,” said Rickie Johnson 101 Elite Men. “So that’s what we do.”

Johnson explained that he loves being a part of the event because of the memories that it brings back.

“It’s fun because I remember when I was sitting on the side like catching candy. So now, oh, I get to have my niece and, I mean, and we get to throw candy and see the smile. So it’s exciting being a part of and seeing how it all works, like start to finish,” said Johnson.

There are still more events coming throughout the week to celebrate Juneteenth. You can find it all here.