Red and green fireworks illuminated the sky Saturday night as the Juneteenth Freedom Festival closed out more than a week of celebrations across Kankakee County.
The day began with a parade in downtown Kankakee that led to Pioneer Park to kick off the annual festival to celebrate the historical day of June 19, 1865, when the last Black slaves were emancipated at the end of the Civil War.
The celebratory date, now known as Juneteenth, came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, as places still under Confederate control did not implement the executive order.
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