Juneteenth Festival hosted at Health Science Park Downtown

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – Memphians can celebrate Juneteeth at the Health Sciences Park this weekend.

The festival begins at 10 a.m. and runs all day and night Friday and Saturday.

Franklin says the move to Health Sciences Park was meant to increase attendance from a diverse community.

There will be several different local vendors, food trucks, and health and wellness vendors here this weekend.

There are several ways you can honor the day commemorating the end of slavery, which happened on June 19, 1865.

Juneteenth has been celebrated here in Memphis for decades, but since President Biden made the day a Federal Holiday back in 2021, celebrations have grown.

Juneteenth honors the day when Union soldiers made their way to Galveston, Texas, announcing that all enslaved people were free.

Memphis started hosting its Juneteenth festival in Historic Douglas Park in the early 1990s.

This festival taught Memphians the history of Juneteenth and its significance to African American culture.

Over the years celebrations grew and Telisa Franklin a businesswoman and entrepreneur, eventually took on leadership of the annual event.

Now it’s held in the Medical District at Health Sciences Park downtown.

This park holds historical significance too as it was originally named for Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest a slave owner and early Ku Klux Klan leader.

There was a statue of Forrest at the park before it was removed and moved to a museum.

So the park’s history directly relates to the freedom movement.

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