On Saturday, June 17th the “Juneteenth Music & Food Festival” took place in front of the Honey Bowen Building at 1 Max Lockwood Drive.
The commemorative event was held in partnership with the Bulloch NAACP and the New Age Black Panthers organization (NABP).
Both organizations were organizers for the event this year and hosted several food vendors, musical acts, and highlighted activities.
The title sponsors are the NABP, Bulloch County NAACP.
Gold Title Sponsor is Davis Bozeman Johnson Law Firm.
Green Title Sponsor is Jenkins County Medical Center.
One of many highlights at the Juneteenth Festival was the "Bulloch County Book Bus".
The Bulloch County Book Bus travels through Bulloch County to provide free books to local children. (For more information, CLICK HERE.)
Crystal Simpkins, Director of Early Learning and Literacy for Bulloch County Schools, had these sentiments to share regarding the quest to increase early childhood literacy.
“The Bulloch County Book Bus is here to get books into the hands of children. On this Juneteenth commemoration, we are ensuring that children have easy access to books. We are also ensuring that their parents have the necessary information, which educates them on the importance of reading to their children.”
Quotes from some of the organizers
"We are excited about the turnout of our third annual Juneteenth Celebration. The fact that so many people came out today in the heat speaks volumes to the importance of this holiday. I want to personally thank every vendor, sponsor, volunteer, attendee who contributed to the success of this event. Furthermore, I would like to thank the planning committee, which consisted of NABP members, Bulloch NAACP members, Olympia Gaines, and Lakesha Hill. We are already discussing how we can make the event next year even better!”
-Dominique Grant, NABP Member
“We are very excited to be commemorating this Juneteenth holiday with our music and food festival. We are mindful to say that we don’t celebrate this event, but we commemorate it; (as we do not celebrate our ancestors being enslaved). However, we are very proud to honor our ancestors lives and journeys through this commemoration. And we look forward to hosting more community events in the future.”
-Yevette McCall, President of the Bulloch NAACP
For more information on Bulloch NAACP, contact Sophia Johnson, Secretary at [email protected], or Yevette McCall at [email protected].
