New permanent Va. state holiday commemorates end of slavery
New permanent There will be a Middlesex County Juneteenth celebration parade at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 26. The parade will start at Middlesex High School, go down General Puller Highway (Route 33) to the Historic Middlesex County Courthouse, then loop back to MHS. For information, call Cynthia Beverley at 804-815-8426.
Juneteenth, which is officially celebrated on June 19, is the oldest known commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. It marks the day in 1865 that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, the last of the former Confederate states to abolish slavery, finally heard that the Civil War had ended, and learned that the Emancipation Proclamation had made them free nearly two years earlier.
In 2020, Gov. Ralph Northam, along with Virginia recording artist Pharrell and other community members, announced that Juneteenth would be a permanent state holiday, making 2021 the second year for Juneteenth being an official state holiday.
Virginia is celebrating the holiday all month long with events, speaker series, tours, and virtual offerings across the state.
