A Juneteenth Celebration was held in Williams Park on Saturday afternoon.

The event included food, live music, and vendor booths.

It was organized by Just Kings, a Batavia-based community group.

Juneteenth falls on Wednesday this year. On June 19, 1865, the last slaves still being held in bondage in Texas were freed, bringing to an end an ugly chapter of United States history.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Not to negate the dozens of local families that stopped by the Just Kings fourth annual Juneteenth Freedom Celebration event this weekend, but there was also one special visitor who drove over from Buffalo as well.

State Attorney General Leticia James heard about the festivities — vendors, live music, African dancers, a chicken barbecue, and a performing spoken word artist — and dropped by Williams Park in Batavia.

“I went to the Buffalo parade. I'm here in Batavia celebrating Juneteenth. I'll be going to Rochester shortly. And then tomorrow we're going to Orleans County, so we're doing a number of events here in upstate New York, and it's an honor and a privilege to be here in Batavia. It's absolutely beautiful. So Juneteenth, to me, represents courage. It represents resilience, it represents strength, and it represents freedom,” James said early Saturday afternoon. “And so there are still challenges that we all have to, you know, address. But if we walk together arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder, there's nothing that we cannot overcome together.”

What began four years ago as a grassroots effort to celebrate the end of slavery has this year drawn city and county organizations into the mix for a community-wide gathering of food, arts, crafts, activities, educational and wellness materials, entertainment, and lots of fun on the city’s north and south sides.