{"id":308394,"date":"2026-06-15T21:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T21:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/308394\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T21:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T21:28:08","slug":"apopka-to-celebrate-juneteenth-with-parade-and-community-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/308394\/","title":{"rendered":"Apopka to celebrate Juneteenth with parade and community festival\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Apopka residents will gather\u00a0Saturday\u00a0to celebrate Juneteenth with a community parade and festival honoring the anniversary of the end of slavery in the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Organized by Transform Outreach Inc.,\u00a0the event\u00a0is scheduled from 2 to 7 p.m. at Alonzo Williams Park.\u00a0The organization expects about 500 people to attend,\u00a0according to a special permit application included in the agenda packet.\u00a0The celebration will include a parade, food vendors,\u00a0tents\u00a0and community activities.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theapopkachief.com\/review-committee-backs-plans-for-juneteenth-events\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">event application submitted to the city<\/a>, the parade will begin at\u00a0Veterans of Foreign Wars\u00a0Post 10147\u00a0and travel south on Central Avenue before turning west onto\u00a010th Street, north onto\u00a0Marvin Zanders Avenue and west onto\u00a0M\u00a0A Board Street, ending at Alonzo Williams Park. Organizers have requested road closures beginning at 1 p.m. to accommodate the procession.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Become A Member<\/p>\n<p>The Apopka Chief does not have a paywall, but pavement-pounding journalism is not free. Join your neighbors who make this vital work possible.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"in-article__cta\" class=\"ct-link-button btn--m btn--secondary mdn-support-button\" href=\"https:\/\/theapopkachief.com\/become-a-member?ref=in_article_cta\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">See Member Benefits<\/a><a class=\"ct-link-button btn--m btn--primary\" href=\"https:\/\/theapopkachief.com\/newsletter-signup?ref=in_article_cta\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Join Our Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The City Commission is scheduled to consider approval of the road closure request during its June 17 meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also\u00a0during\u00a0the same meeting, Mayor Nick Nesta is expected to present a proclamation recognizing June 19 as Juneteenth in Apopka and encouraging residents to\u00a0observe\u00a0the day through \u201cappropriate programs, activities, and reflections.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beyond the parade and festival, organizers say the event is intended to celebrate freedom while fostering community engagement and education.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Othellus\u00a0Swift will receive the event\u2019s Pillar Award, organizers announced on the Apopka\u00a0Juneteenth\u00a0Facebook page.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apopkajuneteenth.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Apopka Juneteenth website<\/a>,\u00a0the Apopka Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration will feature a kid\u2019s corner, music, live performances, educational opportunities, food, art, cultural activities and historical displays highlighting Apopka\u2019s history.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Organizers say the event is also intended to support community causes and provide networking opportunities for small and startup businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The event website says,\u00a0\u201cOn Juneteenth, we recommit ourselves to the work of equity, equality, and justice\u201d while celebrating \u201cthe centuries of struggle, courage, and hope\u201d that helped advance civil rights and opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The\u00a0city\u00a0proclamation notes that Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced the end of slavery more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>                                                                                                                                                                                                                <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/6.png\"  class=\"multiple_authors_guest_author_avatar avatar\" height=\"80\" width=\"80\"\/>                                                                                                                                                                                                            <\/p>\n<p>Teresa Sargeant has been with The Apopka Chief for over 10 years.<\/p>\n<p>                                                                                                                                <a class=\"ppma-author-user_email-profile-data ppma-author-field-meta ppma-author-field-type-email\" aria-label=\"Email\" href=\"https:\/\/theapopkachief.com\/apopka-to-celebrate-juneteenth-with-parade-and-community-festival\/mailto:tsargeant@theapopkachief.com\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Apopka residents will gather\u00a0Saturday\u00a0to celebrate Juneteenth with a community parade and festival honoring the anniversary of the end&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-308394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}