Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, marks the day enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, were finally told they were free under the terms of the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation.
For nearly a decade, SD Melanin has hosted an annual Juneteenth festival at Waterfront Park in San Diego to honor that history. This Saturday, organizers say the event will be bigger and better.
"I say every year, all the time, Juneteenth is American history," Lauren Cobbs, founder of SD Melanin, said.
First celebrated in 1865, Juneteenth has grown into a nationwide commemoration of Black history and culture. For Cobbs, the day carries deep meaning.
"It's this beautiful celebration of freedom and resilience," Cobbs said.
The annual Kim Folk Fest draws hundreds of people for food and live music, and organizers say it serves a larger purpose for the San Diego community.
"It's Juneteenth specifically, Kim Folk Fest is bringing together the community in San Diego that sometimes feels splintered," Love Lee, event curator for SD Melanin, said.
This year, SD Melanin is expanding beyond a single-day festival to a full week of events, including entrepreneur workshops and R&B kickoff events. The goal is to help small businesses connect with new and returning customers.
"I think the first thing is we're expanding on Kim Folk Fest weekend from last year to it being more of a week this year," Cobbs said.
The expanded festival will feature close to 100 Black-owned small businesses, along with new artists, DJ sets and art installations.
"So we have almost 100 small black businesses, which is a pretty amazing, um, we also have new artists, new DJ sets new art installations," Cobbs said.
As the festival continues to double in size each year, organizers say the spirit behind it should extend well beyond one weekend.
"Every year we need something like Kim Folk Fest every month, OK, because the only way that we are going to progress forward is together," Cobbs said.
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