GEORGETOWN, Del. - As Juneteenth approaches, Georgetown kicked off the celebrations by hosting its eighth annual parade and celebration.
The Juneteenth parade in Georgetown is the only parade in the Sussex County area to commemorate the holiday.
There were people in attendance from Greek organizations to nonprofits even kids came out to celebrate the day enslaved African Americans were given their freedom back in 1865- two years after the President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
After the parade, there was a celebration filled with not only vendors and food but representation of different cultures like Native Americans.
For the parade organizers like Jane Hovington, she said this celebration is about history.
"The fact that the participants in the parade and vendors represent for the holiday on their own, Hovington said. "You see everybody with their different shirts on signifying Juneteenth and their heritage."
Connie Johnson, the owner of CED Designs and a first time vendor at the Juneteenth celebration, said this holiday has come a long way.
"I graduated high school in the '80s and you didn't hear anything about Juneteenth back then," Johnson said. "It's great that kid's get to grow up and know about the importance of this day."
Those celebrating today like Skip Hurston, who is a historian for the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club Delaware said he wants Juneteenth to be about remembrance and unity for all Americans.
"I think it's important especially for younger people to understand from where we came, in that we have been a very big part of building this nation," Hustson said. "It has not always been a nation that has been friendly to us but nonetheless, we have been committed to it since the beginning."
The next Juneteenth celebration will be on the actual Juneteenth holiday, Monday, June 19 in Milford and then Saturday, June 24 in Lewes.