The blustery conditions that swept through Salt Lake City on Monday were not strong enough to thwart the festivities at the annual Juneteenth Celebration and Black-Owned Business Expo.
Winds may have kicked up dust and sent trees swaying but, as of midday, they were no issue for the couple of hundred visitors who roamed The Gateway listening to music and perusing about 20 vendor tents.
Khadija Wade, who owns Safari Beauty Supply at 465 E. 3300 South in South Salt Lake, said this year marked her third time setting up at the Juneteenth festival.
“It brings all the Black community together so we can have fun,” she said, “and at the same time, show our business, to show that we are in Utah at the same time.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Alex Boyé sings at The Gateway Juneteenth Celebration on Monday, June 19, 2023.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Texas more than two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and told remaining enslaved African Americans that the Civil War had ended and that they were free.
The day became a federal holiday in 2021 and a state holiday last year.
At The Gateway festival, children played in bounce houses, visitors lined up for Senegalese dishes at a food truck, and music pulsated through speakers as performer Alex Boye sang and danced with those in attendance.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Alex Boyé sings at The Gateway Juneteenth Celebration on Monday, June 19, 2023.
Vendors sold shirts, flavored butters, handmade baskets and small crafts under pop-up tents while chatting with passersby.
Adolphus Nickleberry, a resident of The Gateway, said he always makes a point to check out the Juneteenth celebration, listen to the music and connect with new businesses.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Lavarro Greer talks about Heaven's Best Flavored Butters at The Gateway mall during a Juneteenth celebration on Monday, June 19, 2023.
“It’s tremendous,” he said. “This is how Black businesses can get out better in Utah.”
On Monday afternoon, Salt Lake City officials marked the holiday by raising the Juneteenth flag at City Hall.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Mayor Erin Mendenhall hugs Audre McDonald at the Juneteenth flag-raising ceremony at City Hall on Monday, June 19, 2023.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Penny Rodriguez and London Larkin play in the fountain at The Gateway mall during a Juneteenth celebration on Monday, June 19, 2023.
