Denver’s once-robust and nationally recognized Juneteenth festival is hanging on by a shoestring, a shadow of its former self.
This year, the event would have collapsed altogether if not for the efforts of two women who believe the African-American celebration of freedom is too important to ignore.
The Five Points Business Association, which previously hosted the event, decided to cancel the event because of financial trouble.
Enter City Council President Elbra Wedgeworth and community historian Grace Stiles, who pulled a cadre of volunteers from nonprofits to put together a small community program.
There won’t be a parade this year, but at least the struggle for freedom and equality won’t be forgotten, they said.
“I felt as if a part of my culture was being denied again,” said Stiles, founding director of Stiles African-American Heritage Center. “I decided I could not just sit and look for others to foster my culture.”
For 38 years, the Five Points neighborhood has celebrated Juneteenth. The holiday honors June 19, 1865, the day slaves in Galveston, Texas, finally learned President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier.
In its heyday several years ago, Denver’s Juneteenth became the largest in the nation, attracting more than 120,000 people to the weekend celebration.
That was no small feat, considering Denver has one of the smallest African-American communities in a major city in the country, with 16 percent in Denver and 4 percent in Colorado.
Such an extravaganza would cost about $120,000. This year, the Juneteenth program will be put on at a price of $8,000, though only $500 has been raised so far, Stiles said.
In recent years, financial troubles and a dwindling supply of volunteers have plagued the event, said Isaac Points, president of the Five Points Business Association.
Last year, the association was forced to reduce the event to a single day, centered on the parade.
The festival was never much of a money-maker for the organization, but after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, corporate donations and other sponsors were hard to find, Points said.
“We have no money,” he said. “We operated that event at a loss, but our thing was to put it on every year for the community. We didn’t want it to die. We tried hard to keep it going.”
The association, funded by sponsorships, grants and donations, hopes to host the event again next year, Points said.
“Our organization has been in dire straits in the past couple of years,” he said. “We’ve had tough times trying to get dollars to pay our staff.”
The scaled-back Juneteenth should remind people what it takes to keep the tradition going, Wedgeworth said. Juneteenth celebrations also will take place in Austin, Texas; Dallas; Oklahoma City; and Topeka, Kan.
“We have to get back to the significance of Juneteenth and what it means,” Wedgeworth said. “And we have to build up leadership within the community to take it on as a project.”
The community has become complacent, depending on the event to be there every year without investing in it, said Councilman Michael Hancock.
“It’s a great wake-up call for the community. It takes everyone to be involved and new energy,” he said.
Community leaders were surprised the event was almost lost.
“The fact that it will be on a smaller scale is not so important as it is to keep the heritage going,” said Cheryl Armstrong, executive director of the James Beckwourth Mountain Club in Five Points.
The celebration day will be called “The Nineteenth of June Family Community Celebration.” Stiles can’t use the previous name of the festival, “Five Points Juneteenth Celebration,” because it’s a registered name by the Five Points Business Association, Points said.
Regardless of what it is called or its size, the presence for one day in Five Points is what Stiles and Wedgeworth hope will resonate in the community.
“We don’t have the manpower,” Stiles said. “But we are determined to celebrate.”
Staff writer Elizabeth Aguilera can be reached at 303-820-1372 or eaguilera@denverpost.com.
