Rain or shine, Clara Lytle has attended the Juneteenth Festival since it started in Cincinnati in 1988. For the 70-something Corryville woman and her friends, the annual event is a celebration of their freedom.

        “I'm grateful that we've come to this place in our lives where we can all enjoy this together,” she said of the diverse group of attendees at Saturday's festival at Eden Park.

        Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of the slaves after the Civil War. On June 19, 1865, a Union general reissued the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas, the last state to recognize the decree that freed slaves.

        President Lincoln made the original proclamation in 1863.

        Event organizer Lydia Morgan said she expected a turnout close to 5,000, thanks to warm and dry weather. A slight breeze blew across Mirror Lake, where tents were filled with food, ethnic art and clothing.

        Darla Dixon of Forest Park was one of dozens enjoying the jazz, gospel and soul music that resounded from Seasongood Pavilion and a stage at Mirror Lake. She hoped the event made an impression on her 6-year-old son, Edward.

        “The meaning of Juneteenth is the end of slavery,” Mrs. Dixon said.

        “I want to expose him to cultural events like this.”

        Earlier in the day, several hundred people joined in a walk sponsored by the American Heart Association. Walkers received free health screenings.

        The screenings were part of what interested Early Williams-Thomas and her husband, David Thomas.

        Mrs. Williams-Thomas, a two-year survivor of stomach cancer, had not been able to attend Juneteenth in recent years. But the 83-year-old Golf Manor resident was hoping that some of her seven grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren would make it later in the day.

        “A lot of the young kids today don't know about slavery,” she said. “It's a good educational opportunity.”

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