Hundreds of people marched from the Robert Crown Center to Ingraham Park in Evanston Saturday morning to celebrate the new Juneteenth national holiday.
The event celebrates the date, June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned that the Civil War was over and they were free.
Spectators gathered at the Evanston Plaza shopping center and other locations along the parade route to cheer the marchers, and performers like the Jessie White Tumblers.
The celebration continues with an afternoon of art, music, food and community at Ingraham Park from noon until 6 p.m.
