This year’s Juneteenth Festival in Elgin’s Festival Park has been canceled because the date organizers wanted for the event was given to a different group, the African American Coalition of Kane County said.
“This difficult decision was made collectively by the AACKC Board of Directors, and we stand firm in our commitment to protecting and honoring our community’s traditions,” a March 6 letter sent to sponsors and vendors said.
Instead, the group will mark Juneteenth by asking the community to join them in a peaceful protest of the event’s forced cancellation at the Elgin Municipal Center.
Coalition President Shirley Bassett said the problem arose when she was told the paperwork she submitted in January to secure Festival Park for June 21-22 was incorrect and she had to refile it. By the time she returned to form, the organizers of the Michelada Festival had already gotten permission to use the park on June 22, she said.
The city of Elgin received a request from the Michelada Festival organizers “to once again book the third Sunday in June for its event,” city spokesman Jeff Knox said in a statement. This year, the fest — which drew 8,000 people in its first year — had booked internationally known performers, he said.
Event promoters told city officials that if Festival Park was not available, “they (would) be required to move the event to another municipality” because the performers are only available on June 22, he said.
“Cultural Arts and Special Events Director Amanda Harris has been working with (the African American Coalition) to resolve the scheduling conflict this year,” Knox said.
Harris offered the group the weekend of June 13-14 but it didn’t work for organizers, he said.
Elgin also officials suggested using Wing Park’s bandshell on June 20-21 for Juneteenth and offered to coordinate a Concert in the Park and a Movie in the Park for the holiday, Knox said.
“AACKC declined all those alternatives,” he said.
Bassett said, “Juneteenth is a day of freedom. Why are we being told where we can celebrate and when we can celebrate? Why are we being shackled again?”
Coalition officials tried appealing the city’s decision, “advocating for the preservation of a tradition that celebrates the resilience, freedom and history of African Americans,” their letter said. “Yet, despite our formal requests, the city has refused to reinstate our rightful date, leaving us no choice but to take a stand. We refused to be cast aside.”
The coalition holds Juneteenth with a co-sponsorship from the city’s Cultural Arts and Special Events department. The event, which commemorates the end of slavery in 1862, has been a tradition in the city for 18 years. It became a national holiday in 2021.
Juneteenth had 70 vendors last year and drew about 2,000 people, Bassett said.
While it’s a smaller crowd than the Michelada Festival, the two are very different events, she said.
“Juneteenth is not a music or concert event. It’s an educational, cultural event,” she said.
Bassett said she personally believes the city has “never put much emphasis in what the black community is doing,” she said.
Juneteenth, which had been listed on the city’s list of events a few months ago, is now removed from the calendar. Bassett said she hopes Juneteenth will return next year.
Knox said going forward, the city will not schedule special events on the weekend before or after June 19 in Festival Park until African American Coalition identifies which weekend it prefers. Harris is working with the Michelada Festival promoters to shift their event to the last weekend in June, he said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.