Edmonds, Lynnwood community members celebrate Juneteenth
EDMONDS — Snohomish County community members gathered in Lynnwood and Edmonds on Friday to celebrate Juneteenth, a holiday marking the end of slavery in the United States.
Attendees traveled from across the county to celebrate with food, speeches, song and dance.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that more than 250,000 enslaved people in the state were free. The announcement came more than two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.
In Edmonds, dozens gathered at the Edmonds Waterfront Center, where speakers recognized the importance of the holiday and shared stories about their heritage. Donnie Griffin, founder and president of Lift Every Voice Legacy, said that when his grandfather was 9 years old, he learned he was one of the 4 million enslaved people who were freed.
https://www.heraldnet.com/2026/06/19/edmonds-lynnwood-community-members-celebrate-juneteenth/