Plano’s annual Juneteenth celebration canceled this year

Organizers have announced that Plano’s annual Juneteenth celebration – which commemorates the day when the last enslaved people in the country were informed of their freedom – will not be held this year.

In February 2021, Plano made history by becoming the first community in Illinois to adopt Juneteenth as an official holiday. Later that year, Juneteenth became a state and federal holiday.

This would have been the fifth year of the celebration in Plano.

“Due to circumstances outside of my control, community engagement and negative feedback, our 2025 Juneteenth Celebration for Plano, Illinois has been cancelled,” according to a Facebook post for Juneteenth Celebration Plano, Illinois. “Thank you to all that have participated and celebrated with us for the past 4 years.”

According to the post, if next year’s event also is canceled “that would be the will and pleasure of the community.” Plano 2nd Ward Alderman Jamal Williams organizes the event.

Williams has previously said he sees the event as a way to bring the community together.

“This event is not just an African American event,” he said. “It’s historic in nature because Plano is the only city in the state of Illinois that can celebrate being the first to recognize it. And we also want to celebrate those who have been marginalized for a long period of time. This celebration is for all of us to come together and recognize history in the city of Plano.”

The festival, held at Emily G. Johns School in Plano, featured speakers and entertainment. The 2.2-mile Opal Lee March from Plano City Hall to the festival site was held prior to the start of the celebration.

The march recognizes the efforts of Texas native Opal Lee, who would campaign for decades to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. She promoted the idea by leading 2.5 mile walks each year, representing the 2.5 years it took for news of the Emancipation Proclamation to reach Texas.