‘It felt like home’: Utahns celebrate Juneteenth at Ogden festival, and its first year as a state holiday

Odgen • Music and laughter sounded through the Ogden Amphitheater on Saturday as hundreds gathered for the 33rd annual Juneteenth Festival — celebrating the first year of Juneteenth’s recognition as a state holiday.

Juneteenth commemorates the day that federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, 157 years ago to ensure the liberation of all enslaved people — over two years after the emancipation proclamation had been signed, and two months after the surrender of the Confederacy.

President Joe Biden officially recognized June 19 as a federal holiday last year. Rep. Sandra Hollins, D-Salt Lake City, sponsored Utah’s bill making Juneteenth a state holiday this year, which was signed by Gov. Spencer Cox on March 22.

“It was an honor to carry the Juneteenth bill this year,” Hollins said during the festival. “Please enjoy Juneteenth — get out, celebrate, but have conversations also with your young people. Talk about your family history, talk about American history, talk about our heroes, and what we have done to not only build the United States, but to build this state up.”

The festival featured food, booths selling accessories and more as children played and listened to music on Saturday afternoon. Cox also commended the organizers of the annual event, including Betty Sawyer — former president of the NAACP’s Ogden branch and director of the Project Success Coalition, which hosts the Juneteenth Festival.

“Sandra started teaching us about Juneteenth, and how important it was, and so first we recognized it as an important date for our state,” Cox said. “But then we did something that doesn’t happen in Washington, D.C., anymore — it doesn’t happen many places. But we had a Democrat who is Black and female, get together with a Republican, white guy from Utah County. And they came together and passed the law now to recognize Juneteenth as an official state holiday.”

Cox said Utahns are trying to make the state a place where everyone feels welcome and a part of the community, and although “we’re not quite there yet,” the state is getting closer every day — especially with recognizing events like Juneteenth.

Bianca Mittendorf hosted a booth at the event for the NAACP’s Ogden branch and serves as chair of the branch’s education committee. She agreed that the recognition of Juneteenth has been impactful, but said there’s still a ways to go, especially in taking on policies that have disproportionately affected communities of color.

“As a Black woman living in Utah, it’s been absolutely powerful,” Mittendorf said. “Clearly, there’s still a lot of education that needs to happen around it, because there’s people who still aren’t aware of what it is. But for me, it’s so meaningful because of recognition of my heritage, and the fact that my people weren’t all free when we celebrate the Fourth of July.”

“It’s almost like a surreal sensation,” Mittendorf continued. “I have this moment of just walking around the amphitheater and hearing my music, like the music that my people listen to, and just seeing this congregation of people — it felt like home.”