Bloomington and Indiana University are marking Juneteenth on Monday after holding celebrations over the weekend.
IU is hosting a family-friendly fish fry with games and music at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center on Eagleson Avenue. It starts at 2 p.m. Monday.
Read more: Bloomington community reflects on the value of freedom
This is the first year the City of Bloomington is officially acknowledging Juneteenth as a holiday. City offices are closed, and most employees have the day off Monday.
They got started early with celebrations over the weekend. The city hosted a gathering at Switchyard Park on Saturday with barbecue and games for children.
“I see so many different sectors of the community represented," said Beverly Calendar-Anderson, the director of the city's Community and Family Resources Department.
“There are students, there are employees, there are just some people that I've never seen before. So it's really good to see the community brought together in this way,” she said.
The holiday celebrates the end of slavery in the United States.
