The 25th annual Ethnic Festival is under way with elephant ears, hemp jewelry and kiddy rides. It could be found in the Asian or French food booths in the Howard Park and East Race Waterway area. But if you're not hungry, yet hoping to find the ethnic in the Ethnic Festival, head to the cultural stage, next to the AM General building.
Events run at the stage throughout the festival.
The culture ranges from a demonstration of Hong's USA Tae Kwon Do to a Youth Christian Concert. The culture began Friday when the Urban Arts Company Inc. and the Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church drill team performed a play on Juneteenth, the date when east Texas slaves finally learned that the Civil War was over and they were free. Friday's celebration in South Bend marked the 133rd anniversary of the arrival of the Union general in Galveston who told the slaves they were free. It is the first Juneteenth celebration in recent memory in South Bend, said Waliyyuddin Beyah, resident Iman or director of the South Bend Islamic Dawah Center. Juneteenth is about a day somewhere between the 13th and 19th of June when the people of Texas celebrate the joys, tears and emotional sentiments of freedom.