WACO, Texas — Celebrations for the Juneteenth holiday kick off in Waco with the Mr. and Mrs. Juneteenth Pageant Friday.
This is the fourth annual Mr. & Miss Juneteenth Scholarship Pageant. It begins at 7:00 p.m. and goes until 9:30 p.m. Friday night.
The goal is to give $5,000 to the first, second, and third place winners.
This financial assistance propels students into the future and provides them the necessary financial means to make their secondary education dreams come true.
"I think it's going to be absolutely lovely to see my contestants get on stage and shine," Ashley Stone, with the pageant, said.
Click here for more information on the pageant.
Going into the weekend, the Juneteenth Parade will kick off at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
The "Chains to Change" parade will last two hours and will start at Heritage Square in Waco.
Close to 100 participants are expected on the route, and hundreds more to watch.
"We want to remember always that we are celebrating the liberation of an entire culture," Rachel Pate, with the Cen-Tex African American Chamber of Commerce, said.
It will be a hot day, but they will have refreshments available.
The route of the parade will go from Heritage Square to Bridge Street, crossing the Washington Ave. Bridge.
For more information on this event, click here.
The parade is expected to be over by 12 p.m.
Once everyone is done at the parade, they can go home and enjoy the air conditioning and then make their way back out to Waco for a celebration at the Baylor Club.
The Baylor Club will hold a Juneteenth celebration starting at 3 p.m. It will be to recognize the history of Juneteenth and the people who celebrate it.
"I think the education of Juneteenth will help from something like this happening again," Felicia Garrett, with PAC, said.