GREENFIELD — In what Human Rights Commission Chair Mpress Bennu said is expected to be the city’s largest Juneteenth celebration yet, the Greenfield community will take to the streets Wednesday for a day of art, food and Black history. Since 2021, when the Biden administration first officially recognized Juneteenth — commemorating the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Americans in Texas were emancipated — as a federal holiday, the city has hosted two consecutive Juneteenth celebrations in 2022 and 2023. Bennu, who organizes the annual event, said this year’s parade, beginning at 11 a.
m. on the Greenfield Common, is expected to attract roughly 150 marchers — more than three times the number of participants in last year’s parade. “There’s a lot of energy behind the parade.
...
It is for the whole community to be involved and it is definitely kid-friendly,” Bennu said. “There’s a lot of culture, a lot of art, a lot of entertainment. I always try to keep entertainment as part of my events because I love entertainment, I love community and I love so much of what the young people are doing.
” Bennu said the event will feature a number of performers between noon and 4 p.m., such as Senegalese dancer Abdou Sarr, the Franklin County’s YMCA Dancers, Strings for Kids, Musica Franklin, Style FX studios and the Springfield-based musician NBS Malay, along with food trucks, Stone Soup Cafe volunteers and more than 40 vendors at Beacon Field.
At 1:50 p.m., there w.
