THOMASVILLE- Last Saturday, the Juneteenth of Thomasville-Thomas County Freedom Festival was held at the Thomasville Fairgrounds.

Ucher Dent, the lead organizer for the event, said that it was a successful event, but, as with any event, there were places for improvement.

“I think it was a big success,” Dent said. “For it to be in its new location, I think it was a huge success, but of course, with any event, event coordinators, they always see that there is room for improvement.”

Overall, she said that the turnout for the event had been amazing, with the volunteer parkers for the event counting 952 cars parked for the event.

“For the most part it was a huge success, a huge turnout, the weather held off as long as it could for us, we did kind of get rained out with the band coming to end everything, but other than that, I couldn’t have asked for a better turnout, better support, better participation,” Dent said.

From the ribbon cutting to the mere stage presence all throughout the event, Dent said that next year they would have contingency plans for the weather and more volunteers to help guide attendees to different areas of the festival.

“Some people on the outside didn’t realize we had vendors on the inside,” she said, “other people on the inside didn’t realize we had vendors on the outside.”

And next year, which Dent said they’re already prepared for, will be at the fairgrounds as well, which will be the festival’s new home.

“It will be its new home. We’re already set for June 22, 2024.”

Talking more on how the event went, Dent said they had over 80 different vendors, which included food trucks, non-profit organizations, service agencies, and individual exhibitors, including the local Boys & Girls Club.

“The Boys & Girls Club set up a phenomenal historical, educational display,” Dent said. “It was beautiful.”

The festival also included an informative trifold Juneteenth display that spoke on the history of the event and

Dent said that she had received very positive feedback from the community after the festival.

“I’ve received nothing but positive feedback,” she said. “People love the new location, they understand now the need for that location. All the vendors said they wanted to return, I’m receiving positive feedback daily.”

She said that she couldn’t have done this alone, with the event being made possible through the support of the NAACP, the Douglass Alumni Association, and many other organizations and sponsors from the community.

Dent also thanked the planning committee, who was the backbone of the festival.

“I just wanna say that Juneteenth Freedom Festival would not be possible without the support and help of the local corporations, the community, donors, and the committees,” she said. “We had a very good Juneteenth planning committee.”

Dent thanked the committee members of the Juneteenth of Thomasville-Thomas County Freedom Festival, including Earl Williams, Nancy Vickers, Tyrone White, Stephanie Dennis, Luwanna Guyton, Morriss Arrington, Lucinda Brown, Shirley Jackson, Bonnie Hayes, Dominic Ford, Andrena Ellison, Etta McIntyre, Khabriyah Cunningham, Bryan Watt, Myron Guyton, Walter Guyton, Danny Williams and Favor Guyton-Abrams.