INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Juneteenth has been a federal holiday for four years, but the Indy Juneteenth Festival and Parade will celebrate its seventh year on Saturday, June 15.

The holiday is celebrated on June 19 to honor the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Texas to tell more than 250,000 people still held in bondage that they were now free.

Festival founder James Webb tells News 8 that he began celebrating Juneteenth at home with his family and some frat brothers, but word began to spread and the festival continues to grow.

“It was originally just a barbecue. We invited some friends over and we told them a little bit about their own history and their culture and the people we just so shocked.”

Webb says that for a long time, many African Americans didn’t celebrate Juneteenth because “a group of African Americans trying to gather would sometimes lead to a lot of trauma.”

“Out of fear and protection for their young ones, they never even talked about it. They moved to the north from the south and they didn’t bring it with them. There’s a reason you don’t know about Juneteenth,” Webb explained.

Now, Webb is creating economic growth in the Circle City by celebrating freedom. He says he expects more than 15,000 people to attend this year’s festival, which starts with a parade.

“The whole event is presented by Old National Bank on the Republic Airways main stage. 90s legend R&B group Kut Klose will be headlining. There will be a huge kids zone with games and rides, trampolines that shoot them all the way up in the air and bounce houses. All sorts of stuff. We also have over 175 regular vendors and we have over 40 food vendors.”

Webb says attendees should expect lots of red food, including cake.

“Our ancestors, when they were enslaved, they couldn’t get sweets because they didn’t have sugar, so they had to find other ways to sweeten cakes and pies and teas for the kids. The hibiscus flower is one of the ways to do that — then you had that bright red color, then poof! The red velvet cake was invented.”

The parade begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 15, at the intersection of Indiana and Blackford avenues. The Indy Juneteenth Celebration — featuring a performance by Kut Klose — begins at noon at Military Park in downtown Indy.

There is still time to get involved. The nonprofit is still accepting sponsorships, volunteers, vendors and parade participants.