Here are 9 ways to celebrate Juneteenth in Central Florida

For more than 150 years, June 19 has been a day to celebrate the end of slavery in the United States.

Communities across the country will be marking the day when in 1865 slaves in Texas learned that they, and all other slaves in the US, had been granted freedom.

And Central Florida is no exception.

Over the next two weekends, cities and towns across the area have planned festivities for residents to participate in the celebration.

READ: Juneteenth: What is it; what to know about the holiday that celebrates slavery’s end

Read on to find an upcoming Juneteenth event near you.

BREVARD COUNTY

Cocoa Arts & Cultural Celebration

Features live entertainment, food trucks, vendors, and a local legend display inside the Civic Center.

  • Dates: June 10

  • Time: 10 am to 5 pm

  • Location: Cocoa Riverfront Park, 401 Riveredge Boulevard, Cocoa, FL 32922

LAKE COUNTY

City of Groveland Juneteenth Celebration

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Iwao Takamoto – The Japanese Artist Who Designed Your Childhood

Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Charlotte’s Web. Besides making up the childhoods of people across four generations, the one thing that animated classics have in common is Japanese-American producer, director and animator Iwao Takamoto, who worked on all of them. After his death on January 8, 2007, Takamoto was briefly honored by various news sites for his iconic work for Disney, Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros., yet sadly, he remains relatively unknown today. Let’s try to change that.

The Animation King

When it came to animated movies and cartoons, it seemed like there was nothing Takamoto couldn’t do. In 1945, he started working for Walt Disney Animation Studios, where he finished the rough animation for cinderella, did quality control for Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty and oversaw the first full-scale use of xerography (where animators’ drawings were copied

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Police Catch Suspect in Nagano Rampage that Left Four Dead

In this week’s news roundup, we report on the violent rampage that took place in Japan’s central Nagano region yesterday. Four people died in the attack, including two female civilians and two police officers. The suspect, who used a knife and a hunting rifle, has been identified as Masanori Aoki, 31, the eldest son of Masamichi Aoki, an assembly speaker in Nakano city, where the incident occurred. After an hour-long standoff, he eventually surrendered in the early hours of Friday morning.

Also this week, we look back at the G7 summit in Hiroshima where Volodymyr Zelenskyy stole the show. A frog was discovered in a man’s takeaway salad udon cup in Nagasaki. And Tina Turner, the “Queen of rock ‘n’ roll,” passed away aged 83. One of the world’s most popular entertainers, one thing many people didn’t know about her was the fact that she was an adherent of Soka

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Ron DeSantis outlines a travel campaign

CONCORD, N.H. –

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday sought to push past an embarrassing beginning to his presidential campaign, outlining an aggressive travel schedule as his allies insisted they remain well funded and well positioned for a long Republican primary fight ahead.

While DeSantis supporters privately acknowledged the bungled announcement was an unwelcome distraction, there was a broad sense — even among some Republican critics — that it would likely have limited long-term political consequences, if any at all.

“Do they wish they could do it over again? Probably,” said David Oman, who managed two top-tier presidential campaigns in Iowa. “Will we be talking about it in 10 days? Probably not.”

DeSantis formally launched his campaign Wednesday night during an online conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk. But the audio stream crashed repeatedly, making it difficult for most users to hear the announcement in real time.

On Thursday, the

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On This Day: The Start of the J-League

On this day 30 years ago, a crowd of nearly 60,000 packed into Tokyo’s National Stadium to watch the first-ever J-League match. It ended with Yokohama Marinos defeating Verdy Kawasaki 2-1, but this was about much more than a single game. It was a historic occasion that will never be forgotten by those who were lucky enough to get tickets. A sport previously played by semi-pros here in front of a pitiful crowd had finally gone professional. This was a new beginning, and the Japanese people were ready.

Six months earlier, Japan hosted the Asian Cup and went on to win it for the first time. It was a significant victory. They’d only previously qualified for one tournament, in 1988, when they finished bottom of their group. Momentum was building. Growing up, wannabe soccer players only had characters from the manga Captain Tsubasa to look up to. Now they had

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