What we saw at a joyous Juneteenth parade, despite the heat

Denver's summer is already hot, and it's not just the temperature. The nation and world are in turmoil. On Saturday, the city's streets filled with people protesting the federal government.

But Denver saw a joyful march on Sunday despite the swelter. It was the city's annual Juneteenth parade, which has roots in Five Points that go back decades.

MiDian Shofner leads a chant of Jalin Seabron's name, as Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership marches in Denver's annual Juneteenth parade down 26th Avenue. June 15, 2025.

MiDian Shofner led one of the only groups carrying a message of protest. Members and allies of her organization, Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership, carried a sign that read "someone was lynched in your city" and chanted the names of Jalin Seabron and Kilyn Lewis, Black men who were killed by police in Aurora and Douglas County.

Veronica Seabron chants her son Jalin's name as she marches with Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership in Denver's annual Juneteenth parade. June 15, 2025.

She was thinking about injustice in Denver and nationwide, but Shofner said that existential context didn't change how celebrating Juneteenth felt.

"It might feel different in the way that people observe it," she said. "But one thing that I love about our people is that whatever is happening around us, we still gather, and we gather the same way. We gather authentically and we bring all of our stories together."

Lona (13) flies with the TNT Soldierettes in Denver's annual Juneteenth parade. June 15, 2025.

Juneteenth, Shofner and others said, is inherently political. The holiday celebrates not the end of American slavery in 1863, but a moment two years later when that news finally reached enslaved African-Americans in Texas.

"It's good to have an experience like this right now," Michael Simmons, a lifelong Park Hill resident, told us. "We really enjoy the fact that people are really excited about seeing something like this, with all the stuff that's going on in the world right now."

Sage (9, from right), Kasana (7) and Kali (9) show off swag they've gotten in Denver's annual Juneteenth parade as they watch along 26th Avenue. June 15, 2025.

26th Avenue vibrated with dance and drums as hundreds marched west into Five Points. They thew candy into crowds gathered in the shade. They cheered and hollered.

Marshel McFalls, who marched with the American Legion, said the holiday was important because it showed "how far we've come" since the 1800s. Joseph Thomas, who's been with the American Legion for 72 years, said the parade demonstrated how far local celebrations had come since they began here in the 1950s.

"I can't remember that far back, my first Juneteenth in Denver," he laughed. "They didn't have all this."

The Juneteenth Music Festival on Welton Street. June 15, 2025.

But others said that 2025's parade was different from recent celebrations. The Juneteenth Music Festival went down to one day this year, the result of funding shortages. 13-year-old Leilani Hayes, who danced with the Platinum Divaz, said the crowds felt thin.

"There were way more people the last couple years," she said.

Rauniyiah (10) and the Platinum Divaz perform in Denver's annual Juneteenth parade on 26th Avenue. June 15, 2025.

But that was OK, she and others told us. It mattered more that they were out here, in the heat, celebrating their history.

"Me and my sisters get to come out here and show that," Hayes said. "We started bringing a lot to the table this year, and I feel like it's still going to be fun. I just think it looks a little different."