Vibrant colors, music and joy filled the air in Denver for the Juneteeth holiday weekend.

Denver’s annual Juneteenth parade started Saturday morning at Manual High School, with marchers traveling about a mile down East 26th Avenue to the Five Points neighborhood, the site of the Juneteenth Music Festival.

Sidewalks along the parade route were packed with spectators. Families staked out spots with folding chairs and umbrellas as they cheered on the marchers, who ranged from Denver-area police and fire departments, to political candidates, to sports mascots, to local organizations, to swarms of young dancers to people waving the American flag, Colorado flag and Pan-African Flag. A Donald Trump impersonator was even spotted walking through the crowd, taking pictures with parade spectators.

Music filled the air, complementing the vibrant displays of green, red and black banners, balloons and flags. Marchers tossed fun-sized candies to spectators, who cheered as dancers performed stepping routines.

Kerry Finkley watched the parade with his daughter, Kerielle Wilson, 8. He said it was his first time going to the parade since moving to the Denver area four years ago.

“I wish I could have came the other four years I stayed here,” Finkley said. “I love this, man. I love the unity, the celebration and the freedom. It’s an important time for us.”

Finkley said he loves seeing the community come together to enjoy a nice summer day and celebrate Juneteenth. Wilson agreed, and said she loved spending time with her dad at the parade, but also admitted she liked collecting candy from the parade marchers.

“I just wanted to get some candy,” she said.

The music festival in the Five Points neighborhood was headlined by two-time Grammy Award nominee SiR. Welton Street from 29th to 24th streets turned into a three-day long block party to celebrate the holiday.

Juneteenth, while always popular in the Black community, has been gaining in popularity in recent years since becoming a federal holiday in 2021. The day commemorates the day when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865 to inform the last enslaved people that they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation.

Denver’s Juneteenth Parade is billed as being the longest-running annual parade in Denver, first held in the 1950s. Organizers estimate about 5,000 people march in the parade each year, while the music festival draws over 100 vendors.