Join Mayor Derrick Henry and members of the Juneteenth Festival Committee as they declare Juneteenth Independence Day in Daytona Beach during a brief ceremony at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 16 on the front steps of City Hall, 301 S. Ridgewood Ave. The city has sponsored the annual recognition of Juneteenth for more than 20 years. "Juneteenth” is a combination of the words June and nineteenth and has been celebrated by the African-American community for more than 150 years. It was the day, in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Texas and freed the slaves. The announcement came two-and-a-half-years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.