Free Juneteenth Freedom Fest set for Fate park this month

EmpowerED Outreach will bring a free Juneteenth Freedom Fest to Robert Smith Family Park in Fate on Saturday, June 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. CST, after the City of Fate approved the event following more than a year of planning.

The celebration will be free and open to the public, with EmpowerED Outreach describing it as a family-friendly gathering centered on freedom, culture, history, unity and community connection. Organizers say the day is meant to give Rockwall County families a nearby place to mark Juneteenth without a ticket price or long drive, while turning the park into a local meeting point for children, parents and neighbors.

Sponsorship support is intended to cover the free admission, entertainment, therapy-awareness booths, hydration stations and children’s activities. Those pieces give the event a practical community purpose as well as a ceremonial one, making it as much about access and gathering as commemoration.

Robert Smith Family Park, at 1220 CD Boren Parkway, offers a setting built for a large public turnout. The park includes a splash pad, disc golf, a 3/4-mile lit walking trail, basketball court, pickleball courts, playgrounds, pavilion, grills, restrooms and a free outdoor Fitness Court. The amenities make the site one of Fate’s most active public spaces and a natural fit for a summer family event expected to draw residents from across the area.

The date carries added meaning. Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston and news of emancipation reached enslaved people in Texas. The holiday became federal law on June 17, 2021, giving the observance national recognition while keeping its roots firmly tied to Texas history.

The park itself also connects the celebration to Fate’s past. The City of Fate says Robert Smith was a local figure who helped fund Fate Presbyterian Church and, with Hamp Adams of Royse City, built a cotton gin that supported local farmers and helped shape the economic, social and political fabric of Fate and Rockwall County. Hosting a Juneteenth festival at a park bearing his name ties the holiday’s broader history to the town’s own story of growth and community memory.