For the first time, an annual Juneteenth Black Culture Celebration will be held in Vancouver to celebrate Black excellence, contributions and culture. Black Culture Celebration (BCC) is the group hosting the free outdoor festival at Sunset Beach for all ages Sunday. In 2020, thousands of people gathered to march for Juneteenth and Emancipation Day, which was organized by BCC. However, this year, the founder of the group, Nova Stevens, says she wanted the change the narrative and celebrate Black Canadians, past, present and future. “The world is not perfect. There are still systemically things that are in place that we as a country need to work on, as a world need to work on. But it starts with celebrating the little things, little wins,” she told CityNews. “There are things that we can celebrate and it’s OK to celebrate while simultaneously fighting for your rights. “Just because you celebrate does not mean that you are by any means accepting how things are. It just means that we’re human beings, we’re multi-dimensional, we can express different emotions. ” Related Articles: Juneteenth rally, march draws thousands to downtown Vancouver Black Americans living abroad reflect on Juneteenth Stevens adds that she wants to evolve from the pain, hurt and mourning stages and recognize the contributions Black people have made to the world to remind all generations of the vast strides the community has made. “Black culture, Black history pertains way well past slavery. And it’s OK for you to recognize the little things we’ve accomplished and the major ones. ” Juneteenth commemorates the effective end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865. While it is an American holiday, Stevens explains that many Canadians have roots in America or have relatives south of the border. She emphasizes these connections prove the importance of recognizing the day’s significance in Canada and worldwide. “Juneteenth is all about celebrating freedom, culture, togetherness, family unity. We don’t want it to be a dying tradition,” she said. In particular this year, Stevens says she wants to highlight “Black Lives Matter is not a social trend. ” This weekend event will also showcase Indigenous artists and contributions. Stevens says this was important to organizers as the Indigenous community similarly fights for rights and equality. “We can’t celebrate and scream equality if we don’t include our brothers and sisters that are Indigenous,” she said. “This is their land. We have been blessed to live in their land. We are here because of them. So it’s important that we not only recognize us, but also them as well. We share similar stories, we share similar fights in the system. So we did not want to exclude them. So the highlight is Black and Indigenous. ” Read More: Juneteenth, recalling end of slavery, is marked across U. S. Families speak out against police violence at BLM Toronto Juneteenth event in Ottawa EXPLAINER: The story of Juneteenth, the new federal holiday   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by BLACK CULTURE CELEBRATION (@bccvancity) Stevens is encouraging non-Black people to also attend Sunday’s event to celebrate Black culture, so Black people are not left to recognize the communities’ contributions alone. “It’s about celebrating Blackness, Black excellence, Black contributions, especially in terms of culture. Culturally, we have impacted the world in terms of arts, music, fashion,” she explained. “So that’s what this whole celebration is about. It’s about celebration, celebrating our contributions to the world. It’s about celebrating us as people. It’s about celebrating with our brothers and sisters that may not be Black. ”   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by BLACK CULTURE CELEBRATION (@bccvancity) While it’s free to attend, donations are encouraged as the event is self-funded, Stevens says. Donations go towards paying for event operations and fair payment to artists. The Juneteenth Black Culture Celebration starts at 12 p. m. and ends at 8 p. m. at Sunset Beach, located at 1204 Beach Avenue. .