A kids train rolls through last year’s Juneteenth Festival in Chicago’s West Pullman neighborhood. This year’s event will be from 1-6 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot of Maple Park Marketplace, 821 W. 115th St., Chicago. (Provided photos)

The nonprofit Far South Community Development Corp. will hold its annual Juneteenth Festival from 1-6 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot of Maple Park Marketplace, 821 W. 115^th St., Chicago.

The free all-ages event celebrates the Juneteenth holiday by inviting Far South Side communities for an afternoon of music, food from local Black-owned restaurants, small business and housing workshops, and a resource vending fair, including social services, housing and government agencies. Featured restaurants include Harold’s Chicken, The Cajun Connoisseur, Whadda Jerk and Rainbow Cone.

For information on the West Pullman event, visit farsouthcdc.org/festivals.

Free registration is encouraged for the festival and required for the housing and business workshops on site.

Far South Community Development Corp. is an organization that provides community-building services to residents and businesses across Chicago’s Far South Side neighborhoods and south suburban Cook County.

Performers take to the stage during last year’s Juneteenth Festival.

The organization is working to redevelop the Maple Park Marketplace shopping plaza at Halsted and 115^th streets, including the former Aldi and Walgreens sites with plans to bring in a restaurant, health center and grocery store. Maple Park Marketplace is across the street from Far South CDC’s 12-acre Morgan Park Commons mixed-use housing development. Both sites are situated along the South Halsted Commercial Corridor at the borders of the West Pullman, Morgan Park and Roseland neighborhoods.

Morgan Park Commons and Maple Park Marketplace are part of Far South CDC’s Bringing Communities Back Initiative to re-purpose nearly 1 million square feet of blighted community area into community anchors that will spur economic growth and repopulate communities on Chicago’s Far South Side that have experienced decades of chronic disinvestment.

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday on the Juneteenth Festival grounds, Far South CDC will offer free housing workshops and assistance for renters and first-time home buyers, including an estate planning clinic, free solar and weatherization solutions, Habitat homes purchasing process, and on-site home loan qualification.

A child enjoys her time at the 2022 Juneteeth Festival.

A free small business workshop, “Getting Ready for the Money,” will be held from noon to 1 p.m. For new or existing small-business owners, Far South CDC will provide a step-by-step guide to preparing businesses for financial success, including business structure, taxes, credit, bookkeeping, and organizing documents.

To register for Far South CDC’s free housing and small business workshops during the Juneteenth Festival on Saturday, visit farsouthcdc.org/festivals.

Sponsors of the Juneteeth Festival are Special Service Area 45, the city of Chicago, 21st Ald. Ronny Mosley, state Sen. Emil Jones III and state Rep. Justin Slaughter.