Juneteenth Cultural Festival to Provide Free Festival and Dialysis-Friendly Cooking Demo with Fresenius Medical Care Spokesman and Food Network Star, Aaron McCargo, Jr.

Dallas, TX, June 02, 2012 --(PR.com)-- On Saturday, June 16th 2012, the annual Juneteenth Cultural Festival (http://www.juneteenthdallas.com) will take place at Dallas’ Fair Park. The family-friendly event offers plenty of free, outdoor entertainment for adults and children. The event is sponsored by Fresenius Medical Care, 7-Eleven Inc., KERA 90.1, K104, Old School 94.5 and I Am A Culture Brands. Food Network Star, and Celebrity Chef, Aaron McCargo, Jr. will also be at the event to cook the dialysis friendly recipes he has developed with Fresenius Medical Care. Families can enjoy free bounce houses, climbing walls, mimes and giveaways from the event’s sponsors. This fun and free event promises to engage the Dallas community, while also promoting education and achievement.

To help promote healthy, flavorful diets for dialysis patients, Chef McCargo will put on two live cooking demonstrations to show local dialysis patients, and their friends and families, how to add variety and bold flavor to their diets, so they can enjoy eating, even with the limits placed on them by kidney failure. Aaron McCargo, Jr. won season four of “The Next Food Network Star” in 2008, and his own Food Network show, “Big Daddy’s House,” premiered in August of 2008. In 2011, Aaron partnered with Fresenius Medical Care to inspire people living with chronic kidney disease to live a better life on dialysis by maintaining a healthy diet.

The concert series is an important part of the Juneteenth Cultural Festival. Celebrity Actor/Choreographer/Author/Producer/Philanthropist Darrin Henson (SoulFood TV Series and Stomp the Yard) will be hosting the performance portion of the day’s events. Local performers include Dallas’ own pop sensation Rumill and Hip-Hop standout Anonymous Culture. The concert series will also include R&B, Jazz, Neo-Soul and Rock. The Peterson Brothers Band will be featured too. The band is a group of youth performers introducing Blues to a new generation.

The Juneteenth Cultural Festival’s popular dance troupe showcase and a fashion show is back this year. The dance troupes include: Nykole Ray from Dallas Black Dance Theater, Arga Nova Dance Company, HappyNia Dance Theater Productions, Exhibit Dance Collective and Badan Koro African Dance Company. The fashion show includes designs and styles from African American Texan designers and stylists. Hair and Makeup is 100% local too, featuring Texas’ best cosmetology and barber school stand-outs.

The Juneteenth Cultural Festival starts at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 16th of 2012. The event’s outdoor area is free to the public. Performances will be held inside the band shell. Advance tickets for the band shell are $5.00 for children and adults. Tickets are $5.00 for children and $10.00 for adults when purchased at the door. Tickets can be purchased and a full list of performers, festivities and sponsors can be viewed by visiting: http://www.juneteenthdallas.com.

The Juneteenth Cultural Festival is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. The annual festival commemorates African American freedom. This year Juneteenth is primarily sponsored by Fresenius Medical Care, the nation’s leading network of dialysis facilities, with 38 clinics in the Dallas area . For more information about the company’s more than 1,850 U.S. dialysis facilities, visit www.ultracare-dialysis.com (in English and Spanish).Additional sponsors include 7-Eleven, I Am A Culture Brands, KERA 90.1, K104 and Old School 94.5.