TULSA, Okla. — The woman behind Tulsa's Juneteenth Festival is determined to prove that tragedy won't stop the community from celebrating together, though, this year's event will look different.
Lauren Corbitt Evans has been executive director of the Tulsa Juneteenth Festival for four years, following in the footsteps of her mother who created the celebration.
WATCH: Juneteenth festival returns with new safety measures after 2025 shooting
None of her experience prepared her for what happened on June 21, 2025.
What started as a fight during the 2025 festival escalated into a shooting that injured seven people and killed 22-year-old Isaiah Knight.
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"He was their baby. He was their soul. He was their child. He was their heart, and he is not here," Tammye Randle, Knight's aunt told 2 News in the days after his death.
For Evans, whose family created the festival and who has years of her career to running it, the violence was devastating. Especially, after losing her own mother to gun violence.
"It was very hard to walk through that, to experience that and to also feel the weight of the responsibility of making sure this is a safe environment and a space that people can come and enjoy and celebrate together," said Evans.
The 2026 festival will implement significant security changes. For the first time in the event's history, attendees must register online in advance.
The festival grounds will be enclosed with perimeter fencing, and all bags will be checked at entry points. Security personnel also will ensure prohibited items don't make it inside the celebration area.
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Evans grew up watching her mother build the Juneteenth celebration from the ground up.
"As I grew older and understood more about what she was doing and why she was doing it, I saw the purpose and now there's purpose for me," she said.
That sense of purpose has only strengthened after last year's tragedy.
"I wanted to come back and really show the community, show the nation that we can still celebrate together in a safe way," Evans said.
Despite the new security measures, community interest remains strong. Evans says more than 10,000 people have already registered for Saturday's festival.
For Evans, continuing the festival represents more than just tradition — it's a statement that violence won't define or destroy what her family built and what the community cherishes.
Tulsa police posted Juneteenth road closures:
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