Grand Lawn
8. The Grand LawnThe former site of the picnic grounds is now used for Movies in the Tre, concerts, and festivals. It also serves as gallery space for ever-changing visual arts presentations. The park is also used for annual Juneteenth celebrations that began here nearly 150 years ago. Another annual celebrated event was De-Ro-Loc No-Tsu-Oh, which spells “Colored Houston” backwards. The festival originated in the fall of 1909, after Blacks were no longer welcome at the White No-Tsu-Oh event. De-Ro-Loc No-Tsu-Oh featured a King “La-Yol E-Civ-Res,”, which spelled “Service” and “Loyal” backwards, flower parades, educational and industrial programs, football games between two leading Black colleges, and also honored formerly enslaved Blacks.
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The Grand Lawn