BY RONNY MAYE
JUNETEENTH WAS AROUND long before it was named a federal holiday in 2021. For more than a century, Black Americans have celebrated this day with families, friends, neighbors, and religious groups to commemorate the abolishment of slavery, acknowledge its tragedies, and honor the pursuit of freedom for all. Now more and more people from other cultural backgrounds are participating, and the celebrations are getting bigger. If you’re looking to join the festivities, here are five cities that helped bring the holiday the attention it deserves.
Galveston, Texas
Head to the birthplace of Juneteenth, which marks the date (June 19, 1865) when the Union Army general Gordon Granger and his troops read General Order No. 3 throughout the city, informing the people enslaved in Texas that they were free. (The Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, but it took years for word to reach all enslaved people, as enslavers often kept the news to themselves.) In honor of that day, Galveston hosts a yearly reading of the Emancipation Proclamation at the historic Ashton Villa mansion, one of the locations where the order was announced. Plan to be there on June 19 by 10 a.m., and give yourself time to check out And Still We Rise…Galveston’s Juneteenth Story, a long-running exhibit that details the city’s history ($10 for adults, $5 for kids; children 5 and under are free).
Another significant event: the annual Juneteenth Family Fun Day Block Party at the Reedy Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 19 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The church has been a haven for the Black community in Galveston since the mid-1800s, when there were limited spaces for them to worship. After learning of their freedom in 1865, people marched from the county courthouse to the church. You can pay homage to the past by re-creating the walk, which concludes with a service at the church. At the block party, you’ll find live entertainment from local dance groups and singers, food from restaurants in town, and vendors selling their crafts and goods.
Be sure to download the Visit Galveston app (free; iOS and Android) and take the African American History Tour. It’s a self-guided walk that includes five of the historically significant Juneteenth markers in town—Reedy Chapel included.
Philadelphia
West Philly has held an annual Juneteenth parade since 2016, and it’s now one of the largest of its kind, most recently drawing more than 25,000 attendees. This year, the event is on June 16 at noon, and the 11∕2-mile route ends at Malcolm X Park, where you can fill the day with some family-friendly fun. From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., catch some tunes at the Juneteenth Music Festival. Between sets, browse the marketplace, where artists and business owners sell items like pottery, watercolors, handcrafted jewelry, and more. If you have little ones, head to the Juneteenth Youth Pavilion, with special activities for kids.
Also, visit the Johnson House, one of Philadelphia’s few remaining sites from the Underground Railroad. Take a tour of the home ($15 for adults, $5 for children; schedule a week in advance) and learn about William Still, one of the best-known abolitionists, who helped free hundreds of enslaved people and attended meetings in the space. On June 15, the Johnson House will hold a Juneteenth Festival, including special tours, food trucks, and panel discussions on social issues.
New Orleans
Congo Square is known as the birthplace of jazz among music lovers, yet not too many people are familiar with the backstory of the site. During the early to mid-19th century, the former open-air market, located in Louis Armstrong Park, was one of the few places where enslaved people could come together and make music. In the square on June 19 from 1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., you’ll get to enjoy music from the African diaspora and see West African and Afro-Cuban dancing. You can also take part in the community marriage ceremony to renew your vows or get hitched for the first time! (For more info, visit nolajuneteenthfestival.org/vowexchange.)
Consider making a stop at the Whitney Plantation, a nonprofit museum less than an hour from the city that explores the history of slavery. The museum, which is located on the site of former sugar and indigo crops, offers guided tours ($32 for adults, $15 for children) and audio tours ($25 for adults, $11 for children) that give you a remarkable, and enraging, look at the roles enslaved people had on the property, their living quarters, and their day-to-day lives at the hands of their ruthless enslavers.
Milwaukee
Though Galveston is the birthplace of Juneteenth, Milwaukee has one of the oldest-known and longest-running official Juneteenth celebrations in the United States—still, sadly, only dating back to 1971. The city’s Jubilee Parade and Street Festival kicks off at 8 a.m. on June 19, when thousands of people are expected to come together for a display of floats, dancing, and musical performances, including some local high school marching bands.
The festival spans several blocks in the Harambee neighborhood, about 15 minutes from downtown Milwaukee, and features something for everyone in the family. The kids zone will have carnival rides, a petting zoo, and pony rides; the teen zone will include basketball, Hula-Hoop contests, and spoken-word performances; and the seniors area will have bingo, chairs, and a DJ.
After the festivities, take a trip to the Wisconsin Black Historical Society, a museum that’s dedicated to preserving Wisconsin’s African American heritage. Tours need to be booked in advance at wbhsm.org ($10 for adults and children).
Los Angeles
On the West Coast, Black Americans have gathered informally with food in Leimart Park Village on Juneteenth for decades—ever since Los Angeles resident Jonathan Leonard began hosting celebrations there in the 1940s. His grassroots events helped inspire the large-scale Leimert Park Rising Juneteenth Celebration, starting in 2018. Since then, nearly 300 Black-owned businesses and musical artists have gathered across six stages for a day of honoring Black culture through art, music, and food. For more info about this year’s event, visit leimertparkjuneteenth.com.
That night, you can go to the Hollywood Bowl amphitheater, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, to see rapper T-Pain with a full orchestra and a few special surprise guests. Or spend some time on the sand at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro for the annual Juneteenth Fireworks Spectacular. The show starts at 8:30 p.m. Get there early to snag a spot.
Illustrations by Tequitia Andrews