Sat 6/18 @ noon-10PM
Once upon a (very recent) time, Juneteenth was a celebration largely unknown outside the Black community. It marked the day in 1865 when union troops arrived in Texas and told the slaves there that they were now free — the last to be freed.
Just in the last few years, community-wide Juneteenth events have started to crop up in great numbers, and it was just last year that the city of Cleveland held its first “Freedom Festival” on Mall C to mark the day.
That event returns this year, an all-day festival of music, dance, spoken word and other performances, interactive art, a roller rink, local Black vendors, speakers, community activism, and of course food and drink. The family-friendly festival will be headlined by national recording artists, jazz trumpet player Keyon Harrold and progressive soul vocalist Bilal, as well as local smooth jazz ensemble Hubb’s Groove and performers from Cleveland’s Karamu House, who explosive performances were the highlight of last year’s festival.
The festival is free and open to the whole community.