Fri 6/19 @ 7-10PM

Juneteenth, the holiday celebrating when the union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to let the last group of enslaved people know that they were free, has in recent years broken out of the Black community, where it’s always been celebrated to be widely recognized across cultures. So now the calendar is packed with a wide variety of Juneteenth events for all types of audiences.

If you’re a fan of spoken word/performance poetry, this weekend at Akron’s Rialto Theatre at the Angry Cow Poetry Juneteenth Celebration, you have the opportunity to hear from ten poets from Akron and Cleveland, Chicago and Baltimore — some names you’ll know, some you won’t. DJ Verb will host the event which  includes performances by Columbus’ Artistic Genius; Cleveland storyteller/arts educator Avery LaMar Pope; Chicago rasta spoken word artist Billy Tuggle; Youngstown native and winner of Cleveland Arts Prize’s 2018 Verge ward for breakout artists of color Damien McClendon; Cleveland poet Ephraim Nehemiah; Cleveland multidisciplinary artist Mixxed Rose, former Heights Arts poet laureate Siaara Freeman; Zuggie Tate, a transgender poet who received the 2025 Verge Prize; NE Ohio poet/visual artist Essence; and poet/author/filmmaker Keith Allison who curates monthly spoken word events at the Rialto Theatre.

And before they go on at 8 on the Main Stage, you have the chance to add your own words at an open mic at 7pm in the Living Room. The Rialto Living Room opens at 5pm for drinks and food. Get tickets here.

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