The official celebration of Juneteenth falls on a Wednesday this year, but events are spread across the days leading up to the federal holiday. Here are 13 opportunities to celebrate across the D.C. area.
Saturday, June 15
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Juneteenth 2024 at Watkins Regional Park
The Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation throws its Juneteenth 2024 celebration at Watkins Regional Park in Upper Marlboro. Visitors can immerse themselves in living history demonstrations, help paint murals or join dance lessons. Entertainment includes the Chuck Brown Band and Trouble Funk, while vendors sell food, drinks and crafts. Noon to 5 p.m. Free.
Freedom at the Rock at BlackRock Center for the Arts
Montgomery County’s 27-year-old Juneteenth festival returns to the BlackRock Center for the Arts on Saturday for Freedom at the Rock, a day-long concert that includes Secret Society; DuPont Brass; Trouble Funk; and “Black Broadway on U,” a tribute to Duke Ellington’s 125th birthday with vocalist Deborah Bond. Beyond the music, multiple stages feature dance performances and workshops, documentary screenings and record vendors. Noon to 10 p.m. Free.
Sunday, June 16
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Juneteenth Brewbilee at Arts Herndon
Henry Simms, a blacksmith who escaped slavery to become Herndon’s first Black business owner, is celebrated at Herndon’s Juneteenth party. At noon, historian Barbara Glakas shares Simms’s story before the main event: a beer tasting featuring Black-owned beers from Soul Mega, Urban Garden, Liquid Intrusion, Black Beauty, Black Viking, Joyhound and Virginia’s Bitter Fruit. Tickets include either 10 tastes ($20) or unlimited beers, a T-shirt and beers to take home ($40). Taps flow until 7 p.m., when the NuPop Jazz Cabaret with Al Robertson and Carolina concert begins. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Beer tasting from 1 to 5 p.m. Free-$40.
Tuesday, June 18
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Juneteenth at the National Archives
The National Archives holds the two documents central to Juneteenth: The Emancipation Proclamation, in which President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed all enslaved people in Confederate states “are, and henceforward shall be free” as of Jan. 1, 1863, and General Order No. 3, which Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issued in Galveston, Tex., on June 19, 1865, informing all enslaved people that they were now free. The two historic papers are on display side by side in the Archives’ East Rotunda Gallery for three days only. Through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Free.
Wednesday, June 19
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Juneteenth Freedom Celebration at the Anacostia Community Museum
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The Smithsonian’s Anacostia outpost features live performances all day, including Noochie and Too Much Talent Band; outdoor food trucks and games; and a chance to tour the exhibition “A Bold and Beautiful Vision: A Century of Black Arts Education in Washington, D.C., 1900-2000.” 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free.
Scotland Juneteenth Heritage Festival
The Scotland community, founded by formerly enslaved people in Potomac in the 1870s and 1880s, hosts its second Juneteenth Heritage Festival with events in Cabin John Park and Cabin John Village, including a parade, a classic car show, a talent show, a Children’s Caribbean Carnival, history lectures, a 5K race, a baseball game and a food court, capped by a fireworks show. 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Free.
‘We Move In Color: See and Feel the Journey’ at the Kennedy Center
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“We Move In Color: See and Feel the Journey” uses African drumming, traditional and modern dance styles, original music, poetry, and multimedia art to portray the African American experience from pre-colonial Africa through slavery, the great migration and modern life. It’s presented on the Millennium Stage. 6 p.m. Free.
Juneteenth for the City at Bread for the City
D.C. nonprofit Bread for the City hosts the Juneteenth for the City block party at its Michelle Obama Southeast Center in Anacostia, with live music, marching bands, double Dutch and other games, food trucks, and a marketplace of Black-owned businesses. 1 to 6 p.m. Free.
A Juneteenth Holiday Celebration in Alexandria
Alexandria’s Juneteenth events, which run from Friday through June 22, peak on Wednesday with a celebration in the historic Market Square including a performance by the Washington Revels Jubilee Voices, an ensemble that uses historic songs and spoken word to share the Black experience, and storytelling with Oumie and Van Di Galloway. City museums, including the Freedom House Museum, are open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 1:30 p.m. Free; museums charge admission for nonresidents.
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Juneteenth in the District at Bryant Street
Health is the focus at this day-long event sponsored by the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation’s FitDC. Programs include a yoga and meditation session with a sound bath, a high-energy boot camp workout, and a cardio session set to Afrobeats. After you sweat, there’s a drum line, live go-go, DJs, a vendor market and happy hour co*cktails. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free.
Juneteenth at National Harbor
On Juneteenth, National Harbor features a “Freedom Day” marketplace with Black makers and vendors; a community drummer’s circle; and a cultural showcase with Prince George’s County poet laureate Saniya Pearson, the Eleanor Roosevelt High School step team and the band Secret Society. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Free.
‘Buck and the Preacher’ at AFI Silver
Sidney Poitier directed and starred in this 1972 western, which the American Film Institute says “blends together a trenchant sense of history, a civil rights movement consciousness and some Blaxploitation entertainment value.” Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee co-star. AFI Silver is showing the film free on Juneteenth, though anyone reserving tickets must be in their seats 15 minutes before showtime or risk losing them. Noon. Free.
Juneteenth Celebration at Olney Theatre
Rey Smith of the Sandy Spring Slave Museum and dancers from Silver Spring’s Urban Artistry, a collective focused on performing and teaching urban styles, are featured at Omi’s Pavilion, Olney Theatre’s outdoor stage. Arrive early to browse vendors or purchase soul food from a food truck. 5 p.m. Free; reservations required.
