WILLIAMSBURG — Juneteenth will be celebrated with a weeklong series of events in greater Williamsburg, the Juneteenth Community Consortium announced.
Juneteenth is the federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, marking the date in 1865 when federal forces arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved people there that they had been freed more than two years prior by President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
Local Juneteenth events are coordinated by the Juneteenth Community Consortium, a coalition of more than a dozen organizations in Williamsburg and James City and York counties.
Planned events:
- NAACP Juneteenth Community Fest, Saturday, June 14, 1-5 p.m. at Freedom Park, 5537 Centerville Road, Williamsburg, sponsored by the York-James City-Williamsburg NAACP and James City Parks and Recreation. The event will feature live music, readings, performances and a presentation on the history of Juneteenth in Freedom Park. Food will be available for purchase. Admission is free.
- Fourth annual York County Juneteenth celebration, Saturday, June 14, 5:30-9 p.m. at McReynolds Athletic Complex, 412 Sports Way, Yorktown. This alcohol-free, family-friendly event will feature guest speakers, special presentations, performances, family activities, food trucks and music by the Slapnation Band at 7 p.m. Admission is free.
- Colonial Williamsburg Juneteenth Sunrise Service, Sunday, June 15, 6-7 a.m. in the Virginia Room at the Williamsburg Lodge. Daniel Black, award-winning novelist, professor and public speaker, will give the keynote address. Admission is free.
- The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation will offer free admission on Sunday, June 15, 1-5 p.m. at Jamestown Settlement, 2110 Jamestown Road, Williamsburg. Highlights include a film shedding light on African-American contributions to the river life of early America and a kayak paddle on the James River at 3:30 p.m. Participants must be at least 15 years old. Cost is $35 per person. Kayaks and life jackets will be provided. Register here.
- Screening of “Ancestral Artistry,” a film about the influence of Africans and Creoles of color on Louisiana architecture, Tuesday, June 17, 7-8:30 p.m. at the Kimball Theater, 428 W. Duke of Gloucester St., Williamsburg. Admission is free.
- William & Mary Juneteenth Commemoration, Wednesday, June 18, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Sadler Center, featuring performers, vendors and more. Admission is free.
- Freedom Song Sing-Along, Wednesday, June 18, 1-2 p.m. in Hennage Auditorium at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. Admission is free.
- Black Texas Tales, Wednesday, June 18, 3-4 p.m. in Hennage Auditorium at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. Storyteller Sheila Arnold will share stories of Black Texans as their freedom began on June 19, 1865. Admission is free.
- Screening of the film “First Class: The Decision and The Remarkable Story of Apostle Fields,” Wednesday, June 18, 7-8 p.m. at the Kimball Theatre, 428 W. Duke of Gloucester St., Williamsburg. A Q&A with the filmmakers will follow the film. Admission is free.
- Groundbreaking for the African Baptist Meeting House, Thursday, June 19, 9-10 a.m., Nassau Street, Colonial Williamsburg.
- Opening of the Williamsburg Bray School, Thursday, June 19, 10-11 a.m., Nassau Street, Colonial Williamsburg.
- Darryl Reeves, Master Blacksmith, Thursday, June 19, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Public Armory in Colonial Williamsburg. Talks and demonstrations by a third-generation metalworker from New Orleans.
- Answer the Call Drum Circle, Thursday, June 19, 11:30 a.m.-noon at the St. George Tucker House in Colonial Williamsburg.
- Juneteenth Freedom Celebration hosted by the Village Initiative, Thursday, June 19, noon-7 p.m. at the Williamsburg Community Building, 401 N. Boundary St., Williamsburg. The event will feature a parade, celebrity hip hop artist/DJ Grand Master Dee of the chart-topping group Whodini, an African attire fashion show, a children’s entertainment center, the Black Authors Circle, drummers and more. Admission is free.
- Preview of the fourth annual Juneteenth Commemorative Art Exhibition: Stitched Stories of Strength, Thursday, June 19, 1-5 p.m. at the Stryker Center, 412 N. Boundary St., Williamsburg.
- Voices of Freedom: Songs and Stories from the Underground Railroad, Thursday, June 19, 1-2:30 p.m. at the Kimball Theatre, 428 W. Duke of Gloucester St., Williamsburg. Admission is free.
- Albert Durant Photography, Thursday, June 19, 1-5 p.m. at the Stryker Center, 412 N. Boundary St., Williamsburg. Durant, Williamsburg’s first city-licensed African-American photographer, created a visual history of the African-American community in Williamsburg and the surrounding area from the late 1930s to the early 1960s. Admission is free.
- A Taste of Freedom, Thursday, June 19, 3-4 p.m. in Hennage Auditorium at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, telling the stories of enslaved people who escaped to freedom at Fort Monroe. At 1:30 p.m., learn the story of one of those enslaved people, Americus Weston, and his journey to freedom. Admission is free.
- Opening reception, fourth annual Juneteenth Commemorative Art Exhibition: Stitched Stories of Strength, Friday, June 20, 5-7 p.m. at the Stryker Center, 412 N. Boundary St., Williamsburg. Admission is free.
- Fourth annual Journey to Racial Healing ceremony, Saturday, June 21, 1-4 p.m. at the Stryker Center, 412 N. Boundary St., Williamsburg, presented by the Virginia Racial Healing Institute. Featured speakers will be Charles Holman, whose ancestors were enslaved by ancestors of former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, and Bill Sizemore, a retired journalist who wrote a book about his slaveowning ancestors and those they enslaved. Refreshments will be served; admission is free. Register here.
More details are available here. For more information about the Juneteenth Consortium, visit Juneteenthcc.org.
