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Clarke County’s fifth annual Juneteenth Celebration begins at noon Saturday, June 20, in Rose Hill Park (31 E. Main St., Berryville). It is a FREE day of live music and dance, special guests, and family fun with exhibits and food vendors, too. This year’s theme is “Building Tomorrow Together.” Your emcees for the afternoon are Allison Seymour – an Emmy award-winning news anchor from WUSA9 TV in Washington, D.C. – and her husband Marc Clarke, a radio legend in Baltimore.
Entertainment includes:
• internationally renowned KanKouran West African Dance & Drum Troupe from Washington, D.C.,
• powerful storytelling by MLA Mime of Washington, D.C.,
• inspiring MLK voice artist Rev. Jeffrey O. Johnson Sr., and
• a local favorite: the Souled Out Band.
The day includes a moon bounce, face painting, and a balloon artist who will make whimsical designs for children. Local vendors will be onsite offering food, crafts, and cultural goods.
Bring chairs or blankets for lawn seating in front of the gazebo. Plenty of FREE parking is available in municipal lots in town and at the Berryville-Clarke County Government Center (101 Chalmers Ct.), which is adjacent to Rose Hill Park.
What is Juneteenth?
The Emancipation Proclamation – which promised freedom for all enslaved people – went into effect on Jan. 1, 1863; however, it wasn’t until the defeat of the Confederate States army in April 1865 that allowed enforcement of the proclamation to begin.
Texas was the most remote of the slave states, and enforcement there was slow and inconsistent until June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce that the war was over and enslaved people were free.
Early celebrations by Blacks in Texas date to June 19, 1866. These celebrations spread across the South among newly freed slaves and their descendants. The name “Juneteenth” was first used in the 1890s.
Officially, “Juneteenth” was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, when the 117th U.S. Congress enacted and President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. It was the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was adopted in 1983.
The annual Juneteenth Celebration in Clarke County is hosted by the Josephine School Community Museum, Josephine Improvement Association, and the Clarke County Training School & Johnson-Williams High School Reunion Association.
For more information, contact (703) 283-0348, (540) 664-7277, or [email protected].
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Event Venue
31 E Main St, Berryville, VA 22611-1337, United States
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.
