A day-long festival complete with music, activities for kids, food trucks and cultural enrichment aims to educate the Tucson community about Juneteenth.
This year’s event, hosted by the Tucson Juneteenth Festival Committee, is on Saturday, June 17, just two days before the actual holiday which marks when the last enslaved Black people in the United States learned they were free on June 19, 1865. It became a federal holiday in 2021.
Juneteenth is not just a celebration of freedom but also a day to remember those whose freedom was stolen from them, and a day to be hopeful for the future.
The festival will be held at the Kino Sports Complex, 2500 E. Ajo Way, from 1 to 9 p.m.
It’s one of several local events to commemorate the holiday, including an R&B concert featuring Evelyn “Champagne” King and the annual gospel jubilee held last weekend.
On Thursday, June 15, a free screening will be held at the Loft Cinema of “Making of Black America: Through the Grapevine,” which chronicles the social networks and organizations created by and for Black people. It’s happening at 5 p.m. at 3233 E. Speedway Blvd.
The largest and most anticipated event is the Juneteenth Festival, which has garnered widespread support from the local community with around 100 vendors hosting informational and retail booths and over 30 food trucks serving up eats.
There will also be live entertainment to keep the fun and lively energy up all through the night, as well as a car show, kid zone, and free toys to be given to children up to the age of 14.
Larry Starks, the board president for the Tucson Juneteenth Festival Committee, says the event is for all to enjoy.
“It’s really the best of who we are and that’s why we really try to be inclusive because this is all really about freedom,” he said. “That’s what this day is really about, so we really try to embrace that.
“I think the more people willing to get a better understanding of why it’s important to celebrate Juneteenth, the more people will come out and support.”
A big get for this year’s Tucson Juneteenth festivities is a fireside chat on Monday, June 19, at Centennial Hall, featuring Bernice King — peace advocate and daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. — and Ilyasah Shabazz — author, professor and daughter of Malcom X.
“We don’t often get people like that here in Tucson and that’s showing that when people like that are recognizing us and coming to our city, it is showing that we have growth” says Starks.
The chat is being hosted by the University of Arizona’s Beyond Juneteenth Committee at 7 p.m. at 1020 E. University Blvd.
Tickets for the free chat are available through tucne.ws/1nks.
For more information on Juneteenth festivities, visit tucsonjune19.org/upcoming-events.
A Texas woman who helped make Juneteenth a federal holiday has become the second Black Texan honored with a portrait on the walls of the state's Senate chamber. Known as the "grandmother of Juneteenth," Opal Lee, 96, who is originally from Marshall, joined President Joe Biden in 2021 to sign a law commemorating June 19 as the day that Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with news of the end of slavery. Lee joins the late Texas Senator and Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, who was the first Black Texan recognized with a portrait in the Senate in 1973.
