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2mo ago

Juneteenth Celebrations Spread Nationwide as Some Cities Cut Official Observances

New festivals, children's books and documentaries are increasing public understanding of emancipation across the country.

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People pose for a picture during a gathering to mark Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in Texas, over two years after the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves elsewhere in the U.S., in Leimert Park, in Los Angeles, U.S., June 19, 2024. REUTERS/Aude Guerrucci
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The performers of Reparations, an all-black drag show, raise their firsts at the end of performing during opening night of the Frameline LGBTQ+ Film Festival in the Castro District in San Francisco in 2024.

Overview

  • Communities across the United States are staging parades, festivals, museum programs and family events to mark Juneteenth this year.
  • The federal holiday falls on Friday, June 19, 2026, and many cities in metro Phoenix and Southern Colorado published multi-day schedules of concerts, pageants and family programming.
  • Publishers and filmmakers have released new children's picture books and documentaries to teach Juneteenth history and celebrate Black culture.
  • Some municipalities earlier this year moved to remove or cancel official Juneteenth observances, including Post Falls, Idaho removing it from its paid-holiday calendar and Long Beach, California canceling a waterfront celebration.
  • The mix of expanding grassroots programming and local government rollbacks is likely to shape how the holiday is taught, funded and observed in coming years and could drive more civic and cultural advocacy.