Manchester Announces Juneteenth Events For 2023

MANCHESTER, CT — Manchester’s Department of Leisure, Family, and Recreation has scheduled the town's annual Juneteenth Freedom Day Commemoration for June 17.

The events will run from 11 a.m. to 3:00 PM at the Leisure Labs at Mahoney Center, 110 Cedar Street. The center is also the home of the local Martin Luther King mural.

This year’s event will feature musical performances by Mixed Company & Hartford’s Proud, a Black-owned vendor and food market, family activities, performances from the Black Joy Poetry Contest and much more.

In 2020, Juneteenth became an official municipal holiday in Manchester. It is the 14th official holiday in town. The day is is intended to recognize "the nation’s celebration of freedom."

Juneteenth marks the date in 1865 when Union soldiers marched into Galveston, Texas, to proclaim the end of slavery and the Civil War. That was about 30 months after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

Town of Manchester Offices and Libraries will be closed on Monday June 19th for the Juneteenth holiday. Trash will be collected according to the regular schedule with no delays.