Events commemorating Juneteenth, a celebration of emancipation and a reminder of the long struggle for civil rights and equality, are taking shape across the greater Tampa Bay area.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced that enslaved people there were free. The announcement came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863.
The date became known as Juneteenth, a portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth.” It is a nationwide civic and cultural observance, not just a single-day holiday. For generations, Black communities marked the day with gatherings, food, music, prayer, education and celebrations of freedom.
Commemorative events, ranging from large marquee celebrations to local community programming, will be held in dozens of major cities in every region of the country.
In Tampa, the annual ROC the Block Juneteenth Festival takes place this weekend with a Family Fun Day on Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at TopGolf Tampa, and the festival at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday, 2:30 to 9:30 p.m., offering live DJs, artistic dance performances, musical guests, vendors, community resource booths, food, a KidZone and more.
Here are some other Juneteenth events planned across the Tampa Bay area:
Texas made Juneteenth a state holiday in 1980. It became a federal holiday in 2021 and is now observed annually on June 19 by the federal government and many state governments, schools, banks and private employers.
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