What's Happening In Bowie For Juneteenth 2023, Plus What's Open And Closed

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — Juneteenth observances in Prince George's County kick off with the Juneteenth Festival Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. at Watkins Regional Park in Upper Marlboro. The event will include live music performances, food vendors, merchandise vendors, exhibits, informational booths, crafts, dance and song lessons, face painting, bubble wands, a genealogy workshop and a special Juneteenth artist.

The city of Bowie will host a weekend-long Juneteenth celebration at Allen Pond with food, games, vendors, inflatables, a petting zoo, entertainment and giveaways Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4p.m. A Father's Day bike ride kicks off at 8 a.m. at Allen Pond, followed by 7 on 7 football and a big man's challenge at 9 a.m. at Mitchellville Fields and a band concert at 7 p.m. at Allen Pond.

The Monday, June 19, national holiday commemorates the day in 1865, more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, when word finally reached the last enslaved people in Texas that the Civil War had ended, and they were free.

Also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day and Jubilee Day, Juneteenth is the oldest-known celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed legislation making it a federal holiday, the first since the addition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.

• Related: What Is Juneteenth? Celebrating The End Of Slavery

Because Juneteenth is an official U.S. holiday, many banks, federal offices and post offices in Prince George's County will be closed Monday. State, county and local government offices will be closed as well.

In Bowie, city offices will be closed for the Juneteenth holiday on Monday. There will not be any trash or recycling pickup that day.

In Upper Marlboro, town offices will be closed, but trash will be picked up as normal. Bulk trash and yard waste will be collected Tuesday.

In Hyattsville, government offices will be closed Monday. There won't be any yard waste or compost pickup the week of June 19. Trash and county recycling routes will follow the same schedule.

In Laurel, refuse and recycling pickups will be adjusted the week of June 19th:

• Monday residential and commercial refuse and recycling will be picked up on Tuesday.
• Tuesday residential refuse and recycling will be picked up on Wednesday.
• Wednesday, Thursday and Friday refuse, recycling and composting pickups will be unchanged.
• There will be no bulky item pickup the week of June 19. The next regularly scheduled bulky item pickup will be June 28. The next regularly scheduled yard debris collections will be June 21 and July 9.