Juneteenth Events, Jazz Tribute To Open 2026 Princeton Festival

PRINCETON, NJ — Princeton will open the 2026 Princeton Festival’s Celebration of America at 250 with a day of Juneteenth programming and an evening concert at Morven Museum & Garden on Friday, June 19.

The schedule includes free afternoon and early evening events, followed by Great Ladies of Jazz at 7 p.m. in the performance pavilion.

According to the announcement, the concert will feature vocalists Capathia Jenkins and Aisha de Haas in a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday and Judy Garland, among others, with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lucas Waldin.

Juneteenth activities will begin at 2 p.m. in Morven’s Stockton Education Center.

From 2 to 5:30 p.m., a Special Exhibit Honoring Harriet Powers, a Revolutionary Quilter will be on display courtesy of The Princeton Sankofa Stitchers Modern Quilt Guild.

The guild honors African American quilting traditions and is celebrating Harriet Powers, identified in the announcement as a Black quilter born enslaved in Georgia.

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra states that Powers’ quilts, including the Bible Quilt and Pictorial Quilt, are iconic in American art, and that the guild has recreated her Pictorial Quilt with modern fabrics. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

From 5 to 7 p.m., the festival will host a Juneteenth Community Celebration with community organizations sharing resources, history, food and knowledge commemorating the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Listed participants include Art Against Racism, Historical Society of Princeton, Morven Museum & Garden, the Racial Justice Ministry of Princeton, part of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton, Passage Theatre, Princeton Parents for Black Children and YWCA of Princeton. Treats from Tipple & Rose will be available to sample, and Morven’s museum building will have free admission during that time.

At 5:30 p.m., Princeton University voice teacher Dr. Rochelle Ellis will give a free pre-concert talk, “Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement.”

According to Princeton Symphony Orchestra, the talk will explore how Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald used their acclaim to raise their voices in protest during the Civil Rights Movement.

The Juneteenth and America at 250 events are being presented in partnership with the Municipality of Princeton.

The festival continues June 20 with The Bacon Brothers and June 21 with an American Fanfare concert by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra with Julie Benko.

Free family activities are scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. on June 21 on Morven’s back lawn.

Tickets for 2026 Princeton Festival performances are available at 609-497-0020 and at princetonsymphony.org/festival.