Six Ways To Commemorate Juneteenth In Northern Virginia

Events commemorating Juneteenth, a celebration of emancipation and a reminder of the long struggle for civil rights and equality, are taking shape across Northern Virginia.

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.

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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 Alexandria, Juneteenth will be celebrated with song.

The Washington Revels’ Jubilee Voices ensemble will perform a Juneteenth program at Alexandria’s historic Shiloh Baptist Church. The Jubilee Voices were founded in 2010 to preserve African American history and traditions through programs that combine history with a cappella music, drama, spoken word and dance. The free concert will celebrate hope in the journey toward freedom and highlight the four churches that were established during the Civil War: the Shiloh Baptist Church, Beulah Baptist Church, Zion Baptist Church and Third Baptist Church.

Alexandria’s Shiloh Baptist Church was established for Black congregants in 1863 and has served as a house of worship, sanctuary, gathering place and historic site ever since.

But that’s not the only event in the area.

• Leesburg’s ‘Burg’ Family Reunion Club will be holding its 6th annual Juneteenth celebration, with live entertainment all day long, food and merchant vendors, kids' activities like facepainting, giveaways and more. There will also be a flag-raising event at Leesburg town hall at 6 p.m. on June 19. See event details here.

• Herndon’s more than 230-year-old Frying Pan Meeting House will open its doors to the public for special guided tours on June 20. A racially integrated congregation has been meeting at that site since 1775. The tour will explore the history of the free and enslaved African American members of the Frying Pan Baptist Meeting House and discuss the ways Black congregants fought for greater freedoms within the church. See event details here.

• Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate, will mark Juneteenth with recollections of how enslaved people sought freedom before the Emancipation Proclamation and a commemoration ceremony for the lives of enslaved people, as well as musical performances, tours, demonstrations and more. The Freedom Before Emancipation Family Day will be held June 19 and 20th. See event details here.

• Alexandria’s historic Carlyle House will be offering a tour highlighting the experiences of enslaved people at the 18th-century house and plantations. The guided tour will explore the historical context of slavery in 18th-century Alexandria and the importance of continued research. The tour will begin at 10 a.m., and reservations are required. See event details here.

• Alexandria’s Laurel Grove School Museum will hold 3 days of hands-on events to celebrate freedom, history and creativity from June 18 through 20. In addition to tours of the historic school, built in the 1880s to serve Black children, there will also be a community memory quilt and different art and historical activities each day for children and parents. See more event details here.

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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