Juneteenth Kicks Off In Vienna: Events, What's Open, Closed

VIENNA, VA — While Vienna already held a Juneteenth celebration last weekend, the June 19 holiday will prompt closures in town.

The Wednesday, June 19, federal 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.

In Vienna, Liberty Amendments Month is a month-long celebration to celebrate Constitutional Amendments that extended rights to new groups of people. Liberty Amendments Month kicked off with a Juneteenth Celebration at Vienna's First Baptist Church on June 15. Additional events will be held through June 12. Some ongoing activities include museum exhibits and flash card quizzes on different amendments at the Freeman Store and Museum and the Vienna Community Center, Liberty Amendments Learning Tour outside the Freeman Store and Museum and the Vienna Community Center, displays and giveaways at the Vienna Farmers Market, African American Historic Sites Tour of Vienna and Body Grace Fitness Class and 13th Amendment Event.

SEE MORE: Juneteenth, Festivals, Fireworks Highlight 4th Liberty Amendments Month In Vienna

Other Juneteenth events near Vienna include:

• Juneteenth Celebration at Sully Historic Site: June 19, 10 a.m.
• Carlyle House's annual Juneteenth celebration: June 19, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Heritage Fellowship Church in Reston's Juneteenth Potluck in the Word: June 19, 6 p.m.
• Juneteenth Fairfax County Celebration: June 22, 10 a.m to 1 p.m.,
• Mount Vernon's Freedom Before Emancipation: Family Days for Juneteenth: June 19 to 22
• Juneteenth at Houston (Charles Houston Recreation Center): June 22, 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Because Juneteenth is an official U.S. holiday, banks, federal offices and post offices in and near Vienna will be closed Wednesday. Many state and local government offices and other services will be closed as well, including:

• Town of Vienna government offices
• Fairfax County government offices
• Fairfax County Public Schools
• Fairfax County courts
• Fairfax County Public Library
• Fairfax County Animal Shelter
• Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles

The Vienna Community Center is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on June 19. The Town of Vienna will have regular trash collection. The I-66 Transfer Station and I-95 Landfill Complex Disposal Center will be open on June 19.

Fairfax Connector will have holiday weekday service. Metrorail will run on a Saturday holiday schedule from 5 a.m. to midnight, and Metrobus will have a Saturday supplemental schedule.

Related: When Is Juneteenth? What To Know About Holiday Marking Slavery’s End