Vienna Multicultural Festival Wraps Up Liberty Amendments Month

VIENNA, VA — Liberty Amendments Month will end with a bang during the Vienna Multicultural Festival Saturday.

The festival will be held from 3 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday on the Vienna Town Green. The event will celebrate the region's diversity, culture and community through live performances, food and activities from cultures around the world.

Some highlights will include entertainment from a Caribbean Steel Drum Orchestra, African drumming and dance, and live music from Latin America. Attendees can participate in a "What’s Your Story" workshop or visit craft vendors, kids activity booths, and artisans on site.

Food options will represent cuisines of Africa, Asia, Latin America and more. Participating vendors include Johnson's Icy Bites, Colonial Kettle Corn, Frothymug, Himalayan Soul Foods, Mama Spice, Pako's Fresh Mex and New Gourmet Delight.

Liberty Amendments Month was started by Town Manager Mercury Payton as Juneteenth became a state holiday in 2021. The observance celebrates the Constitutional amendments that extended rights to people previously excluded. There were four segments of Liberty Amendments Month, each for a different amendment — the 13th Amendment in 1865 that abolished slavery; the 14th Amendment in 1868 that granted citizenship to anyone born or naturalized in the U.S. and reaffirmed the right to due process, life, liberty, and property; the 15th Amendment in 1870 protected the right to vote for people regardless of race, color, or past servitude; and the 19th Amendment in 1920 that extended the right to vote to women.

Some event highlights included a Juneteenth Celebration at First Baptist Church, Vienna's Independence Day Fireworks, a discussion on library desegregation and plans for the Patrick Henry Library redesign, Vienna Business Association Mixer and Empowering Women Panel and more.