By Eshaan Sarup and Brielle Entzminger
This Sunday, June 19, marks the 157th annual celebration of Juneteenth, which commemorates the day—June 19, 1865—that Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved people there that the Emancipation Proclamation freed them, and the Civil War was over. Though President Abraham Lincoln signed the proclamation in 1863, Union troops in Texas, the most remote Confederate state, were not strong enough to enforce the order before Granger’s arrival—marking the official end of slavery in the United States.
Juneteenth was not officially declared a federal holiday until last year by President Joe Biden, but people in Charlottesville have celebrated it for decades. While the pandemic put many celebrations on pause for the past two years, a variety of area Juneteenth events will be open and free to the public this weekend.
Kicking off the holiday weekend, the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center will hold its annual honoring of local ancestors in its auditorium on Friday at 7pm. During the ceremony, community members will give presentations about their ancestors, paired with poems and songs.
On Saturday, the Jefferson School will also host a parade from 10 to 11:30am, starting on Rose Hill Drive—the former location of Jackson P. Burley High School (now Burley Middle School), the only Black high school in Charlottesville and Albemarle County from 1951 to 1967—and ending at the front lawn of the school. Afterward, there will be a variety of foods, musical acts, and dance performances—as well as promotional tables for over 30 Black-owned businesses and organizations—on the lawn until 8pm.
In nearby Washington Park, Charlottesville’s first-ever Sun Fest will be held on Saturday from 2 to 7pm, featuring regional entertainers, local vendors, food trucks, a roller skate park, and a bar where Black-owned spirits will be served. Hosted by Vibe Vest, De La Roll, and several other groups, the celebration hopes to “generate positive memories” and “highlight the excellence and beauty of Blackness,” reads the event page.
Just a short drive outside the city, Monticello will host Ascendant: The Power of Descendant Communities to Shape Our Stories, Places, and Future on Saturday from 9:30am to 1:30pm. It will feature panel discussions—including descendants of Monticello’s enslaved families, filmmaker Ava DuVernay, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed, and many other speakers—as well as poetry readings, musical performances, and artwork. The celebration will center on “the importance of descendant voices in the telling of American history—voices that have often been marginalized, or left out completely,” reads the Monticello website. While the event is free, registration (available on the Monticello website) is required to attend. It will also be livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube.
For those willing to venture away from the city, Scottsville will officially dedicate a marker in honor of Minerva Lewis—the town’s first Black female property owner—at 3pm on Sunday at the Scottsville Farmers’ Market. This dedication follows years of local Black history research by the Scottsville Museum to prove that Lewis was the only Black woman to own land in the city a century ago.
Also on Sunday, Trombone Shorty will host Voodoo Threauxdown at 7pm at the Ting Pavilion. The mini-festival—featuring Big Freedia, Tank and the Bangas, and several other celebrated Black artists and bands—seeks to represent the long history of New Orleans music and its diverse, genre-defying styles that combine hip-hop, jazz, rock, and pop. “It’s a full package and an expression of what is unique and beautiful about New Orleans,” says Trombone Shorty.
And finally, the Charlottesville Players Guild will perform Susan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play Topdog/Underdog on Sunday at 7pm at the Jefferson School, followed by a discussion with director Matthew Reynolds, the cast, and community leaders and artists. Tickets ($15-20) are available on the Jefferson School website and at will call. Proof of vaccination is required for admittance.
