From Kendrick Lamar in Inglewood to Broadway performers in Times Square, here’s how you can celebrate Juneteenth through the arts

Jun 18, 2024

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Juneteenth celebrations have been well underway all month, with major festivities taking place this week. This year’s events have ranged from intimate prayer circles to full-on national concerts on the White House lawn — and everything in between.

That said, if you’re looking for ways to celebrate, there are still plenty of events to check out coming up on Wednesday and through the weekend. Los Angeles will play host to not one but two major concerts featuring T-Pain and Kendrick Lamar. Over in Washington, D.C., multiple Smithsonian museums have slated cultural events. The city of Atlanta will also be throwing a major fete involving a parade and music festival this weekend.

In other words, if you want to be out and about this Juneteenth and indulge in a little culture, you have some options. Below, we’ve gathered eight events happening around the country this year celebrating Juneteenth through the arts, both on and after Juneteenth.

1. The 4th annual Broadway Celebrates Juneteenth

In New York City, you can celebrate Juneteenth mid-morning with live music by some of Broadway’s biggest current stars — for free — during the fourth annual Broadway Celebrates Juneteenth concert at Times Square Plaza 46-47. This year’s performance will include performers from 17 Broadway shows, such as “The Wiz,” Alicia Keys’ “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Chicago,” “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” and “The Lion King.”

2. T-Pain’s Juneteenth Celebration at the Hollywood Bowl

Musical genius T-Pain has co-curated a one-night-only event celebrating Juneteenth and Black music at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday evening. According to the event page, attendees will be treated to special guests like Ledisi, Tina Campbell of Mary Mary, and the Color Noize Orchestra conducted by Derrick Hodge.

3. Ken & Friends at Kia Forum

Despite the buzz around K-Dot’s upcoming Ken & Friends concert at the Kira Forum in Inglewood, California, plenty of seats remain available (for over $200). Considering the timing of the performance, which begins promptly at 4 pm and ends exactly at 7 pm, K-Dot could be your Juneteenth pregame! For folks who can’t make it, this show will be streamed.

4. Equal Justice Initiative’s Juneteenth Concert at Montgomery Performing Arts Centre

The Equal Justice Initiative is hosting a Juneteenth concert called “Legacy Sites” at the Montgomery Performing Arts Centre in Montgomery, Ala., featuring a spectacular lineup: Esperanza Spalding, Samara Joy, Wynton Marsalis, Lizz Wright, and Cory Henry. Tickets start at $25 for the event; however, tomorrow, June 19, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., you’ll have a chance to score free admission.

5. Juneteenth at Stony Island Arts Bank

Hosted by musicians and artists-in-residence Yaw Agyeman and Sharon Udoh, Rebuild Foundation’s Juneteenth celebration at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago will showcase “rare books” from the famous Black-founded Johnson Publishing Company Library. Among the rare texts will be “The Book of American Negro Spirituals.”

6. Galveston’s Juneteenth Exhibition “And Still We Rise”

Go back in time to June 19, 1865, when the announcement that the enslaved were, in fact, free was first made in Galveston Bay, Texas, through an exhibition called “And Still We Rise” by the Galveston Historical Foundation’s African American Heritage Committee.

7. Juneteenth Atlanta Parade and Music Festival

While many venues are planning to take advantage of more people having the day off on Wednesday to host their events, plenty is still in the works for the weekend crowd. Atlanta’s official Juneteenth parade and music festival is slated for this weekend and will kick off Friday at noon in Piedmont Park.

8. Making Black Freedom at the National Museum of African American History & Culture

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Dovetailing last weekend’s Juneteenth Community Day celebration, this weekend, the National Museum of African American History & Culture will host “Solstice Saturday: Making Black Freedom,” which will include activities and music. The museum, which normally requires passes sometimes reserved weeks in advance for weekend time slots, will also be offering a window when passes aren’t required from 4 pm to 10 pm.