Annapolis Juneteenth Celebration Releases Full Schedule Of Events

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Anne Arundel County’s Juneteenth celebration planning is underway, with a full weekend of events on June 19 and 20.

The celebrations will include the Carrs-Elktonia Park Juneteenth Concert on Friday, June 19, as well as the Juneteenth Parade and Festival on June 20.

The Juneteenth Concert will take place from 3-7 p.m. June 19 at two locations: Carr’s/Elktonia Heritage Park on Bembe Beach Road and the Annapolis Maritime Museum Park and Pavilion at Ellen O. Moyer Park on Edgewood Road. The two locations are directly adjacent to one another. This event is free and open to the public and will include food trucks and bands performing on two stages.

The parade will begin at noon Saturday, June 20, at the corner of Calvert and Bladen streets. The parade lineup will be along St. John’s Street and continue to Northwest Street to Church Circle, then along West Street to Amos Garrett Boulevard. There will be parking restrictions in place along the parade route.

The festival will follow the parade and will take place from 1-9 p.m. at the Bates Athletic Complex, featuring live music and entertainment, vendors and food. Admission to the festival is free. This is an alcohol-free event.

The organizing group, Celebrate Juneteenth Annapolis, canceled the festival portion of the celebrations last week, citing environmental concerns they felt the city was unprepared to manage. The festival has since been put back on the schedule.

Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. Juneteenth became a national holiday in 2021 but was a state holiday in Maryland beginning in 2014. The City of Annapolis formally designated Juneteenth a city holiday in 2021.

Check online for up-to-date information about street closures and parade routes.

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