6/17/22 - Juneteenth Celebrated This Weekend, Holiday on Monday

Juneteenth is now a federal holiday. Celebrations take place this weekend. Many offices will be closed Monday.

Federal, state and local governments will be closed on Monday.

Juneteenth is a federal holiday and because it falls on a Sunday this year, many government offices will be closed on Monday.

Juneteenth, the oldest known celebration of the end of slavery in the United States, is observed every year on June 19.  It is celebrated on June 19 because that is the day the news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, in 1865.

President Biden signed legislation establishing Juneteenths as a federal holiday in 2021.  It is the first new federal holiday established since Martin Luther King, Jr.' birthday was approved in 1983.

Many communities are holding events this weekend to commemorate, including:

(Events provided by WOOD TV8)

VIRTUAL EVENTS

• University of Michigan’s 2nd Annual Juneteenth Symposium | June 15 through June 18 | Event details
• Preserving MI Harvest- Celebrating Juneteenth: African-American Cuisine | June 16 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. or 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. | Event details
• WMU Cooley Law School Juneteenth Celebration with Hon. Kwame Rowe | June 17 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. | Event details
• Create Great Inclusion: Celebrating Juneteenth webinar | June 17, 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. | Event details

BATTLE CREEK

• Juneteenth Video Contest | Deadline of June 10 | Event details
• Juneteenth Family Day Celebration | June 17-June 18 | Event details

GRAND RAPIDS

• The Black Freedom Forum & State of Black Grand Rapids 2022 | June 17 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Event details
• Juneteenth weekend pop up event | June 18 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. | Event details
• Baxter Juneteenth Celebration | June 18 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. | Event details
• SpringGR Juneteenth Fest at John Ball Zoo | June 18 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. | Event details
• Dreams Take Work Juneteenth Music & Dance Festival | June 19 from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. | Event details
• Justice 4 All Juneteenth Jam vol. 2 | June 19, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. | Event details
• Grand Rapids Juneteenth 2022 Celebration | June 19 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. | Event details
• 2nd Annual Juneteenth Pop Up at Martin Luther King Park | June 19 from 1 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. | Event details

HOLLAND

• Juneteenth Festival 2022 | June 17-June 18 | Event details

KALAMAZOO

• Kalamazoo Community Celebration | June 17-June 19 | Event details
  • Juneteenth Celebration poetry slam | June 18 | Event details
  • Juneteenth Celebration | June 18 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. | Event details
  • Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom Black Film Fest | June 18 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. | Event details
  • Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom- Black Women Elevated | June 18 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. | Event details
  • Juneteenth Celebration at Bell’s Eccentric Cafe | June 19 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. | Event details
  • The Velvelettes & Orchestra Jammbo’laya | June 19 at 3 p.m. | Event details
  • Juneteenth Celebration in Washington Square | June 19 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. | Event details

SOUTH HAVEN

• South Haven Theatre Series: “Sojourner Truth, the Legacy Lives On” | June 18 at 7:30 p.m. | Event details

(Thanks to WOOD TV8)