Juneteenth 2023: What to do, where to celebrate in NYC

For the second year since Juneteenth was made a federal holiday, New York City offers an exciting lineup of Juneteenth events to commemorate June 19, 1865, the day the U.S. Army brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Also known as Emancipation Day, Juneteenth was finally recognized as a federal holiday in 2021.

Here are some of the Juneteenth events happening throughout the city:

SATURDAY, JUNE 17

We Outside! A Brooklyn Juneteenth

Brooklyn’s 651 ARTS will host their third annual Juneteenth event, partnering this year with The Soapbox Presents outdoor concert series . The program will include a battle of the bands and a stroll-off by members of the Divine 9 Black fraternities and sororities, helmed by poet and author Mahogany L. Browne.

Local poets and Spoken word artists will also perform. A 10-piece band led by singers J. Hoard and Ekep Nkwelle will perform a “Stoop Session” music concert. A Kidz Korner will include a ventriloquist, a tap dance workshop and a Double Dutch exhibition.

Black-owned businesses and Black vendors and artisans will all take part in a marketplace curated by Brooklyn Pop-up.

Free, noon to 7 p.m., at The Plaza at 300 Ashland Place in Downtown Brooklyn.

Black Independence Awards

For the second year, Harlem Festival of Culture co-founders Yvonne McNair, Musa Jackson and Nikoa Evans are honoring leaders, entrepreneurs, artists and creators from the Harlem area for Juneteenth. Hosted by Black Enterprise editor Selena Hill, special awards will be given to social justice activist Tamika Mallory, rapper Cam’Ron and Harlem Week organizers Lloyd Williams, Voza Rivers and Marko Nobles.

“One of the things that we really wanted to do was engage the community all year long,” McNair told The Daily News. “The Black Independence Awards ... are very important because it really highlights the Harlem heroes in the community. We chose Juneteenth weekend because obviously it is Black Independence Day, and Black people within Harlem and all over the world have done so many amazing things that we wanted to use that weekend to really celebrate them.”

SUNDAY, JUNE 18

Broadway Celebrates Juneteenth

“Aladdin” star Michael James Scott will host the free, outdoor event featuring performers from new Broadway shows such as “& Juliet,” “Sweeney Todd,” “A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical” and “Camelot” alongside box office juggernauts like “Chicago,” “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” and “MJ The Musical.”

Tony Award-winning director and producer Kenny Leon will be honored by The Broadway League with the 2023 Juneteenth Legacy Award for “his notable impact on Broadway and his commitment to working on projects that involve educational, philanthropic, and advocacy efforts.”

“When I think of Juneteenth, I think about how that was a time when, communication-wise, everyone in the country didn’t know everything that was going on. And also, we were trying to deal with freedom for everybody,” Leon told The Daily News. “The thing that’s changed now is that now everybody has access to all the information, with the internet and everything out there.”

The director, who’s latest work “Topdog/Underdog” won the Tony Award for best revival of a play on Sunday, stressed that Black people still must continue to fight for freedom. “But we do have an opportunity of communicating more widely now so nothing almost goes unknown. Juneteenth is a continuing pursuit of freedom.”

Free, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at Duffy Square in Times Square (46th and 47th St. between Broadway and Seventh Ave.)

To a Garden Luxuriously Verdant (Enameled with Countless Flowerings)

Award-winning poet, author and playwright Carl Hancock Rux will spearhead the free evening of multicultural performances by Aaron Diehl, Alicia Hall Moran, Martha Redbone, Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber, Morley Kamen, Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE Dance Theater, and more.

Free, 7:00 p.m., at Hearst Plaza; entry on 65th St. (between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway) in Manhattan.

MONDAY, JUNE 19

Playland’s Juneteenth Celebration

For the first time, Rye Playland will open its gates on a Monday to commemorate the holiday with festivities that are free to all. Though the rides won’t be complimentary, artists, musicians, and dancers will perform Motown songs, host a children’s West African dance workshop and many more activities. The evening will close with a performance by the Bokandeye African American Dance Theater and fireworks.

Carnegie Hall’s Annual Juneteenth Celebration

Hosted by Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr., the free annual event will feature special guest artists including 10-time Grammy Award winning a cappella group Take 6, Broadway conductor and multi-instrumentalist Joseph Joubert, The String Queens trio, intergenerational vocal ensemble Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble, Brooklyn’s own Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet Dance Theatre, Oscar and Grammy Award-nominated youth ensemble IMPACT Repertory Theatre, and the 9-year-old Harlem-born New York Poet Laureate of 2023 Kayden Hern.

Free, 7 p.m. at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage in Manhattan.

Juneteenth Honors

Brooklyn-born hip hop legend MC Lyte will host the world premiere of the Juneteenth Honors, which celebrates Black excellence and will feature performances by Ja Rule, Ashanti, Toosii, Lalah Hathaway and the Howard Gospel Choir with appearances by Harlem-born activist Tamika Mallory, Chuck D., Herbie Hancock, hip hop expert Chuck Creekmur and Morris Brown College president Dr. Kevin James.

The event will air live June 19 at 8pm ET on free, ad-supported streaming channel Shades of Black (powered by the Latino-owned Fuse Media).