Jam-Packed Juneteenth In Harlem: Block Parties, Movie Screening & More

HARLEM, NY — The official Juneteenth holiday is still a few days away, but Harlem will be throwing down for the weekend starting on Friday, with block parties, music, food, film screenings and other events set to sweep the neighborhood.

Here's a rundown of a few of the most notable Juneteenth 2022 events in Harlem.

Historic Harlem Parks Juneteenth Festival (Friday-Saturday)

This two-day, multi-park celebration will kick off on Friday, with a full day's worth of events at Marcus Garvey Park. First, from 12-3 p.m. Friday, NYPL Harlem and the Studio Museum will host children's storytime, giveaways, and a tour and discussion of Thomas J. Price's "Witness" sculpture on the park's lawn.

Then, from 3-6 p.m., the park will host "Say Their Names," a performing arts project that "recognizes the lives of Americans taken by racism."

Finally, from 7-10 p.m., the park's Richard Rodgers Amphitheater will host a free screening of "Summer of Soul," Questlove's Oscar-winning documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Seating will be first-come, first-served.

Saturday will spread the festivities to two more Harlem parks. Marcus Garvey will kick things off from 12- 3 p.m., with a repeat of children's storytime, giveaways, and a tour of the Thomas J. Price sculpture hosted by NYPL and the Studio Museum.

Then, starting at 6:30 p.m., the park's Richard Rodgers Amphiteater will host a conversation with the Federation of Black Cowboys, followed at 7 p.m. with a performance of "Cross That River," starting Harlem's own Allan Harris.

Meanwhile, over at Morningside Park, Harlem Wellness will host African dance classes and drumming from 12-3 p.m. on the park lawn across from the pond.

At the Jackie Robinson Park bandshell from 2-5:30 p.m., National Jazz Museum in Harlem will host "Fiesta Noire," an outdoor music and dance celebration featuring live music from AfroBeat artist Wunmi, Afro-Cuban salsa band Los Hacheros, and dance performances by Top Dance Company, Babacar Top's Experimental Sabar, Sekou & Friends, and more.

And at St. Nicholas Park, the "Good Vibes in the Park" event at the 135th Street Plaza will feature health and wellness from Ayo and Friends of St. Nicholas Park from 1-8 p.m.

Juneteenth at the Africa Center

From 4-8 p.m. Friday, the Africa Center on Fifth Avenue and East 110th Street will welcome visitors to the exhibition "African/American: Making the Nation's Table," by the Museum of Food & Drink (MOFAD) — with free admission for Harlem residents.

Between 3-8 p.m., the Africa Center will also have food by local chef Lexis Gonzalez and Daps Eats and shopping from small businesses Jam _ Rico, Adinkra Republic, Body Vanity, Harlem Hoopz, Hannah Bandanah & Africa In Harlem. A drum circle, marching band and Divine Nine show are also on tap. Learn more here.

"The Ordering of Moses" at Riverside Church

At 7:30 p.m. Friday, the Harlem Chamber Players will be staging the Ordering of Moses: a monumental work that features a 75-person choir and 60-piece orchestra, led by the conductor and music director Damien Sneed.

Learn more at Harlem One Stop and buy tickets here.

Schomburg Library festival (Saturday)

From 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, the famed Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture will host a day full of outdoor readings, workshops, and book signings in and around its headquarters on Lenox Avenue and West 135th Street.

Featuring prominent writers like Roxane Gay, Jason Reynolds and journalist Linda Villarosa, the literacy festival is being held in-person for the first time since 2019. Events are spread across four indoor and outdoor stages, with a full schedule available online.

Organizers describe the fourth-annual festival as a "community-wide celebration of Black joy and literacy," inviting Harlem's book lovers to interact with writers and gain access into new literary worlds.

131st Street block party (Saturday)

From 12-6 p.m. Saturday, stop by the free block party on West 131st Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, featuring live music, performances, adult games, food trucks, raffles, giveaways, a black vendor market, and more.

Learn more here, or at nycfreedomfest.com.

Pop-up shop on 135th Street

From 2-7 p.m. Saturday, The Black Entrepreneur's Juneteenth Pop-Up Shop will be selling jewelry, apparel, skin and hair care products, health and wellness goods, and more at 181 West 135th St, between Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. and Malcolm X boulevards.

East Harlem block party (Sunday)

If you can't make it to Saturday's block party — or you just want to double up — then stop by East 111th Street between Third and Lexington avenues from 11-7 p.m. Sunday, where Decriminalize Nature New York will host a block party with free food and beverages, games and face-painting, live music, a panel discussion, giveaways and more.

Learn more here.

Discounted eats at Manhattanville Market (Sunday-Monday)

To celebrate Juneteenth, Manhattanville Market — the new food hall on Columbia University's West Harlem campus — will offer 25 percent to diners all day Sunday and Monday.

Restaurants in the market include Butterfunk Biscuit, Shai Hummusiya, Benny Casanova's Pizza, and The Botanist. Enter the market on Broadway between West 129th and 130th streets.

Juneteenth, a holiday that originated from the 1865 proclamation ending slavery in Texas, has grown in the ensuing decades to become an all-encompassing celebration of the abolition of slavery and Black culture in the United States.