Juneteenth Celebrations In The Cleveland Area, Plus What’s Open, What’s Closed Monday

CLEVELAND, OH — Because the Juneteenth holiday falls on a Sunday this year, many celebrations are planned for this weekend, and banks, federal offices and the post office in the Cleveland area will be closed Monday in commemoration of June 19, 1865. On this date, word of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Texas, where the last enslaved people learned they were free.

Juneteenth Celebrations

We gathered Juneteenth celebrations in the Cleveland Area, so check out the list below.

Thursday

From Kwanzaa to Juneteenth Celebration, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Western Reserve Historical Society. Activities will include music, crafts, storytelling, gifts, games and refreshments. Free with museum admission; reservations were encouraged.

Saturday

MetroHealth Cleveland Juneteenth Freedom Fest, 12 p.m. to 10 p.m., Mall C in downtown Cleveland, will feature family-friendly activities with a vendor village, community programming, spoken-word performances, interactive art demonstrations, food and more.

The fest will host a performance by Grammy Award winner Keyon Harrold, Grammy Award winner Bilal and Karamu House, the country’s oldest Black producing theater, and a fireworks finale and Cleveland’s own Hubbs Groove.

Juneteenth music celebration, from 12 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Quicken Loans Stage. It will feature free musical performances from Jul Big Green, Afi Scruggs Band and Eric Everett. Participants can share messages on a freedom wall.

The Association of African American Cultural Gardens Juneteenth Celebration, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is free and open to the public. It includes a car caravan, festivities at the Gardens' Centennial Peace Plaza, and music, dance and food at the African American Garden. Mayor Justin Bibb will be there. View the event flyer here.

Juneteenth Celebration: “We Wear The Mask" Project, from 12 p.m to 4 p.m. at Morning Star Baptist Church. The event is free and includes free food and family-friendly activities.

Mx. Juneteenth: A Black & Queer Liberation Celebration '22, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. at BLK PunX Press Studio. "Our mission is to create a safe, liberatory, communal event to honor the special holiday of Juneteenth by adhering to a Black queer feminist framework & praxis," organizers said. Register with a suggested donation here.

All Weekend

13th Annual Juneteenth African Dance & Drum Festival. Sponsored by the Djapo Cultural Arts Institute, it will feature artists from Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Cuba, Brazil, the U.S. and more, organizers said.

Events will take place all day Saturday and Sunday at the Pivot Center for Art, Dance and Expression. More information and class tickets here.

A free concert takes place at 8 p.m. Saturday, featuring Weedie Braimah & The Hands of Time at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

What's Open, What's Closed

Many state and local government offices will also close. County offices will be closed on Monday, Armond Budish, the Cuyahoga County executive, told Patch.

All state offices will close because the day is also a state holiday, Gov. Mike DeWine’s office confirmed. Cleveland City Hall and city services will not operate Monday, officials said.

But residents will not experience a delay in trash pickups in Cleveland. Be sure to check your city's public works department website whether trash pickup will be delayed in your city.

Last year, President Joe Biden signed legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday, becoming the first new one since Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday was approved in 1983. Juneteenth is the oldest-known celebration of the end of slavery in the United States.

Patch employees have the day off Monday. Other businesses around town may also be closed, so if you’re planning to stop by one of them, it’s a good idea to call ahead to make sure.

Cuyahoga County Public Libraries will open on Monday, but Cleveland Public Libraries will be closed for the holiday.

Some big businesses are giving their employees a day off or paying them extra.

Companies that are already looking seriously at diversity, equity and inclusion efforts may see adding Juneteenth as a paid holiday as “something tangible” that “recognizes the importance of that day,” Julie Stich, a vice president of content at the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, told NPR.

Juneteenth is a paid holiday for corporate, retail, manufacturing and distribution employees across the Nike, Converse and Jordan brands, Nike said in an email statement to NPR.

Zillow is doing the same as part of its “ongoing commitment to racial equality,” the company said in a statement.

Both Zillow and Nike encouraged employees to reflect on the importance of the day while taking part in volunteering, activism and educational opportunities.

Target and Starbucks will be open but will give employees time-and-a-half pay on Juneteenth, according to a list put together by Entrepreneur.

Twitter and Square will give employees the day off. Google and Amazon won’t, but they encouraged employees to cancel meetings. Amazon will also offer “online learning opportunities” throughout the day.

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