Release Date: May 8,2025
Downtown Akron Juneteenth Celebration Returns June 1, 2025
Thursday, May 8, 2025, Akron, Ohio — Downtown Akron Partnership (DAP) announces that the 2025 Downtown Akron Juneteenth Celebration will be held this year on June 1, from 12 – 6 pm, at the newly renovated Lock 3.
Ebony Hill, co-chair of the Juneteenth planning committee, says “Our theme, ‘Revisiting Our History: Reclaiming Our Community,’ is both a remembrance and a charge. Juneteenth calls us to honor the struggles of our past, embrace our collective responsibility and actively shape a future rooted in unity, healing and Black excellence. By reclaiming our community, we restore pride, deepen connection and affirm our power to build what comes next.”
In line with the focus of this year’s celebration, we will hold small-group workshops and demonstrations led by individuals from throughout the community relating to preserving African American culture, strengthening community voices, financial empowerment, traditional health practices, appreciating African American beauty and more. Other event highlights will include spoken word, storytelling and African dance performances; educationally focused crafts and live musical acts on the Maynard Performance Pavilion stage to fortify a joyful atmosphere. A wide range of retail and food vendors will also set up in Lock 3.
The Downtown Akron Juneteenth Celebration is a community-led, consensus-driven observance of Black joy, history and hope. Planning of the event is facilitated by DAP with a committee of community members. The committee came to the decision to hold this year’s event on June 1 to serve as a kickoff to other, more established Juneteenth Celebrations in the city. These celebrations include: Akron Juneteenth Festival and West Akron Parade on Saturday, June 21, at Perkins Pool, Tara Mosley’s Juneteenth Celebration inside Jilly’s Music Room on Saturday, June 21 and more expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the date on which Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas and announced that 250,000 enslaved people in Texas were free by executive decree. More than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, scores of enslaved people were finally freed when Confederate control of the state was dissolved. Newly freed people in Texas christened the day “Juneteenth,” and the day has been celebrated for over 150 years. In 2021, Juneteenth became a federal holiday.
The 2025 Downtown Akron Juneteenth Celebration is presented by DAP in partnership with the City of Akron, Lock 3 and the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office, with additional support from Knight Foundation, Ohio Arts Council, Akron Community Foundation, Akron Civic Commons and GAR Foundation. This year’s poster artwork was designed by Maliyah Clark.