The Melanin Market's Juneteenth Celebration, along A. Philip Randolph Blvd. on the Eastside, is one of its largest festivals of the year. | Submitted, Melanin Collaborative Group
Published on June 17, 2026 at 3:14 pm
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Juneteenth commemorations will take place across Northeast Florida this weekend.
Juneteenth honors the day when formerly enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were told they were “thenceforward, and forever free,” on June 19, 1865.
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It was more than two years after President Abraham had signed the Emancipation Proclamation and nearly a month after the decree was read in Tallahassee to announce freedom to formerly enslaved Floridians.
Jacksonville and St. Augustine groups are holding a series of events, reflections and commemorations on this, the 160th anniversary of the first Juneteenth celebration.
Jacksonville
FREE AT LAST
The Ritz Chamber Players will host Free at Last? The Evolution of the American Spiritual.
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The free show will take place inside the Terry Concert Hall. Tickets need to be reserved in advance.
Free at Last? is a musical journey that will bring listeners through the African American experience. It will be narrated by Johnnetta B. Cole, Ph.D., the president emerita of Spelman College and Bennett College as well as the director emerita of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.
“That is what we are asking Jacksonville to come and hear,” Ritz Chamber Players Founder and Artistic Director Terrance L. Patterson says. “Not a history lesson, but an inheritance — and to have Dr. Cole anchor it in the city of her birth makes it extraordinary.”
Saturday, 7:30 p.m., at Terry Concert Hall on the campus of Jacksonville University.
COMMEMORATING FREEDOM
Florida Avenue Main Street is sponsoring a Juneteenth commemoration at Buster Ford Checkerboard Park, 804 A. Philip Randolph Blvd.
The event will feature music and discuss the history of the Eastside. The historic community sprouted during the Reconstruction Era and throughout the 19th century.
Friday, between 5 and 8 p.m.
ECONOMIC STIMULATION OUT EAST
The Juneteenth Celebration of Economic Stimulation will feature more than 100 entrepreneurs, small businesses, food trucks and local artists.
It will take place at 822 A. Philip Randolph Boulevard and along A. Philip Randolph Boulevard.
This event will feature live performances and entertainment as well as hand-on activities for children.
The Melanin Collaborative Group collaborated with Florida Blue to provide a wellness zone that will provide health resources, wellness education, movement demonstrations and screenings.
Saturday, 3 to 9 p.m.
FREEDOM UNDER THE STARS
Juneteenth in the Park is geared toward families and will have food, music, games and local vendors at Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing Park.
Juneteenth at the Park will feature music from Mr. Al Pete and DJ Nate, a history tour with Yollie, line dancing and cultural games.
The park is at 120 N. Lee Street, the location of the childhood home of James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson.
Juneteenth in the Park is free. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets to lounge in the park.
Friday, 6 to 9 p.m.
LIGHT UP THE SKY
The Northside Coalition of Jacksonville will illuminate the Main Street Bridge in red, black and green lights.
Festivities, which include food and music, will begin at Friendship Fountain at 7:30 p.m. The lighting will start at 9 p.m. and last 19 minutes.
Friday, 7:30 p.m., lighting begins at 9 p.m.
UNDER THE LIGHTS
Eartha’s Farm & Market will hold a night market that will include vendors, spoken word performances, music and community resources at 4850 Moncrief Road.
Friday, between 4 and 7 p.m.
St. Augustine
FREEDOM, UNITY, HERITAGE
The West Augustine Community Redevelopment Agency will sponsor a Juneteenth Festival at Collier-Blocker-Puryear Park.
The free festival will feature music, community engagement, vendors and entertainment throughout the afternoon. A reenactment is slated for early afternoon.
Canright House, the home where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was supposed to rest during his 1964 visit to St. Augustine, has since been moved to Collier-Blocker-Puryear. It will be available for tours throughout the day.
“This event is sacred for our West Augustine community,” says West Augustine CRA chair Robert Nimmons. “West Augustine was founded on having a historical Black university (Florida Memorial University). The holiday talks about the freedom of African Americans. It’s important we tell the history of Fort Mose and West Augustine through this event.”
Saturday, noon to 6 p.m.
CONNECTING WITH HERITAGE
Pat Hines will host a presentation about the significance of quilting along the Underground Railroad at the Lincolnville Museum in St. Augustine.
Hines, the descendant of enslaved people, has carried on the family tradition of quilting through the generations. The two-hour presentation will focus on the African American traditions of quilting and canning.
Friday, 2 to 4 p.m. | Tickets are $10.
THE SOUL OF BLACKNESS
Gospel artist Johnny Sanders will lead an evening of music, spoken word and artistic expression that will celebrate the richness, resilience and lasting influence of Black culture at St. Augustine’s Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center.
Friday, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. | Tickets are $55.
