The 18th Annual NC Juneteenth Celebration Is Set To Return This Summer

DURHAM, NC – Spectacular Magazine and Triangle Cultural Awareness Foundation are announcing today (April 17) that the North Carolina Juneteenth Celebration will officially return this summer to Durham, NC for their 18th annual festival on Saturday, June 17, and Sunday, June 18, 2023.

The NC Juneteenth Celebration was founded in 2004 on the campus of North Carolina Central University by Spectacular Magazine’s Phyllis Coley in an attempt to begin to raise awareness of Juneteenth.

Juneteenth National Independence Day is the realization of freedom legislation across the country. It is the actualization of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment. On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation set the United States on the path of ending slavery. A wartime measure issued by President Abraham Lincoln, the proclamation freed relatively few slaves, but it fueled the fire of the enslaved to strike for their freedom. Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States and provides that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

The celebration of Juneteenth originates from Galveston, Texas, where on June 19, 1865, the word of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the enslaved. Today, Juneteenth is embraced and celebrated by all races and ethnicities in honor, and in commemoration of African American culture and achievements. 

In 2007, North Carolina became the 26th state to recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday or a state holiday observance when it is recognized nationally. April 2009, Juneteenth Celebration in Durham, under the leadership of NC Juneteenth State Director Phyllis Coley, was officially designated as The Annual North Carolina Juneteenth Celebration by the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF), recognized by the 400-Year Commission on African American History and the Library of Congress. 

On June 17, 2021, it was officially announced that June 19 will be known as Juneteenth National Independence Day, a US federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. NJOF and its members were responsible for the passage of this federal legislation.

Last year, organizers welcomed thousands of attendees to Durham from across the globe including travelers from over 20 U.S. states, which were treated to a variety of family-friendly activities and local vendors, entertainment, food trucks, and artisans from the greater Triangle area. 

The NC Juneteenth Celebration returns to the historic Golden Belt Campus. Once a historic textile mill campus founded by Julian Carr, Golden Belt is now a creative arts hub featuring unique dining and shopping, residential lofts, a live music venue, festival space, and 25 artist studios that spill into a central artist-run gallery. 

In 2022, the NC Juneteenth Celebration in total created a more than $1.5 million dollars economic impact on the local Raleigh-Durham community.

To become a vendor or sponsor, click here.

Stay up-to-date on future NC Juneteenth news and announcements, including event-day information, as well as music lineup, performance schedule, and more by visiting the following channels:

• WEBSITE: www.spectacularmag.com/juneteenth
• INSTAGRAM: @SpectacularMag
• FACEBOOK: @SpectacularMag
• TWITTER: @SpectacularMag