2024 New Brunswick Juneteenth Programming Expands

๐—˜๐˜…๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ-๐˜‚๐—ฝ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—˜๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ  ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—•๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜€๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ธ  โ€œ๐—๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ต ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป & ๐—–๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ช๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธโ€

Community groups will once more bring an exciting lineup of events to the City of New Brunswick, NJ celebrating the 159th Anniversary of Juneteenthโ€”a day that commemorates the end of slavery throughout the United States.

The Juneteenth Planning Coalition brings together a wide variety of community groups for an exciting series of events to make this year’s Juneteenth celebration one of the most outstanding and impactful period of the year.

The ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—•๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜€๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ธ ๐—”๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ ๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ก๐—”๐—”๐—–๐—ฃ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—บ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐˜๐—ต (which falls on Wednesday in 2024) in front of the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center. There will also be a New Jersey Symphonyโ€™s Women in the Arts Juneteenth Event at the State Theater on that day and the New Brunswick Free Public Library will have a read-in for young people. The public is then invited to participate in the popular ๐—๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†, ๐—๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฉ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฃ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—•๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜€๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ธ!

The parade starts from George Street and Remsen Avenue, promenading down Remsen Avenue then onto Sanford Street, then to Pine Street, ending at Recreation Park (the edge of the Douglass Campus at 7 Pine Street). The festival occurs at the park kicking off at the end of the parade.

JOIN IN THE PARADE & FESTIVAL!
Parade Participants/Tabling (Saturday 6/22)
https://tinyurl.com/Juneteenth2024newbrunswick

FESTIVAL VENDORS:
https://tinyurl.com/2024Juneteenthvendors

While its roots are in Texas, Juneteenth has become a day to celebrate freedom all over the United States. Public Juneteenth celebrations have been held in the City of New Brunswick since 2014 with the wonderful annual community parade and festival hosted by the Vulcan Pioneers (the Black Firefighters of New Brunswick) and their community partnersโ€”The New Brunswick Area NAACP, the Rutgers African-American Alumni Alliance, Zakee Bowser Enrichment Foundation, Sharpened Mindz, and the New Brunswick Cultural Center. The New Brunswick African American Heritage Committee, Inc., New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC), The Arts Institute of Middlesex County and Crossroads Theatre Company have been proud to help build this tradition.

Juneteenth achieved federal recognition on the 17th of June 2021, when President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, establishing the 19th of June as a federal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.


BRING YOUR LAWN CHAIRS AND SUN UMBRELLAS AND ENJOY THE AFTERNOON FESTIVAL

Vendors (including many food offerings!) and community groups tabling will be set up by midday in Recreation Park, with cultural performances and community presentations on the main stage from 1 PM. 

There are activities areas for young children as well as for teenagers. The Zakee Bowser Enrichment Foundation and Sharpened Mindz have a number of gift certificate prizes as well as other items for the winners in a rap contest spelling bee, as well as Double Dutch competitions for parents versus youth in an old school/new school face-off. A high point of the main stage presentations will be an โ€œold schoolโ€ versus โ€œyoung โ€˜unsโ€ step/stroll showcase by Black fraternity members!

FAQS about the 2024 Juneteenth Parade and Festival

Events will proceed, rain or shine!

THE PARADE

  • The Parade begins at 11 am from the intersection of Remsen Avenue and George Street. We will line up on Remsen Avenue between George Street and Welton Street, and proceed up Remsen Ave. to Sanford St. Turn left onto Sanford St. stay on Sanford St. then Georgeโ€™s Rd. until Pine St then Recreation Park, located at 7 Pine Street, New Brunswick.
  • Lining up for the parade. You should plan to arrive by around 10:00 am (no later than 10:30 am). Based on our experiences in past years, we will make a final determination of where to place participating groups (to be closer to the head of the parade), depending on who we see actually makes it out on Saturday morning. We will contact those who will be on the floats beforehand.
  • Parking for the parade. There will marked parking lots at Recreation Park/Pine Street andย 

  • The Vulcan Pioneers will be running a shuttle, from 9:30 am,ย between the festival grounds (the front of Recreation Park) and the start of the parade (George Street & Remsen Ave.).ย 
    • If you want to park your car at the starting point of the parade, there is on-street parking and there are several parking decks close by, however, you will then end up walking back to New Brunswick if you stay at the festival. 

THE FESTIVAL

FESTIVAL PROGRAM

12:15 pm โ€‹Drumming Interlude – Black Circle Symphony

12:45 โ€“ 1:15 pmโ€‹ Co-Hosts Baruti Miller & Lana Whitehead

โ€‹Welcome(s): Robert Rawls & Eddie Lee (Vulcan Pioneers)

โ€‹Group Photo: Vulcan Pioneers & Planning Committee 

โ€‹Invocation

โ€‹Libation Ceremony โ€“ Bill Davis

โ€‹Lift Every Voice

1:20 pmโ€‹ Remarks & Acknowledgement of Visiting Dignitaries

โ€‹Mayor Jim Cahill

โ€‹NB City Council Member Petra Gaskins

โ€‹(Double Dutch Competition Begins Offstage)

1:30 pmโ€‹ General Order #3 – Alโ€™Jawan Woods Jones & Joel Moody 

โ€‹โ€‹(5th grade, Blanquita B. Valenti School)

โ€‹Rev. Tommy Miles – Ebenezer Baptist Church

โ€‹Drill Team (Dazzling Doodles)

โ€‹Kendall Thompson – Poem (8th Grade) 

โ€‹Michael Richards – โ€œBrightโ€ by Kehlani

โ€‹2024 Juneteenth Festival Poet โ€“ Herrin Fontenette

2 pmโ€‹ Positive Affirmation, Lana Whitehead

โ€‹Stroll Exhibition – Rutgers Student Groups

โ€‹โ€‹Iota Phi Theta & Lambda Sigma Upsilon/Brandon Fernandez

โ€‹Line Dancing (Crystal Balaam)

2:30 pmโ€‹ Sharpened Mindz/Zakee Bowser Foundation Youth Showcase

โ€‹โ€‹Joani Blue, Gooseygangkay

โ€‹Spoken Word: Charlene Bush, Mt. Zion Ministries

โ€‹Rahway Dance Theatre

3:15 pmโ€‹ Exit 9 Reunion

Exit 9 is a legendary New Brunswick bandโ€”local heroes of the music scene. Last yearโ€™s Juneteenth concert sparked a reunion that continues today! They are an eight piece band with a horn section and also feature a female drummer and a driving rhythm section. E9B for life!

  • Organizations/vendors and other participating individuals are welcome to load-in as early as 9:30 am and should be set up by 11:30 am.
  • TABLING GROUPS (Community groups and non-profits)
  • Tabling groups can pull up to the front parking lot of Recreation Park (7 Pine Street) to drop off their tabling supplies, then you can drive around to the rear parking lot after unloading your supplies.
  • VENDORS
  • Vendors can load-in as early as 9 AMย โ€“ Vendors should have communicated, with Vulcan Pioneers representative Robert Rawls, about their placement prior to arrival. You will find a welcome team in the front parking lot on arrival where you can reconfirm if needed. Robert Rawls and Traci Cole will be on-site to facilitate.ย 
  • There is on-street parking around Pine Street in front of Recreation Park. There is also a parking lot in the rear of the park, where vendors can park and unload if they prefer. THERE WILL ALSO BE A RUTGERS LOT AVAILABLE NEXT TO THE PARKโ€“Look for the signs. 
  • You will find a welcome team in the front parking lot on arrival to assist you. 
  • Tables will be set up along the walkway connecting the front parking lot to where the main stage will be set up (in the recreation area between the basketball courts and the bathrooms). 

Share This Story:

Related Stories

Scroll to Top