Juneteenth 2021 Bay Area events
The Bay Area has many celebrations planned for the 2021 Juneteenth holiday.
As restrictions from the pandemic, more events will be held in-person, though there are many virtual options.
Need a refresher on Juneteenth? Freedom Day, as the June 19 holiday is also known, marks the anniversary the emancipation of slaves in the United States.
It was first celebrated in Galveston, Texas in 1965, two months after the Civil War ended. It seemed that the day took on added significance last year as it occurred amid a period of heightened impact of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Juneteeth events in the Bay Area
The AfroSolo Arts Festival: Black Voices: Our Stories, Our LiveTime
Dates: June 9 - 13 (Program 1) and June 17 - 20 (Program 2)
Location: Online
Click here to go to the SF Arts website
Created and produced by Thomas Robert Simpson, the Festival's mission is to nurture, promote, and present facets of the African American experience through solo performances and the visual arts. Program One features the journeys of four formerly incarcerated Black men on their road to recovery and their return to society. Program Two features AfroSolo's founder, Thomas Robert Simpson, as he recounts how his father overcame many struggles as a Black man raising a family in the Jim Crow South. This will be an on-demand event available on the AfroSolo YouTube Channel
Juneteenth Land Liberation Celebration – Presented by the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative (EB PREC)
Date: June 18
Time: 4 - 8 p.m.
Location: Ohlone Land: Liberation Park – 6955 Foothill Blvd., Oakland
Click here to buy tickets on Eventbrite
Join us at Black Cultural Zone’s Liberation Park for our annual member meeting and land liberation celebration. There will be food, libations, activities and get a first look at the Esther’s Orbit Room Cultural Revival Project!
FLASHBACK: Santa Clara County becomes the first in state to make Juneteenth a paid county holiday
NAACP Oakland Presents Black Family Weekend 2021 – Date Night Dinner & An Outdoor Movie (Adults 18+ Only Event)
Date: June 18
Time: 6 - 11:30 p.m.
Location: Woodminster Outdoor Amphitheater (3540 Sanborn Drive, Oakland)
Click here to buy tickets
Concessions, music, kickoff announcement by Richard D. Navies, Pioneer of Bay Area Juneteenth, followed by feature film, "Sylvie’s Love" starring Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha, and Eva Longoria
Oakland Juneteenth Fest
Saturday, June 19
12:00pm – 8:00pm
Lake Merritt Amphitheater
https://stayhappening.com/e/2nd-annual-oakland-juneteenth-fest-E2ISTO47BQ6
OAKLAND, CA - JUNE 19: Protesters gesture in front of Oakland City Hall as an estimated 2,000 protesters gather for a rally at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, June 19, 2020. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union employee
Community Saving Community - Drive-thru Community Food Distribution
Date: June 19
Time: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Location: Community Foods Market – 3105 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland
Free food resources and supplies for those in need. First come first serve, COVID safe event
Councilmember Loren Taylor’s Juneteenth Jubilee
- Where: The Overlook (344 Thomas L. Berkeley Way, Oakland)
- When: June 19, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
At this event, we will celebrate Black Excellence and also fundraise for three organizations who are transforming lives in Oakland’s Black community.
5th Annual Marin City Juneteenth Festival
Where: Rocky Graham Park (800 Drake Avenue, Marin City)
When: June 19, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Click here to learn more.
There will be speakers sharing words of wisdom, and a variety of music and entertainment. You can also support Black businesses at the marketplace and celebrate with family, friends, and the community.
Monumental Reckoning
Date: June 19
Time: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Location: Golden Gate Park’s Music Concourse – San Francisco
Click here to learn more
The City of San Francisco is unveiling a new public art installation by Bay Area sculptor Dana King, which honors the first Africans stolen from their homeland and sold into slavery in the New World.
San Francisco Juneteenth Weekend
Date: June 19 - 20
Time: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Location: Gillman Park – San Francisco
Click here to learn more
Event info: The second annual Juneteenth celebration is part of weekend-long Juneteenth celebrations citywide. The vision for this celebration is born out of our community’s call for an anchoring manifestation of Black culture and economic health in San Francisco.
Megablack SF’s Juneteenth on the Waterfront
Saturday, June 19
8:00am – 2:00pm
Embarcadero Ferry Terminal Plaza (south of the Ferry Building) and Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
https://megablacksf.org/junetee
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 19: Protesters march towards downtown Oakland during a Juneteenth rally and march at the Port of Oakland on June 19, 2020 in Oakland, California. Thousands of union longshoremen and Black Lives Matter activists participated
Black Liberation Walking Tour
Date: June 19
Time: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Location: SPARC-it-Place (3419 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland)
Click here to learn more
Event info: On Juneteenth, we invite community for a day of live music, art, and food. Stop by SPARC-It-Place for the official launch of the BLWT, then take a walk, drive, or bike ride around the Hoover-Foster neighborhood to learn about the 100-year narrative ribbon that leads from the early West Coast civil rights movement, through the second wave of the Great Migration, to the Black Liberation actions of the present day.
Grace Arms of Antioch presents: Celebrate Freedom
Date: June 19
Time: 11:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Location: 3415 Oakley Road, Antioch
Click here to learn more
Event info: An event with live music, food, raffles, local speakers, live performances, and vendors. The purpose of this event is to inform, educate and unify the community through music, entertainment and community engagement.
40th Annual Juneteenth in the Park Festival – Santa Clara County
Date: June 19
Time: 12 - 7 p.m.
Location: Santa Clara County Fairgrounds – Gate D
Click here to learn more
Event info: This is the African American Community Service Agency’s 40th year producing the Juneteenth in the Park Festival in San Jose. The Festival celebrates African American heritage and is an opportunity to educate the community on topics ranging from health to education and financial literacy. The Festival features live entertainment, food, artwork, retailers, community services and local businesses.
Protest organiser Brandie Bowen looks on with protesters during a rally to mark Juneteenth on June 19, 2020, in San Francisco, California. - The US marks the end of slavery by celebrating Juneteenth, with the annual unofficial holiday taking on renew
Juneteenth at Bay View Opera House
Date: June 19
Time: 1 - 3 p.m.
Location: Bayview Opera House (4705 3rd Street, San Francisco)
Click here to buy tickets
Come out and join BVOH for our first outdoor event since the Shelter-In-Place order began. Join us for sun, community and live music. We have a jam-packed lineup featuring: Live Drumming from Batuci, an original dance routine from Feline Finesse, Poetry/Spoken Word from Queen Niyah, Uplifting music by XPress and GoodBrutha, Blues and Jazz by Pat Wilder and her band.
Back-to-Back Waack: Juneteenth Edition
Date: June 19
Time: 1 - 3 p.m.
Location: Queer Healing Art Center (3411 Lakeshore Avenue, Oakland)
Click here to buy tickets
Join David Johnson + Gail "G-Funk" Burks for two back-to-back Waacking/Whacking classes. This workshop is open to all levels – we will be covering history, drills, freestyle concept exercises to find your own voice, and choreo to bring it all together. Masks required for all students regardless of vaccination status.
Made / in SF: Culture Makes Profit$ - A Juneteenth Disruption
Date: June 19
Time: 2:22 - 6 p.m.
Location: Bespoke – Westfield San Francisco Center (865 Market Street, 4th Floor)
Click here to buy tickets
Event info: One fly afternoon of restoring equity through co-designing, pop-up retail and local artwork re-imagining Black Futures.
Protesters gather in front of San Francisco City Hall during a rally to mark Juneteenth on June 19, 2020, in San Francisco, California. - The US marks the end of slavery by celebrating Juneteenth, with the annual unofficial holiday taking on renewed
Colors of Juneteenth Artists’ Reception
Time: 3 - 6 p.m.
Date: June 19
Location: Abrams Claghorn Gallery (1251 Solano Avenue, Albany)
Click here to learn more
Display of artworks representing the Black Gaze of the African Diaspora artist through visual interpretations of history, culture, and experience.
Merritt College's Juneteenth Grab and Go Lunch and COVID Vaccination Event
Time: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Date: June 19
Location: Merritt College (12500 Campus Drive, Oakland)
Click here to register
Attendees can register in advance or walk-up tomorrow.
Merritt College's Juneteenth Grab and Go Lunch and COVID Vaccination Event