Guests for a recent Juneteenth Festival watch performances in Eden Park. Photo by Noel Morgan
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Cincinnati Juneteenth Festival
For the past 32 years Cincinnati has celebrated Emancipation and the end of slavery with a Juneteenth Festival in a Cincinnati park. Unfortunately COVID-19 and the necessity for social distancing have forced cancellation of the 2020 Festival that had been scheduled for the weekend of June 20.
However, festival organizers have come up with the next best thing to being together in Eden Park.
Juneteenth Cincinnati’s Lydia Morgan announced that her organization, in cooperation with the musicians scheduled to perform on Juneteenth weekend, is producing “Virtual Juneteenth,” a feature-length video concert.
Just like the Eden Park Festival, Virtual Juneteenth will be free to the public. Folks will be able to celebrate Virtual Juneteenth in the safety of their homes. It will be available on community cable channels and social media.
Groups featured in the video will include Last Boppers, Ms. Jaz, Stone City Band, Lakeside, The Elevation Band, IJO UGO Nigerian Dancers, the Juneteenth Celebration Choir, Cincy Brazil Samba Dance, Prodigal Sunz, Dunimis Sign & Mime, Renee Hill and Neva Ford.
“Canceling the festival was a hard decision to make, but we know that even if Ohio has relaxed the public restrictions between now and June 20, folks would still not feel comfortable or safe gathering in large groups. We are, however, very excited about preparations and prospects for making Virtual Juneteenth a great way to maintain the Juneteenth tradition,’’ Morgan said.
More specifics will be available by early June at www.juneteenthcincinnati.org.
For more information Lydia Morgan 513-631-7289 lydiajmorgan@gmail.com.