Juneteenth of Buffalo Festival

01/09/2025

Good Afternoon Family!

💫We need your help!
We’re excited to announce that our organization has been nominated for a gracious grant.
Now, we need your support! Please vote for Juneteenth Festival Inc. to receive the “Flourishing In Community” $75,000 Grant to help further our mission of celebrating culture, education, and community in Buffalo & beyond. Your vote can make a big impact!

🗳️ Vote Today and help us continue to create meaningful experiences

✔️How to Vote:

1. Please visit http://bit.ly/FIC-NY (or scan the QR Code in photo attached.

2. Create an account

3. Type ‘298’ in the search bar to find our organization

4. Click ‘VOTE’

Thank you in advance for your continued support!
Peace ♥️🖤💚

06/27/2024

✨Pick up your copy at news stands and local businesses today & every Thursday for the 49th Juneteenth Festival recap photos & other news 🖊️✊🏿 www.buffchallnews.com/

👉🏿You can’t mention Buffalo without mentioning The Challenger Newspaper. Thank you team for your continued, unwavering support & partnership.

🛑

EST. 1963; with Former Assemblyman Arthur O. Eve, Calvin Kimbrough and John Moore, this bold, new Black voice for Buffalo’s African American community was born. Now, under the leadership of Al-Nisa Banks over the past 39 years. Ms. Banks, who started out as a volunteer at the paper in 1979, serves at the publication’s helm in both ownership capacity and as the Challenger’s editor and publisher. Together with her daughters Leah Hamilton (Associate Publisher) and Shola Clark ( Administration Manager) a dedicated staff and a host of volunteers, the Challenger has survived both as a small business and as an institution in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Under her guidance, the staff has continued to improve the quality of the publication in both print and digital capacities. Today the Challenger is the largest circulated Black newspaper in the state outside of New York City with a core readership in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Niagara Falls, Lackawanna and surrounding areas. Presently located in the heart of the Jefferson Avenue Renaissance initiative at 1337 Jefferson Avenue, The Challenger publishes every Wednesday and is recognized widely, both locally and nationally, as one of the most progressive African American newspapers in the country.

❤️🖤💚The Challenger’s goals are to continue to grow and improve its ability to communicate and disseminate critical information to its readers both in print and electronically, and to remain an instrument for good, and positive change for African Americans where ever they may be.

06/19/2024

Happy Juneteenth, Family!

Check our story for our top pick of Juneteenth events happening today! ♥️🖤💚

See You There✊🏿
_____________________________
Why We Celebrate Juneteenth ::

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued his official Emancipation Proclamation, which contrary to popular belief did not immediately free a single enslaved African. Though Abraham Lincoln issued
the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, with an effective date of January 1, 1863, it had minimal immediate effect on most enslaved Africans’ day-to-day lives, particularly in Texas, which was almost entirely under Confederate control. Juneteenth commemorates June 18 and 19, 1865. June 18 is the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its enslaved.
On June 19, 1865, supposedly, Granger read the contents of General Order No. 3: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.” From that moment in Galveston, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day had spread across the United States and beyond. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. On December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment’s completion of ratification was signed declaring “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.”
Thus ending slavery as we knew it.

06/18/2024

Twas the day before Juneteenth and all through the town, the people were stirring about what Juneteenth Inc. & Buffalo Kitchen Club was putting down…

Come Through! tonight!

Juneteenth Fest presents a
Juneteenth Eve Open Mic!

✔️Live Music
✔️ Spoken Word
✔️ Food & Drink Specials
✔️ Networking

⌚️6pm to 9pm

📍Buffalo Kitchen Club
431 Elmwood Ave.
Buffalo, NY 14222

06/15/2024

Can’t attend WNYs Greatest Parade in-person?
♥️🖤💚
🎥 Watch the Juneteenth Parade LIVE!
Tune in to WKBW - Channel 7 !
TODAY
Saturday June 15th | 10am

Asantè Sana! Thank You Wkbw !!✊🏿

06/14/2024

JUNETEENTH OF BUFFALO FESTIVAL:
ARTS & CULTURE STAGE LINEUP

✨Live & Dope Artist, Dancers, Games & More
Something for everyone to stop by and enjoy ✨

An artist you know that’s performing!

Oh, & yall already know how us real spade players can get 😂♠️

Spades Tournament happening at the
ARTS & CULTURE STAGE
Sunday June 16
W/ Cash Prizes
(Details in Flyer)

Stop by the Festival Information Tent for Map/ Exact Location

06/14/2024

JUNETEENTH BUFFALO FESTIVAL: ENTERTAINMENT STAGE LINEUP

You see that line-up full of kings?! 👏🏾

Pull up a lawn chair to the BIGGEST stage at the festival! You can’t miss it— & if you do, stop by the Information Tent for a map ✊🏿

🎶Featuring smooth sounds and cool vibes by our city’s best local artist & some special ‘out-of-towners’ too 🎷

✋🏿Don’t forget to get some food from one of the food vendors before you get comfortable

06/14/2024

Check out the 2024 Juneteenth AG Pavilion Schedule

The Juneteenth Agricultural Pavilion was founded in 2019, as a space dedicated to agricultural education, especially lifting up the contributions and innovations of African Americans in farm science and entrepreneurship.

Our mission is to provide hands-on educational presentations and
demonstrations related to agricultural history as well as resources and education related to current practices and careers in agriculture. We provide access to information regarding food access and connect pavilion visitors with folks doing ag related work in the community. Our efforts have even resulted in festival goers obtaining jobs within our growing agricultural community.

The Pavilion is located in Shelter 5 at MLK Park on the corner of Parade and Fillmore.

06/12/2024

🤞🏾Umoja ni nguvu: A Swahili proverb meaning "Unity is strength"

Our people fellowshipping together as one has always been a powerful act 🌟 Building a closer bond, connecting with our spiritual heritage in music and dance.

🫡Join us this Friday June 14.
5pm-7pm @ Martin Luther King Park (Statue) Praying our way into the Juneteenth Festival weekend.

‼️Featuring:
Bishop Yusuf Morris, Reba Baldwin, Pastor Tara Baldswin, Apostle Wilson & Church Choir, Evangelist Kristka Rogers, Bishop Stephanie Morris, Anthony Collins, & More!

06/06/2024

Just days away from the biggest fest!!Wondering What's New This Year?

🎉No CP Time this year, the Juneteenth Parade is growing so we're starting an hour early!🌟
👉🏽Saturday June 15 at 10AM. Pull up at Genesee Str. near Ivey Str. for a front row seat to the start of the action 🎬

🪅Juneteenth Teen Activities: upgraded! This year teens can have their own Juneteenth experience. Food, dance contest, live entertainment, airbrush tattoos, special guest, photo Booth, games, and major prizes-courtesy of sponsors including Colored Girls Bike Too , Destiny Anderson , Ant Brown & others.
🛑School ID, Bus Pass, Report Card or some other form of ID REQUIRED to enter Teen Activity Area.

🛝Skip The Line!! Yall know how longgg the line gets at the Children's Activity Area— & it's no wonder — Clown Around Ent. will be onsite with the carnival games, carnival foods, mega bubbles, games, and other attractions.
Skip the line & go to www.buffalojuneteenth.com homepage to preregister your child (ren).

♠️Spades Tournament! Sunday June 16th :: Pull up at the Arts & Culture Stage between 1pm - 2:45pm to register for the games to start at 3pm. And we're not stopping until we have a winner. Cash Prize for 1st Place!

🥇JUNETEENTH FESTIVAL OF BUFFALO
MLK Park: June 15-16, 2024

05/13/2024

>> Due to an overwhelming response since applications opened in early March, we’re excited to announce that we are no longer accepting FOOD VENDOR applications at this time!

((Non-Food Exhibitor Applications Are Still Open))

Thank you to everyone that has shown interest! 🙏

👀Interested in being a FOOD VENDOR for the 2025 Juneteenth 50th Anniversary Event? Make sure you’re on our email list to receive updates —> Just comment or direct message us to be added!

See Yall Next Month!
🎉🥳🙌🏼

04/22/2024

Get ready to turn up the vibes and turn down the waste! 😁🙌🏼
We're thrilled to announce that this year's Juneteenth Festival is going GREEN(er)! ♻️

In an effort to increase attendee satisfaction, create an impactful Juneteenth experience and keep our community clean:
👉We're making moves towards becoming a more sustainable event! From reducing plastic to recycling materials and adding resources to the festival cleanup crew, we're making sure every move is a step towards a brighter, greener future.

On June 15 & June 16, this year's festival goers can look forward to all the Celebration, per usual.
Including Good Food, Shopping, 35+ Major Activities, WNY's Largest Parade & So Much More!
🗣️Minus the Waste 😉

⭐️Attendees, Supporters & Partners can support by:
♻️Bringing reusable items like water bottles and canvas bags for purchases

♻️ Disposing of trash and recyclables appropriately at the festival

♻️Volunteering for a shift with the festival Clean-Up Crew !!
—- Volunteer apps on our website, www.buffalojuneteenth.com

03/14/2024

Calling all! 🗣️Join the movement and be apart of something that benefits our community!
Volunteer with us at the Buffalo Juneteenth Festival- share your ideas, voice your concerns & help create unforgettable memories of unity, celebration, and empowerment. Juneteenth is For Us, By Us! ♥️🖤💚

Link in bio —
Apply at www.buffalojuneteenth.com
Email [email protected]
Call (716)710-9298

We'd love to have you!

03/07/2024

😁Great News! We’d like to extend a big thank you to & for the Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) Award! This grant will fund an Accessibility Study/ Project aimed at improving the Juneteenth Festival Inc. headquarters for the entire community to enjoy.

👉This Accessibility Study will help Juneteenth improve our HQ building and give us the ability to welcome the entire community, including the physically challenged, to our volunteer meetings, educational workshops, and festival planning activities.

🙏The Technical Assistance grant program is a partnership between the New York
State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the Preservation League of New York State,
made possible by NYSCA with the support of the Office of the Governor and the
New York State Legislature.

🎉Stay tuned as we share more information on this great project!

01/04/2024