Juneteenth 2023

Juneteenth celebrations of freedom blossomed throughout the Greater Greensboro area over a colorful three-day, high-energy weekend of prayers, music, food and fun.

Three of the many citywide events included the Uptown Greensboro Arts & Crafts Festival, the Black Food Truck Festival and the Black Pearls Society’s Jam with rhythm and blues singer/record producer Stokley.
Happy Juneteenth participants danced, sang and greeted friends with smiling delight. Hundreds of people wore t-shirts commemorating the revered Freedom Day.

Under bright sunshine, a collection of artists and musicians congregated at Sternberger Park on Summit Avenue for an Arts & Crafts Festival, which opened with a live art battle followed by an afternoon of music, spoken word, artisans, vendors, and food purveyors presenting crafts, paintings, delectables and apparel. Later that day in downtown LeBauer and Center City Parks, more vendors and community/academic/nonprofit representatives created context for a bevy of Black-owned food trucks along Davie Street, with musical performances simultaneously occurring on both park stages.

Late Sunday afternoon, the sisterhood known as the Black Pearls Society, which nurtures, trains and sustains the culture of the strong Black woman, drew hundreds of people to The Continental nightclub on S. Elm Street, for several hours of pulsating, hop-onto-your feet music. The concert featured the penetrating sounds of Stokley, former lead singer of the R&B band, Mint Condition, with an opening performance from local musician, Gavin Maestro, and his band, The Band Untitled.