Celebrate Juneteenth in Long Beach
Now in its fifth year, the Long Beach Juneteenth Celebration has quickly become one of the city’s most anticipated and best attended events. Come down to Rainbow Lagoon Park for the day-long celebration of Black history and culture featuring live music, dancing, Black artisans, food trucks, and family activities.
Stay Tuned
More details on the 2025 Long Beach Juneteenth Celebration coming soon!
Touching history
As in years past, the celebration will also present and honor the history of the Black experience. To give the community, Kemp said, “an up close and personal look at Black history while at the same time celebrating our potential.”
The oldest nationally celebrated observation of the ending of slavery in the United States, Juneteenth commemorates Union soldiers, on June 19, 1865, landing at Galveston, Texas and announcing the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved were now free. This was two and half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, which had little impact in Texas due to the small number of Union troops located there to enforce it. However, with the surrender of Confederate forces in April, 1865, the additional Union troops in Texas were now able to overcome resistance to the Proclamation.
In 2021, President Joe Biden established June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day, a federal holiday, calling it “one of the greatest honors I will have as president.”
Explore More
Southern California’s premiere Juneteenth event returns on June 14 with a day-long celebration of Black history and culture featuring live music, family activities, food trucks and more.
