Gloucester Juneteenth Celebration

Cape Ann Museum, 27 Pleasant Street, Gloucester, MA 
Free and open to the public

Celebrate Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States! The third Gloucester Juneteenth Celebration is presented by the North Shore Juneteenth Association and CAM’s Community Engagement Committee Member, Toni Waldron, who hosted the first Gloucester Juneteenth Celebration in 2021. Learn about the Juneteenth Holiday and its connection to Cape Ann history while celebrating Black history through music, dance and food.  

As described by the North Shore Juneteenth Association, “Juneteenth is an American Holiday that commemorates June 19, 1865, the date that enslaved Black people of Galveston, Texas, learned that President Abraham Lincoln had freed enslaved people in rebel states two and a half years earlier. This was the last group of enslaved Black people to learn of their freedom! Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom, a day to reflect on how far we have come and how we will continue to move forward, and a day to focus on the complexity of the Black American experience.” 

Schedule 

• 11:00 AM: Juneteenth Flag Raising at Gloucester City Hall with Master Sargent Carcell DuBose and the Gloucester High School ROTC. Opening Remarks with the North Shore Juneteenth Association and Mayor Greg Verga.
• 11:30 AM: Reading Frederick Douglass Together in the CAM Courtyard, supported by MassHumanities and the Mass Cultural Council 
• 12:00 – 2:00 pm: New England Black Circus in the CAM Parking Lot
• 12:00pm: Mayor Greg Verga will be reading Black is a Rainbow Color by Angela Joy in the Library Outdoor Amphitheater.
• 12:30 PM: Pop Up Poetry with Denise Washington and Akili Jaynes in the CAM Courtyard
• 1:00 pm: Yoga & Sound Healing with Sarah DeCruz and Taylor in the CAM Sculpture Garden
• 2:30 pm: Capoeira Performance in the CAM Parking Lot, sponsored by Gloucester 400+
• 3:00 – 5:00 pm: Musical performance by Rhythm Plus Soul in the CAM Courtyard sponsored by Rockport Music 

Activities 

• Free Admission to the Cape Ann Museum
• Book Giveaway sponsored by Art for Equity with Dogtown Books, Bookstore of Gloucester, and Suzi’s Stories 
• Make your own bookmark with the Gloucester Education Foundation
• Free Silk Screening with the CAM Teen Council 
• 150 Free Scoops of a special Red Velvet Ice Cream by Holy Cow Ice Cream, sponsored by Discover Gloucester 
• Free Face Painting 
• Gloucester 400+ Poetry Wall 
• Paper Quilt Making 
• Button Making
• Farm Seedling Giveaway with Backyard Growers and Iron Ox Farm
• Styling with Queen Adeline
• Interactive Rainbows with the Sawyer Free Library

Participating Organizations Include: 

• Cape Ann Museum
• Gloucester 400+ Anniversary
• Suzi’s Stories
• The Bookstore of Gloucester
• City of Gloucester Sustainability
• Holy Cow Ice Cream Cafe
• Backyard Growers
• Outside Mind
• Dogtown Books
• Discover Gloucester
• Action Inc.
• Art for Equity
• Gloucester Education Foundation
• Queen Adeline
• Gloucester Racial Justice Team
• HomeWorks Energy
• Sawyer Free Library
• Iron Ox Farm
• Rockport Music-Shalin Liu Performance Center
• Department of Children and Families Foster Care

This program is made possible in part by a grant from Mass Humanities, which provided funding through the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC).