The towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro will host their fourth annual Juneteenth Celebration on Sunday, June 16 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Hargraves Community Center. The Hargraves Center is located at 216 North Roberson Street in Chapel Hill.

Multiple experiences are planned for the celebration, including a market and expo featuring Black artisans and Black-owned businesses. Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee and other local community members are scheduled to speak, and Black musicians such as drummer Mickey Mills and the band The Social Construkt will perform. Local Creole and East African food trucks will be at the celebration.

Additionally, the Marian Cheek Jackson Center for Saving and Making History will host a Transcribe-a-Thon, in which attendees can listen to and transcribe short interview clips of oral histories from current and former residents of historically Black neighborhoods in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

For children, face painting and a collaborative chalk mural will be offered. The Chapel Hill Public Library will also showcase books which “reflect and celebrate Black liberation and culture,” according to a release from the towns.

“Working on the Juneteenth Celebration planning committee has been an eye-opening experience,” said Brentton Harrison, a recreational assistant at the Hargraves Community Center. “Learning about the intentional ways committee members gather community feedback and really try to prioritize that feedback. There are still ways in which the town and its committees can learn to be in community with those who they serve if real relationships are built.”

Parking lots at the Hargraves Center will be reserved for vendors, event staff and for ADA spaces. Attendees can park at Northside Elementary School or in public lots downtown, which are free on Sundays. The towns encourage attendees who are able to walk, bike or use Chapel Hill Transit to get to the celebration. Shuttle buses will be running between Northside Elementary and the Hargraves Center.

For more information about the celebration, click here.


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