June 25 – Festival of Freedom at Glen Echo Park

Festival of Freedom

Celebrate the rich cultural history of Glen Echo Park in a day-long “Festival of Freedom” featuring live musical performances, storytelling and video booth, children’s activities, carousel rides, and more.

Download the Full Schedule for June 25 (PDF)

ALL DAY  | Enjoy Glen Echo Park

Bring the whole family for an enjoyable day of art and culture!

  • Hands-on Activities
    Bring the whole family for an enjoyable day of arts and culture! All are invited to create interactive butterflies and fanciful fans, decorated with images and texts celebrating the history of Juneteenth and our dreams for the future.
  • Story Tapestries Video Station: Tell Us Your Story! 
    The public is invited to share their stories and lived experiences as they relate to the history of Glen Echo Park and Montgomery County, and also to share their vision for the future.
  • Food
    Purchase a meal or snack from Money Muscle BBQ food truck, Praline café, and Ben & Jerry’s.
  • A Sneak Peek at a New Film Telling the Civil Rights Story of Glen Echo Park
    Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round, Ilana Trachtman’s upcoming documentary film shows how Black students from Howard University and White neighbors from the Bannockburn community near Glen Echo Park came together to desegregate the privately-owned Glen Echo Amusement Park, which was on the site of the current Glen Echo Park.
  • Pop-up Music with Munit Mesfin

Story Tapestries

11 am & 12 pm | “Voices of the Civil Rights Movement”

Presented by Story Tapestries @ Bumper Car Pavilion
With a brief introduction by Arianna Ross, Sheila Arnold will introduce the voices of civil rights activists as a way to challenge and inspire a younger generation to explore the topic of civil rights and become today’s history makers. They also help to examine the impact of the Civil Rights Movement on later movements, including women, people with disabilities, etc. This interactive program teaches audiences about those who paved the way to equality for so many, and everyone will be challenged to raise their voices and join the voices of so many in the past, and just like them. A DIFFERENCE CAN BE MADE!

12 pm | Daily Antidote of Song

Carpe Diem ArtsPresented by Carpe Diem Arts @ Washington Revels Office, Zoom and Facebook
Join old-time musician Hubby Jenkins in a song celebrating Juneteenth, live from Glen Echo Park with hosts Jo Rasi and Ysaye Barnwell. Join in-person or online. Learn more and get links

12:30pm | Procession, Ceremony, and Commemorative Carousel Ride

Glen Echo Park Grounds and Dentzel Carousel
Join the procession, and hear from local leaders in a ceremony commemorating the desegregation of the former Glen Echo Amusement Park in 1960. Musical performances by Washington Revels Heritage Voices. Following the program, all are invited to ride the historic Dentzel Carousel (open until 5pm).

Dan+Claudia Zanes

1:45 – 5pm | Live Music in and around the Bumper Car Pavilion

1:45 and 2:45pm | Washington Revels Heritage Voices

Heritage Voices will present songs in celebration of civil rights, social justice, and freedom, from the African American tradition.

2pm | Dan+Claudia Zanes

Grammy Award-winner Dan Zanes and Haitian-American jazz vocalist Claudia Zanes perform a mix of old and new songs from near and far in a style that has been called “all-ages social music.” It’s also been described as an all-ages party! This highly interactive concert will have you dancing and singing along as the duo performs homespun, artful, joyful music for everyone to enjoy.2:45pm | Washington Revels Heritage Voices

3pm | Hubby Jenkins

Hubby JenkinsHubby Jenkins is a talented multi-instrumentalist who endeavors to share his love and knowledge of old-time American music. Born and raised in Brooklyn he delved into his southern roots, following the thread of African American history that wove itself through America’s traditional music forms. As an integral member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and later Rhiannon Giddens band, Hubby has performed at festivals and venues around the world, earning himself both Grammy and Americana award nominations. Today he spreads his knowledge and love of old-time American music through his dynamic solo performances and engaging workshops.

4pm | Sweet Honey in the Rock®

Sweet Honey In The Rock® remains among the most vibrant, versatile and ever relevant musical collectives in music today; both as a performance ensemble and as an ambassadorial African American organization founded on the triumvirate missions of empowerment, education and entertainment.

Sweet Honey in the rockCurrently consisting of members Carol Maillard, Louise Robinson, Nitanju Bolade Casel, Aisha Kahlil, and featured musician Romeir Mendez on upright acoustic bass and electric bass. Sweet Honey In The Rock is a powerful and unique concert entity that fuses the elastic 360 degree possibilities of the human voice with a theatrical flair that keeps avid audiences returning for more year after year. Photo credit: Christopher Robinson

Kinetic, cultured and connected, this internationally renowned Grammy Award® nominated female a cappella vocal quartet has a history of over four decades of distinguished service. They have created positive, loving, and socially conscious message music that matters as it pertains to spiritual fortification, and consistently taken an activist stance toward making this planet a better place for all in which to live. Thus, the theme of the group’s 24th recording, #LoveInEvolution, Sweet Honey In The Rock’s first studio album in nine years and most contemporary project to date.