Diverse Voices: A Juneteenth Celebration

Diverse Voices: A Juneteenth Celebration

The Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts & Culture (GEPPAC) and Washington Revels co-presented a festive week of live music, creative conversation, community gatherings, and arts activities for all ages as we commemorate the end of slavery in America and honor the rich history of the Civil Rights Movement in Montgomery County, particularly the desegregation of the privately-owned Glen Echo Amusement Park in Montgomery County. This week-long festival highlighted local African American history through a series of in-person and virtual events around the DMV region, free and open to all ages.
View the 2023 Schedule (PDF)

Watch highlights from the first annual “Festival of Freedom” held at Glen Echo Park on June 25, 2023:

Diverse Voices: A Juneteenth CelebrationAlong with program partners Carpe Diem Arts and Montgomery History, we offered a festive week of live events (both in person and online) celebrating freedom!

From June 17-25, the festival kicked off with a Juneteenth celebration in Kensington, MD on Saturday, June 17. Beginning on Sunday, June 18, Washington Revels hosted artists every day at noon on Carpe Diem’s Daily Antidote of Song. On Monday, June 19, Washington Revels Jubilee Voices presented an outdoor concert in Alexandria, VA–Singing the Journey: Juneteenth Joy. On Tuesday, June 20, Montgomery History hosted “Voices of History and Hope: The Past and Future of Juneteenth in Montgomery County,” bringing together a panel of local leaders to discuss their work to preserve and promote Montgomery County’s African American history through community, agriculture, film, and the arts. On Wednesday, June 21, we celebrated Juneteenth in song at Carpe Diem’s virtual Community Sing (on Zoom or Facebook). Arlington Library hosted a conversation on Thursday, June 22 featuring renowned author Imani Perry, preceded by a musical presentation by Washington Revels Heritage Voices. Jazz Night in D.C. at Westminster Presbyterian Church featured a tribute to Freddie Hubbard on Friday, June 23. And, on Saturday, June 24 and 25, the Daily Antidote of Song was live from Glen Echo Park!

On Sunday, June 25, our celebration concluded with a family-friendly Festival of Freedom, starting with a symbolic procession into Glen Echo Park and commemorative Carousel ride (and rides throughout the day!).