Greenport’s annual Juneteenth celebration will return June 19 and 20 with an expanded two-day schedule featuring a community fundraising dinner, a theatrical performance, a parade through the village, live music, Afro-Brazilian drumming, a gospel choir and the unveiling of a community quilt project centered on this year’s theme: “The Walk Toward Freedom Continues.”
Now in its third year, the event is organized by Clinton Memorial AME Zion Church, Coming to the Table’s North Fork chapter and the Southold Town Anti-Bias Task Force. The celebration was first launched in 2023 following Juneteenth’s designation as a federal holiday in 2021 and received official recognition from the Town of Southold in 2024.
The festivities begin Friday, June 19, with a Juneteenth fundraising dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. at Sarah Mastracco‘s Flavor Fork in Greenport. Organizers said proceeds will help support the annual celebration. The evening continues at 7 p.m. at the North Fork Arts Center with writer Jo-Ann Wilson’s acclaimed oratorio-style production, Pages from the Diary of an Ex-Slave, which tells the fictionalized story of a young enslaved woman’s escape to freedom and later life as an abolitionist and storyteller.
The main celebration takes place Saturday, June 20, beginning at 10 a.m. at Clinton Memorial AME Zion Church on Third Street, where church elders will be honored and Rev. Natalie Wimberly will speak about this year’s theme. The annual parade will step off at 11 a.m., with organizers inviting residents, community organizations and visitors to join the walk from the church to Mitchell Park.
From noon to 2 p.m., Mitchell Park will host an afternoon of music, dance, drumming and spoken-word performances. Headlining the waterfront program will be members of the Lavender Light Gospel Choir, a New York City-based ensemble founded in 1985 to serve Black LGBTQ+ communities through gospel music and spirituals. The celebration will also feature performances by two Afro-Brazilian percussion groups, Batalá New York and Mamembe, whose drumming and dance traditions draw on African and Brazilian cultural heritage. Organizers said the performances were made possible through funding from the Friends of Mitchell Park. and Lavender Light Gospel Choir
A centerpiece of this year’s event will be the unveiling of a community quilt project that invited local residents and schoolchildren to respond creatively to the question, “What does your walk to freedom look like?” Organizers say the collaborative artwork reflects a wide range of personal experiences, perspectives and hopes while connecting participants to the celebration’s broader message of freedom, equality and community.
The celebration is free and open to the public. Additional information, registration details and event schedules are available at Juneteenth Greenport.
