Newport Juneteenth Celebration

Join us Saturday, June 15, for an exciting Juneteenth 2024 celebration in historic Washington Square, Newport.  Newport Juneteenth Celebration held in historic downtown Newport with speakers, live music, children’s activities, craft vendors and food trucks at the Eisenhower Park and Washington Square.

This second annual Juneteenth program pays tribute to RI’s role in the founding of our nation by honoring the historic 1st RI “Black” Regiment and the many cultures representing America’s rich diversity featuring gospel music; colonial music by Bristol Fife & Drum Corps; traditional Indigenous dance performance by the award-winning Narragansett folk artist Thawn Harris and family; drum performance by master African artist Sidy Maiga with a hands-on Drum Circle; and storytelling by Valerie Tutson of the RI Black Storytellers; plus regional historic regiment demonstrations, and more.

Special features this year will be a reading of “the Thomas Nichols letter,” a recently discovered artifact by African-American Thomas Nichols who was freed from enslavement to serve in the 1st Rhode Island Regiment.

After the Juneteenth celebration’s official end at 4 p.m. the organization will host its first Newport Black History Walking Tour, a $20 guided experience that leads guests to the several Slave History Medallion markers around the city and informs them on the area’s connection to the slave trade. The tour happening on June 15 will be free and open to the first 20 to 25 people that sign up.

“There are so many locations in the historic district where we can tell the stories of the enslaved,” Roberts said. “We’re telling the stories of the enslaver and the enslaved.”

Don’t miss it!

Free and open to the public.