3rd Annual Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom

Join us as we celebrate America 250 and our 3rd Annual Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom on Friday, June 19, 2026! This national event, first celebrated in the 1870s, was designated in 2019 as a federal holiday, celebrating June 19, 1865 – the day when word reached Galveston, TX, of the Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery in the United States. Traditionally, it has been celebrated with living history, reenactments, picnics, music, and community gathering – all in celebration of freedom.

*Informational booths highlighting local history from our neighbors in Ashland, Huron, Lorain, and Richland Counties;
*Living historians sharing local undertold stories of freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad;
*President Abraham Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation;
*A free community picnic;
*Live music by local band, the Afrxnts (Afro-nauts);
*Storytime with the Ashland Public Library;
*A sneak peak of a new America 250 exhibit, “Moments that Made Us”;
*A screening of the documentary, “A Higher Law: The Oberlin Wellington Rescue of 1858,” with a Q&A with the filmmakers at The Ashland Theatre.