Perkins Center Honors Culture and Community with Juneteenth Celebration

Join Moorestown’s annual Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration, an inspiring, free, family-friendly event in collaboration with the Perkins Center for the Arts, honoring the resilience and faith of enslaved people of the past while recognizing the ongoing pursuit of justice and hope for a better future. The celebration is from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM on Saturday, June 20, 2026, on the Evergreen Lawn at 395 Kings Highway, offering music, enrichment, creativity, and community connection.

Often revered as “America's second Independence Day,” Juneteenth is a national holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. Although President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, slavery continued in Texas for an additional two and a half years. June 19, 1865, well after the Civil War ended, was the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally learned of their freedom from federal troops.

While it only became an official federal holiday in 2021, Juneteenth has been actively celebrated for 160 years. Upon hearing the news of their emancipation, freed Texans began celebrating—combining “June” and “Nineteenth” into “Juneteenth.” The first organized Emancipation Day or Freedom Day celebrations took place in Galveston and East Texas in 1866. As Black Texans migrated across the country, they carried this commemorative tradition with them.

Moorestown’s Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration Returns June 20

This Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration offers the community a meaningful opportunity to gather, reflect, learn, and honor a pivotal moment in American history. In addition to commemorating emancipation, the event celebrates Black history, culture, achievement, liberation, and progress.

For seven years, a dedicated steering committee, including the Perkins Center for the Arts, MooreUnity, Bethel AME Church of Moorestown, and local businesses, has collaborated to bring this landmark celebration to the community. Joining the coalition as a co-host this year is Camden FireWorks, a community-based arts organization and independent multidisciplinary gallery. Known for its mission to use art as a catalyst for social change, equality, and community empowerment, Camden FireWorks strengthens the event’s focus on cultural unity and equity.

Organizers say that this year's celebration offers something for everyone and promises an experience attendees will not want to miss. Attendees can expect a welcoming space for community connection, cultural experiences, food, fellowship, and activities for people of all ages.

This multi-generational appeal is anchored by a familiar lineup of recurring artists and cultural traditions that have returned to the Evergreen Lawn year after year. The celebration’s main stage consistently features powerful, foundational performances, including uplifting gospel sets by the Juneteenth Community Choir and electrifying headlining music by local favorite the Fresh Fire Band. 

The Diverse Lineup of Artists Honoring Juneteenth

The main stage will feature a diverse lineup of regional artists and groups, including:

• 2nd Baptist Youth Dancers: Bringing choreographed routines to the stage that blend contemporary gospel rhythms with traditional praise dance.
• Community Choir: Delivering inspirational gospel sounds courtesy of an ensemble of gospel and worship choir members, vocalists, and musicians.
• Youth Poets Spoken Word: Amplifying next-generation voices, young local artists will showcase powerful, narrative-driven poetry highlighting personal, cultural, and historical storytelling.
• Mia Sunshyne: Leading an interactive line dance routine, the popular line dance and fitness instructor will get attendees of all ages moving with high energy.
• The Fresh Fire Band: Closing out the event, this musical performance features soulful vocals, electrifying rhythms, and a dynamic brass section playing timeless R&B and funk hits.

Beyond the stage, Freedom Day maintains its signature hands-on traditions, pairing free Creative Arts and Tie Dye Stations with family-friendly classic lawn games and Double Dutch. Together, these enduring community elements form the welcoming backbone of this Juneteenth celebration, ensuring that returning families and first-time guests alike can connect with the rich heritage of the day.

The History Behind Juneteenth and Freedom Day

The Moorestown Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration has transitioned from a grassroots movement born out of a period of national civil rights protests into a formalized annual town tradition. Two young Black community organizers, Ashlynn Conley and Jasmine Cartwright, sparked the idea for a Juneteenth celebration in June 2020 after attending a local protest meeting over the murder of George Floyd. The duo approached the Perkins Center for the Arts with their vision. The center was soon joined by community partners such as MooreUnity and Curate Noir to form the initial steering committee.

Today, the celebration continues to be held on the historic Evergreen Lawn at the Perkins Center for the Arts. Since 1977, the premier regional arts center has provided South Jersey communities with inclusive cultural programming, music education, and visual arts exhibitions. The Perkins Center positions Juneteenth as both a look backward and a look forward, explicitly defining the holiday as a tool to inspire others.

Perkins Center leadership emphasizes that the celebration plays an important role in strengthening local unity and building connections among neighbors. They describe the event as a space designed to inspire connection and support community, giving people across the region an opportunity to come together, feel included, and learn from one another.

Other organizers have also stressed that celebrations like this deserve ongoing recognition through community programming. They view Juneteenth as a meaningful opportunity to bring people together in a way that is both joyful and educational.

MooreUnity continues to play a central role in organizing the Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration. Founded in 2017, the nonprofit is dedicated to embracing diversity and fostering unity through programs, events, and community activities. In partnership with the Perkins Center, MooreUnity helps shape the celebration’s family-friendly programming and coordinates live performances, spoken word, interactive art activities, and Black-owned vendor participation.

MooreUnity president Karen Reiner has said the event creates a valuable opportunity for residents to connect across cultural differences. In remarks shared with Sun Newspapers, she described Moorestown’s Juneteenth celebration as a chance for neighbors and friends from different backgrounds to get to know one another and better understand experiences beyond their own.