Eight Ways to Celebrate Juneenth in NYC Through Music, Comedy and Dance
Our top picks to celebrate Black history and art, with events from Thursday through Saturday
This year, New York City artists are celebrating Juneteenth with a vibrant slate of performances across NYC, including a wide swathe of music, comedy, dance and more. We gathered eight of our top picks for you to check out, spanning everything from free outdoor dance parties and children's events to a showcase of NYC’s best all-black improv and sketch teams!
Third Annual Juneteenth Celebration at Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture at Hostos Community College
Thursday June 18 at 7 pm
Hostos Center’s Third Annual Juneteenth Celebration, in collaboration with Carnegie Hall as part of their United in Sound America at 250 festival, features dance, music, and spoken word with the Forces of Nature Dance Theatre Company. This critically acclaimed New York City company transcends boundaries, weaving together contemporary dance with the rich traditions of West Africa and the African diaspora. Its electrifying performances incorporate elements of ballet, hip-hop, house, and even martial arts, resulting in a visually stunning and thought-provoking experience. Forces of Nature Dance Theatre celebrates cultural heritage and inspires audiences with its innovative artistic expression.
Tickets: Free entry. RSVP here.
Celebrate Juneteenth at Brower Park (Brooklyn)
Friday June 19 from 11 am to 3 pm
Celebrate freedom and Black joy at Brooklyn Children Museum’s community Juneteenth gathering in Brower Park. Move to live music, create art together, and celebrate at this free event that’s open to all. Presented with Council Member Chi Ossé, Friends of Brower Park, Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, and Brooklyn Public Library.
Juneteenth LP at Joe’s Pub
Friday June 19 at 6:30 pm
Back for an 11th year celebrating Juneteenth at Joe's Pub, the NYC-based music collective Juneteenth LP continues to reimagine a classical music that is so expansive in its reach and scope that it grazes the edges of jazz, funk, spirituals, and the blues. With music programming set against a backdrop of slick arrangements of Afrobeats, hip-hop, R&B, gospel and soul, we celebrate Freedom Day by honoring the Black musicians then and now, who against all odds chose a life of creativity by picking up a violin, a conductor’s baton or a composer’s pen. Join us as we pay tribute to the intoxicating sonic cultural wealth of the African Diaspora. Yes, you'll learn about Black classical composers, but frankly, if you don't end up shaking your ass, we didn't do it right.
Tickets: Tickets are $30 (inclusive of advance phone/web service fee). There is a 2 drink or 1 food item minimum per person.
Juneteenth: The Musical in Concert by Darrel Alejandro Holnes at Joe’s Pub
Friday June 19 at 6:30 pm
Juneteenth: The Musical follows Samuel, a formerly enslaved man who escapes to join the Union Army, and Ruby, the woman he loves and left behind. When Samuel returns to Texas in 1865 to marry her, his former master refuses to let go—even though the war is over and slavery is legally abolished. What follows is a story of love, defiance, and liberation, as Samuel, Ruby, Black Union soldiers, and Mexican allies who had long sheltered freedom seekers across the border join forces to make emancipation real. Blending gospel, spirituals, zydeco, and norteña, this bilingual, dance-driven musical celebrates the origins of America's newest federal holiday—and the ordinary people who forced a nation to keep its promise.
Tickets: Tickets are $36 (inclusive of advance phone/web service fee). There is a 2 drink or 1 food item minimum per person.
REPARATIONS! A JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION OF BLACK IMPROV COMEDY! at Caveat
Friday June 19 @ 7 pm
You’re invited to the 5th Annual passing out of REPARATIONS! Come join host and WildNOut Castmate, Sydney Duncan, as she celebrates Juneteenth with a blackity-black showcase of NYC’s best all-black improv and sketch teams with a surprise special guest stand-up set!
Tickets: Tickets (including fees) are $18.76 early bird (until Jun 12, 7:00PM) $24.41 standard, $25.00 at the door, $11.63 livestream
Lincoln Center Presents Carl Hancock Rux’s Oh Sankofa (outdoors)
Friday June 19 at 7 pm
The annual Juneteenth celebration at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts returns this year with a powerful multidisciplinary performance written, directed, and curated by Carl Hancock Rux. Through music, choral performance, dance, and storytelling, Oh Sankofa pays tribute to the use of African-American folklore as a vital means of survival during the trauma of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The work features actor/comedian Phyllis Yvonne Stickney; performers Vinson Fraley and Chanon Judson; blues jazz guitarist Marvin Sewell; the Etienne Lashley Choir; Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet Dance Theater; and contemporary art garments and installation by Dianne Smith.
Lincoln Center Presents The Tune Up A Juneteenth Celebration
Friday June 19 at 7:30 pm
The Tune Up! is back for Season 2 ready to celebrate Juneteenth with you! If you celebrated freedom day with us last year then you’ll want to rejoin the party cause we’re hitting happier and harder than ever with new material and special guests! SLP and her 8-piece band The Joyful Noise bring you a soul-raising variety show with plays, music, brand new songs, powerful lyrics, comedy, and raw in-the-moment reflections. This new performance series created by Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist Suzan-Lori Parks and directed by Bessie Award-winning Artistic Director of The Flea Theater Niegel Smith is a sip-your-drinks, make-new-friends, dance-in-the-aisles kind of evening that traffics in big sounds and bold ideas. Come share the love!
REAL Black: A Juneteenth Celebration with Crystal Monee Hall and Friends at 54 Below
Friday June 19 at 9:30 pm
Join Crystal Monee Hall and a host of amazing performers and special guests from Broadway and beyond for an evening of celebrating Blackness and freedom through music. We’ll sing up a celebration of Black music throughout the ages as a family—from spirituals, gospel, to the blues, and their many modern descendants. Come put one up for the ancestors and celebrate Juneteenth with us. Music direction by Mark Meadows.
Tickets: Tickets start at $19.50 with a food & beverage minimum of $25 per person.
We Outside! A Brooklyn Juneteenth, Vol. IV (outdoors in Downtown BK)
Saturday June 20 at 7 pm
We Outside! returns to Downtown Brooklyn for an all-day Juneteenth celebration rooted in Black joy, expression, and togetherness.
Presented by 651 ARTS and The Soapbox Presents, We Outside transforms The Plaza at 300 Ashland into Downtown Brooklyn’s biggest stoop - a vibrant public gathering where music, movement, storytelling, food, artistry, and community collide.
A full schedule and more information for We Outside is available here
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Frank Sinatra: The Concert! 54 Below (7/19-7/19) |
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Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway: BOOM! 15th Anniversary Concert 54 Below (7/16-7/16) |
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Across Her Universe: A Fiona Apple Tribute 54 Below (7/21-7/21) |
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Brent Comer 54 Below (9/23-9/23) |
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Casey Likes: Back To The Past 54 Below (8/06-8/06) |
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Life is Pandemonium: A Night of Broadway Crashouts 54 Below (7/29-7/29) |
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Claybourne Elder 54 Below (9/08-9/08) |
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54 Sings Prequels, Sequels and Threequels (The Sequel) 54 Below (8/14-8/14) |
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New Works Night with The Table Read Co. 54 Below (7/05-7/05) |
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54 Sings Broadway's Greatest Hits! 54 Below (10/03-10/03) |