Emory & Henry College will host an inaugural Juneteenth freedom festival on campus for the greater community of Southwest Va. and Northeast Tenn. including live music and local food trucks on Saturday, June 18, starting at 11 a.m. on its Emory, Va. campus off I-81 at exit 26.
Juneteenth is a recognition of the freedom of enslaved people in the United States at the end of the Civil War. The College’s celebration of Juneteenth will be led by the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging on campus. It will be held in front of Van Dyke Center near the Duck Pond and will include a variety of food trucks throughout the day. The event opens at 11 a.m. with performances starting at 12 p.m. including spoken word poetry, singing, dancing and of Juneteenth to celebrate freedom. The performances will be emceed by the Barter Theatre’s Creative Community Specialist, Terrance Jackson. At 3 p.m. the renowned Greensboro, N.C. gospel group The Gospel Sensations will perform a concert until 4 p.m.
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The Gospel Sensations will be performing Saturday, June 18 at 3 p.m. on the campus of Emory & Henry College as part of the Juneteenth Freedom Festival.
Performances will begin at 12 p.m. with the Wolf Hills Jazz Quartet. The Wolf Hills Jazz Quartet of Abingdon, Va. have been playing in Southwest Va. and Northeast Tenn. for more than five years. The group includes Tom Peterson on saxophone, Joe Pendergast on drums, Ernie Braganza on guitar and E&H Professor Ed Davis on acoustic bass. Following the Quartet, John Holloway, Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging will conduct the welcoming ceremony. Dr. Jerry Jones and Jerry Hill will introduce the Community Mass Choir, coordinators of bringing singers from local churches together, for a grand performance. Following the Community Mass Choir, musicians Dennis Hill and Marva Wheeler will perform individually. Emory & Henry College musical theater major Destinee Johnson of Chattanooga, Tenn. will perform prior to The Gospel Sensations. In addition to the performances, there will be presentations on the history and meaning of Juneteenth.
The festival will feature family activities throughout the day including inflatables, a kid’s fishing derby at the Duck Pond, arts, crafts and vendors.
The festival is free and for all ages, organized by Emory & Henry in partnership with Middle Fork Records, the Appalachian Peace Education Center and the Mt. Pleasant Preservation Society & Museum. For more information about the festival and Emory & Henry’s Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging, please visit https://www.ehc.edu/diversity-equity-inclusion/ or call Emily Bishop, DEI&B Program Specialist at (276) 944-6948. Registration is not necessary and the event will take place rain or shine.
