Juneteenth events 2023
Posted: Jun 7, 2023 3:08 PM EDT | Updated: Jun 14, 2023 5:59 PM EDT
A number of communities are celebrating Juneteenth across Michiana. Take a look at our list of events to attend.
Why do we celebrate?
Juneteenth commemorates the day when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free, according to the Associated Press.
Though President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved people in 1863, it could not be enforced in many places throughout the South until the end of the Civil War in 1865.
Juneteenth celebrations officially began on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, when word reached the slaves that the war had ended.
On that day, Union Major General Gordon Granger delivered General Order No. 3, which stated that slaves in Texas were free.
In 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bill to mark Juneteenth, or June 19, as a federal holiday.
Berrien County
Juneteenth: Keep Moving Forward (Benton Harbor)
- June 17
- 1 to 6 p.m.
- Downtown Benton Harbor - Main Street and City Center Park
- More info
Juneteenth: community love heals a community (Niles)
- June 19
- 3 to 8 p.m.
- Plym Park - 401 Marmont St., Niles
- More info
Elkhart County
City of Goshen Juneteenth celebration
- June 17
- Noon to 5 p.m.
- Shanklin Park - 411 W. Plymouth Ave.
- More info
Juneteenth Documentary Screening: "What Happened at Benham West" (Elkhart)
- June 19
- 10 to 11:30 a.m., 2 to 3:30 p.m., 6 to 7:30 p.m.
- Ruthmere Museum - 302 E. Beardsley Ave., Elkhart
- More info
Elkhart Juneteeth Celebration 2023
- June 19
- 4 to 8 p.m.
- Historic Roosevelt Center - 215 E. Indiana Ave., Elkhart
- More info
Kosciusko County
Juneteenth: Celebrating Community (Warsaw)
- June 17
- Doors open at 5 p.m., celebration at 7 p.m.
- Kosciusko Community Fair, The Shrine Building - 1400 E. Smith St.
- More info
St. Joseph County
African American Legacy Juneteenth Luncheon (South Bend)
- June 13
- Noon to 1:30 p.m.
- The History Museum - 808 W. Washington St., South Bend
- More info
Juneteenth Celebration + Resource Fair (South Bend)
- June 16
- 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.
- DeBartolo Performing Arts Center - 100 Performing Arts Ctr., Notre Dame
- More info
South Bend Chapter of the Indiana Black Expo's Juneteenth Celebration 2023 (South Bend)
- June 17
- Noon to 5 p.m.
- LaSalle Park - 3419 W. Washington St., South Bend
- More info
Strides for Freedom Walk
- June 19
- 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Saint Joseph Mishawaka Medical Center's Healing Garden - 5215 Holy Cross Parkway, Mishawaka
- More info