Oregon, mark your calendars for the week around June 19 for Juneteenth celebrations featuring live music and performances, food and goods from local businesses, and the honoring of Black history in the state and across the nation.
If you’re unfamiliar with the holiday, Juneteenth — an official federal holiday since 2021 — acknowledges the collective end of slavery in the United States and is a long-standing African American holiday that honors the resistance and resilience of Black people in America.
While the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 decreed that all enslaved people would be free, many “border-Confederate” states like Texas still allowed slavery. On June 19, 1865, federal troops arrived in Texas to enforce the proclamation, and that December, the 13th Amendment officially abolished slavery. One year later, in 1866, freed Black people in Texas organized the first Juneteenth celebration (the name being short for June 19th), and the tradition grew and spread across the country.
Here are some of the top events and ways to support Oregon’s Black community. For a continuously updated list, see Oregon Black Pioneers’ Juneteenth events page.
Clara Peoples Brings Juneteenth to Oregon
While Americans have been celebrating Juneteenth nationwide for more than 150 years, Oregon’s history is a bit different. Oregon officially became a state in 1859, though it was the only state to join the Union with exclusion provisions toward Black people. Juneteenth was introduced to Oregon in 1945 — almost a century later — by Clara Peoples, a resident of Vanport (the North Portland community built to house migrant workers during World War II) who had come to Oregon from Oklahoma to work in the Kaiser Shipyards.
Even after Peoples and her family were displaced during the 1948 Vanport floods, she spent decades working in the community and organizing Juneteenth celebrations and local community events. She helped initiate a citywide celebration for Portland in 1972.
Peoples died in 2015 at age 89, and the following year Portland’s annual Juneteenth parade was renamed the Clara Peoples Freedom Trail Parade in her honor.
On June 19, 2021, during the 49th celebration of Juneteenth in Oregon, the state legislature approved a bill that recognized June 19 as an official state holiday starting in 2022. “This official holiday will recognize that the people of Oregon, despite our past, can take the veil of ignorance away and each year choose to have hope,” Oregon Senator Lew Frederick said upon the Senate’s signing of the bill.
The declaration came less than two months after the guilty verdict of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer convicted of the murder of George Floyd. The murder sparked a resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests around the globe, including in many communities in Oregon and for more than 100 days in a row in Portland.
Where to Celebrate Juneteenth in Portland
The biggest event of the day — the Annual Juneteenth Oregon Event — kicks off with a parade that starts at King Elementary and ends at Lillis-Albina Park in North Portland. Saturday’s events also include a festival at the park with live music, food and retail vendors, a kids area, history tent, raffles, and more. This is a free family-friendly event. Juneteenth Oregon is a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting, strengthening communities and sharing knowledge of the history of Juneteenth. Organizers encourage the public to support local Black businesses and restaurants in the Portland area.
New for 2025, a Juneteenth-weekend fashion show called Bloom Runway Dynasty IX returns after a 5-year hiatus, showcasing BIPOC designers. The event promises to blend high fashion, streetwear and culture in a way that honors heritage while shaping the future of fashion. Fashion show guests can also enjoy a marketplace of BIPOC-owned brands, live spoken-word performances and a post-show dance party mixer, along with swag and other perks.
Another festival happens in Dawson Park, where you’ll find food, free haircuts, domino tournaments, dance contests and basketball-shooting contests. The celebrations continue at the The Miracles Club with kids activities, music, guest speakers and more.
Portland’s annual Eight Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo at the Portland Expo Center is another favorite Juneteenth event. Come for classic rodeo events like bull riding, steer wrestling and barrel racing — all done by top Black western athletes from across the country. The event’s mission is to expose local youth to the traditions, athleticism and grit of Black cowboys and cowgirls in America.
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Black History and Drumming on the Oregon Coast and Southern Oregon
The city of Coos Bay, on the Southern Oregon Coast, will host its annual Juneteenth Celebration the day before the official holiday at the Coos History Museum. The museum also helped create a memorial to Alonzo Tucker, the only lynching victim ever to be documented in Oregon, in Coos Bay in 1902. Check out even more South Coast festivities, including African drumming and a free screening of “Black Panther” at the Egyptian Theatre in Coos Bay; poetry at the Sprague Theater in Bandon; and a presentation by the Oregon Black Pioneers in the Chetco Community Public Library in Brookings.
On the Central Oregon Coast, Lincoln City is celebrating with a special Juneteenth Celebration, featuring live music, exhibits and food at the Lincoln City Community Center.
In Medford Black Alliance & Social Empowerment of Southern Oregon hosts its event featuring an African-drumming group, live bands, DJs, singers, dancers, a kids’ zone and local food showcasing Black-owned businesses.
Several businesses around town will be hosting their own Juneteenth celebrations over the weekend and on the holiday itself. Call ahead for additional info. Some include the Juneteenth celebration at the Meso Makers Market, where you’ll find food, local vendors and crafting, as well as music and wine tastings with Stoney Wines. French-Haitian restaurant Mermosa PDX has teamed up with The Bidwell Marriott Portland to host a Juneteenth Brunch Cruise. Swing by The Living Room Coffeehouse for a paint-and-sip event for the 21-and-up crowd; all skill levels are welcome.
Don’t miss this year’s Black Drag PDX, an event that involves a conversation around the history of Black drag in the city, as well as a performance with Lawanda Jackson and Poison Waters, on June 13 at McMenamins Kennedy School. Portland’s Hollywood Theatre will host an “extra credit” event on June 19 with a screening of Devil in a Blue Dress and a discussion with Portland State University professor Mark Berrettini, who offers cultural context.
Watch for Juneteenth celebrations in cities in the greater Portland region as well, like the festivities in Milwaukie — about 7 miles south of downtown — that include music, food, face painting, kids games and more.
Heritage and Recreation Events in the Willamette Valley
The city of Wilsonville is hosting its annual Juneteenth celebration at Town Center Park on June 19, featuring a keynote address by Kimberly Howard Wade, executive director of Caldera, a youth arts organization. The event includes food, drink, activities, giveaways, music by DJ Bryson Wallace and more.
In Salem join with Oregon Black Pioneers and Just Walk Salem Keizer for “In Freedom’s Footsteps: Juneteenth Community History Walk” on June 19. Starting and ending at the Willamette Heritage Center, the 3-mile walk (shorter options available) through downtown Salem will bring to life the story of Reverend Daniel Jones, the first African American to attend Willamette University.
In Albany the NAACP Linn Benton branch will hold its annual Juneteenth celebration with a Black-owned business expo, a community fair, a book giveaway, free food, arts and crafts, and music by DJ Dontae.
Juneteenth in Oregon Year-Round
Celebrating the essence of Juneteenth does not stop on June 19. Whether you are a longtime Oregonian or just passing through, you can continue to help make Oregon a welcoming and inclusive place for everyone by supporting Black-owned businesses throughout the state and actively educating yourself on racism in America and how it presently impacts communities.
