There are multiple events taking place to celebrate Juneteenth in Washington this year.

Washington for Justice Director Dan Henderson shared more information on this year’s events, “We have invited a woman by the name of Abena Sankofa Imohtep to come, she is an author, and speaker, and she has written a children’s book called Omari’s Big Tree and the Mighty Djembe. So we’ve invited Abena to do a children’s reading event at the library at 1 p.m. on June 19th. Then at 4 p.m. we will be having an actual Juneteenth commemoration program at the library again. Friday night, we will be having a concert by an Iowa African American man whose name is Dartanyan Brown.”  

This will be the fifth year of Juneteenth being celebrated in downtown Washington, honoring the historical ending of enslavement in the United States and highlighting the achievements and contributions of African American Iowans. 

Some banking and other establishments will also be closed in observance of the federal holiday.