Local Juneteenth celebrations are expanding throughout Central Oregon, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
Sunday, June 19 marks the first Juneteenth since being recognized as a county holiday in Deschutes County. But you will find events in more places than just Bend this year.
“Most of the time the focus is always put on Bend, that’s the “destination” area,” Kenny Adams, The Father’s Group executive director said. “Let’s venture out to Prineville, let’s go have some fun and introduce ourselves to the community that may not know us.”
A pre-Juneteenth event will take place at the Corral Tap Room in Prineville on Tuesday.
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While the main two-day celebration will still be taking place in Drake Park this weekend, Adams says it is important these events happen throughout Central Oregon and not just in Bend.
“We want to make sure that when we’re saying we’re all in this together,” Adams said. “People don’t think that we’re only thinking about Bend.”
A single day event in Bend turned multi-day, multi-location celebration and everyone is encouraged to join in on the fun.
Adams says plenty of food, music, and vendors will be present at every event.
“We think about everybody,” Adams said. “We want everyone to have a good time, we want everyone to be okay, so that is part of the outreach and I hope people from Prineville have a good time.”
The Father’s Group hopes to create pop-up Juneteenth events throughout the rest of our region in the years to come.
Pre-Juneteenth Kickoff Event
June 14th at Corral Tap Room (Prineville)
4 p.m.-7 p.m.
2nd Annual Juneteenth Celebration
June 18th and 19th at Drake Park (Bend)
11 a.m.-6 p.m.
You can learn more about this year’s local Juneteenth events here.
