Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.

Juneteenth, holiday observed annually on June 19, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. A combination of the words June and nineteenth, the holiday, also called Freedom Day, has been celebrated since 1866 and is considered to be one of the oldest continuing African American holidays.

Juneteenth, short for “June Nineteenth,” marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed.

This Friday is Juneteenth —a day that Black Americans have been celebrating for more than a century, but that only became a federal holiday a few years ago.

Juneteenth is an often overlooked event in our nation’s history. On June 19, 1865, Union troops freed enslaved African Americans in Galveston Bay and across Texas some two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation came 21⁄2 years earlier on January 1, 1863, many enslavers continued to hold enslaved Black people captive after the announcement. Juneteenth became a symbolic date representing African-American freedom. Juneteenth became a federal holiday on June 17, 2021.

Explore the full lineup of activities, performances, and experiences planned for Seattle Juneteenth 2026.

Help guide community members, coordinate with vendors, and build the largest Juneteenth celebration in Washington State! Volunteer contributions are part of what make Juneteenth Great!!

The date, since dubbed “Juneteenth,” is now observed annually as a federal holiday to celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation’s enforcement and the liberation of the remainder of the enslaved both in Texas and throughout the newly reformed United States.

On June 19, 1865, nearly two years after President Abraham Lincoln emancipated enslaved Africans in America, Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas with news of freedom. More than 250,000 African Americans embraced freedom by executive decree in what became known as Juneteenth or Freedom Day.