The best Juneteenth events in NYC for 2024

Black Restaurant Week returns to New York City and the Tri-State area for its fifth year. Kicking off on Juneteenth, a.k.a. Wednesday, June 19, the annual campaign celebrates “the diverse tastes of African American, African, and Caribbean cuisine throughout the country," with budget-friendly menu selections at restaurants, bakeries, cafés, food trucks and more throughout the five boroughs, as well as New Jersey townships. 

From June 19 through Sunday, June 30, you can frequent up to 80 participating venues, including Red Rooster Harlem, Cascade Jerk, Twins BBQ Co., Collective Fare, Tamarind Island, Voila Afrique, Misfits Nutrition, Brooklyn Blend, Negril Village, Lee Lee's Baked Goods, The Real Mothershuckers and many more. 

Check out the Black Restaurant Week website for the full line-up of participating New York and New Jersey restaurants, and get ready to eat very well.

Digital art and poetry have combined for a dive into Afrocentricity and Afrofuturism at this new immersive exhibit in Chelsea. "Aṣẹ: Afro Frequencies" at ARTECHOUSE runs all summer, and you can see it for free on Wednesday, June 19.

In addition to exploring the incredible artwork, which promises a "vibrant reflection upon the past, present, and future of the Black experience," the Juneteenth celebration also includes special activities. While you're there, enjoy a Sorrel Punch cocktail, inspired by the tradition of celebrating with red food and drinks on Juneteenth, made with hibiscus and chai from West Africa.

Be sure to register in advance here.

You can set your watch by how reliably awesome the annual BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival is. All summer long, BRIC shows take place at the beautiful bandshell in Prospect Park, a scenic amphitheater surrounded by trees.

In celebration of Juneteenth on June 19, BRIC will host UNITYFEST 2024 featuring DJ Spinna, DJ Merlin Bobb, and Monique Bingham.

Head to Seneca Village this Juneteenth weekend for a family-friendly celebration with musical presentations, hands-on activities, archaeological insights, and opportunities to engage with conservancy guides.

This event (12am on Sunday, June 15) offers an opportunity to not only consider the origins and meaning of this day, but to reflect on Seneca Village, a predominately African-American community that existed before New York City created Central Park and long before we celebrated Juneteenth. Visitors are encouraged to imagine how Seneca Village’s residents might have utilized this land to cultivate wellbeing.

The annual Juneteenth in Queens festival is dedicated to honoring Black culture and creation. The event features a Black-owned marketplace, food, seminars, live music and an art display that centers on a rich legacy of African Americans.

Activities are held at Roy Wilkins Park in St. Albans. It's free to attend the event on Wednesday, June 19.

For more than 30 years, the Tenement Museum shared stories about the people who once lived in the building it now owns. But that meant that some groups—particularly Black New Yorkers—were excluded, as there's no record of a Black family living in the apartment building at 97 Orchard Street. 

Now, with an aim to explore the full breadth of immigrant and migrant experiences, the Lower East Side museum is highlighting the stories of a Black family for the first time with a new tour titled "A Union of Hope: 1869." The exhibition tells the story of the Moore family who lived in Soho during and after the Civil War. Reserve tickets here for $30/person.

The museum will also host the "Reclaiming Black Spaces" Walking Tour throughout the summer, which will explore the stories of Black New Yorkers and their resonant impact on local communities.

Lewis Latimer is one of the most important American figures that you've likely never heard of. Among other things, the Black inventor helped develop the telephone alongside Alexander Graham Bell, as well as the lightbulb alongside Thomas Edison. If you want to learn more about this icon—which to be honest, we all should—then you can head to his former home in Flushing, Queens, which is reopening around Juneteenth. 

The Lewis Latimer House Museum had closed temporarily while they built out a new exhibit that you'll be able to check out starting Saturday, June 15, and they're kicking off the opening with a big celebration from 1-4pm. That event will include a marching band, sculpture making station, ceramics workshops, an African drum and dance circle, and more. You can register for the reopening party here. 

After that, the Latimer House Museum will be open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 5pm. Admission is pay-as-you-wish, with a suggested donation of $5 per person. For more information, check out the museum's website.