Juneteenth InTheBurg: Celebrating Spartanburg’s Black History, Culture, and Community
Juneteenth, (June 19th,) is a federal annual holiday commemorating the 1865 emancipation of the enslaved people in the United States.
This year, City of Spartanburg, Spartanburg Juneteenth Inc., and community partners present a full line-up of celebratory community events, including a block party and festival, Cecil Williams' Civil Rights exhibit, Jubilee parade and worship service, BEC Gala, business expo, race seminar, and more.
City of Spartanburg began its 2025 Juneteenth festivities with the public unveiling of the new Southside Cultural Monument— celebrating Black history and local figures who shaped "government, law, civics, business, industry, technology, medicine, sports, arts and entertainment." The permanent, artistic 35 panel installation on the Mary H. Wright Greenway was the culmination of over five years of historic research, grant applications, and community storytelling.
Find more photos of the June 14th, 2025 monument unveiling via GoUpstate here.
2025 Juneteenth Events Across Spartanburg County:
Find additional details on City of Spartanburg and Spartanburg Juneteenth Inc.’s events here, with a calendar of upcoming countywide celebrations and events below.
All events are free and open to the public unless noted otherwise.
Saturday, June 14th: Southside Cultural Monument Unveiling
10am, Historic Southside Neighborhood, Mary H. Wright Greenway
Monday, June 16th: Focus on Freedom: Cecil Williams’ Civil Rights Photography & Museum
5:30pm, Wofford College, Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts
Tuesday, June 17th: Black Tuesday Market
5pm-9pm, Monarch Cafe at Northside Harvest Park)
Photo via Spartanburg Juneteenth Inc.
Wednesday, June 18th: Race Seminar (Panel Q&A event)
6pm-8pm, Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church
Featured book: North of Main: Spartanburg's Historic Black Neighborhoods of North Dean Street, Gas Bottom, and Back of the College, by Brenda Lee Pryce, Jim Neighbors, and Betsy Wakefield Teter
Attendees will receive dinner and a FREE copy of North of Main.
North of Main; via Hub City Writers Project
Thursday, June 19th: Rhythm & Freedom Music on Main, featuring the Night Affair Band
5:30pm-8:30pm, Morgan Square
Friday, June 20th: Juneteenth Block Party & Fireworks
6pm-10pm, South Daniel Morgan Avenue at Fifth Third Park
Friday, June 20th: Spartanburg Juneteenth BEC Freedom Gala (Tickets required)
6:45pm, Chapman Cultural Center
Red Carpet formal event, award presentations, and after-party
Legacy in Vogue Runway Experience by Carolina Urban Fashion Week
Saturday, June 21st: Jubilee Parade
10am, Cornerstone Baptist Church to Carver Middle School
This historic route follows in the potential footsteps as Spartanburg’s original Jubilee Parade in 1865, featuring the iconic Freedom Flag.
The Emancipation Parade Flag was part of a celebratory parade by U.S. Army Captain Crossman, his soldiers, and freedmen and women. The flag would then disappear from local memory until its 2015 rediscovery across the country and preservation by the Spartanburg County Public Libraries, where it is now displayed.
Saturday, June 21st: WOVEN: Celebrating Juneteenth, Honoring Traditions, Juried Exhibition by Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg
4pm-7pm, Guild Gallery, Chapman Cultural Center
The Woven Exhibition is open June 3rd-27th, showcasing intergenerational narratives of BIPOC creatives’ experiences (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color)
Saturday, June 21st: City of Spartanburg Juneteenth Celebration Festival
4pm-10pm, Barnet Park
Sunday, June 22nd: Jubilee Worship Service
3pm, Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church
Saturday, June 28th: Third Annual 864 Music Festival, (tickets required)
5:30pm-11pm, Barnet Park
Presented by Dreamers Entertainment Group