Community Invited to Enjoy Live Music, Dancing, Art and More at Juneteenth Block Party in Downtown Arlington

By Susan Schrock, Office of Communication

Posted on June 10, 2021, June 10, 2021

The community is invited to enjoy live music, poetry readings, dancing, food trucks and more at a Juneteenth Block Party organized by the Arlington Museum of Art and Create Arlington.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 19 near the museum and the George W. Hawkes Downtown Library. Vendors and food trucks will be set up along West Main Street, which will be closed to vehicle traffic between Pecan and South Center streets. Free parking is available throughout Downtown.

Juneteenth, a combination of "June" and "nineteenth," has been a day of celebration in Texas for more than 150 years. The day commemorates June 19, 1865, when news of the federal order ending slavery in the United States reached enslaved people in Galveston, Texas—more than two months after the end of the Civil War and more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in January 1863.

As part of the Juneteenth Block Party, the Arlington Museum of Art will waive the cost of admission to its 30 Americans exhibit, a showcase of works by 30 emerging and established African American artists. Curated by the Rubell Museum, the exhibit includes works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mickalene Thomas, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, and Kehinde Wiley.

Click here to watch the Culture Buzz episode on the Arlington Museum of Art’s 30 Americans Exhibit, which is open through Sept. 5, 2021.

Block partygoers are invited to stay Downtown to enjoy more free music at Levitt Pavilion Arlington. Soul-Pop, R&B, Rock & Afro-beat singer/songwriter Key LeBlanc opens the show at 7 p.m., followed by American Idol singer/songwriter finalist Ron Bultongez at 8 p.m.

Click here to learn more about Levitt Pavilion Arlington’s free summer concert series.