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CINCINNATI— Cincinnati’s 34^th Annual Juneteenth Festival, which marks the elimination of American slavery, will begin with a flag raising event near the Cincinnati Art Museum’s Art Climb on June 1 at 10 a.m.. Open and free to the public, the event will feature speakers and the Unity Celebration Choir.

Visitors should gather at the bottom of the Art Climb, at the corner of Gilbert Avenue and Eden Park Drive. The flag will be raised by Buffalo Soldier Reginald B. Murray at the Cincinnati Parks Administration Office at 950 Eden Park Drive, which will be visible from Art Climb. The event will include Bishop Todd O’Neal; Dr. Catherine Roma; the Unity Celebration Choir; and Eric Kearney, president and CEO Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky African American Chamber of Commerce, on behalf of the Cincinnati Art Museum.

Led by community coordinators Lydia and Noel Morgan, Juneteenth Cincinnati has adapted its 2021 celebratory activities to adjust to the health concerns and risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and will include virtual and in-person activities including:

June 1— Opening event: Flag raising at the Art Climb

June 13— Wade in the Water: Dancers will cross the Purple People Bridge from Newport to Cincinnati, in a tribute to the significant role of water in African American history and of a time when the Ohio River was both the symbolic and real boundary between enslavement and freedom

June 18— Juneteenth Flag Raising at Cincinnati City Hall: to observe the raising of the Juneteenth Flag

June 19— Virtual Juneteenth: A concert streaming on community cable outlets and online

The celebration of June 19 as "Juneteenth" or "Emancipation Day" is the oldest national commemoration of the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States. The event typically features picnics, the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, choir singing, prayers, and speeches.

Learn more about Cincinnati’s Juneteenth at juneteenthcincinnati.org.

About the Cincinnati Art Museum

The Cincinnati Art Museum is supported by the generosity of individuals and businesses that give annually to ArtsWave. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Cincinnati Art Museum with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Cincinnati Art Museum gratefully acknowledges operating support from the City of Cincinnati, as well as our members.

Free general admission to the Cincinnati Art Museum is made possible by a gift from the Rosenthal Family Foundation. Special exhibition pricing may vary. Parking at the Cincinnati Art Museum is free. The museum is open Tuesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. and Thursday, 11 a.m.–8 p.m. cincinnatiartmusem.org

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