9th Annual Juneteenth Festival to Celebrate Cultural Unity in NYC

The 9th annual Juneteenth NYC celebration is set to draw over 3,200 people to celebrate the 153rd anniversary of "Freedom Day," with a vendor marketplace featuring craft goods and food, community talent show, local small business exhibitors, health and wellness screeners, raffle prizes, plus a full day roster of live performances. Confirmed musical and dance performances will include New Wave Dance Youth and Community Development, Afrobeats Dance NYC, reggae artist Damion Anthony, soul vocalist Monique Brown, On Your Toes Dance Company, rapper Little Deuces, violinist Mikayla Tripp, a West African dance by Purelements: An Evolution in Dance's COAR program ensemble, a Bollywood workshop by Ajna Dance Studio and more. Fun senior activities like aerobics by the Betsy Head Cardio Dance Aerobics group and child-friendly activations, games like African Mancala, Chinese jump rope, Indian Chor-Sipahi (American Tag) and music trivia for all ages.

While Juneteenth is known as an African-American holiday that celebrates freedom, over 150 years later, festival presenter Umoja Events will focus this year's theme on the part of the celebration that promotes unity. The "Unifying Culture" theme aims to celebrate diverse traditions, art and foods while highlighting what connects people of African-American backgrounds, the Pan-African diaspora and beyond. Recognizing that in 2018, many people are still subject to polarizing prejudices, discrimination, and acts of hate, the full day agenda sets out to connect people to others in their communities by showing a united front, showcasing how many nations represented in NYC live as one.

Umoja Events began presenting the festival celebration in NYC in an effort to build economic opportunity and cultural arts platforms in underserved communities, that support local talent, small businesses, cultural education and community achievements. "My team and I decided on the theme "Cultural Unity" given all the levels of division we see daily since the recent presidential administration took office. We wanted to do something that uplifts the community and shows that we are even better when many nations and cultures come together to celebrate each other as a community that is what will truly make America great!" - Athenia Rodney, CEO and Executive Director, Umoja Events.

The celebration, known as "Juneteenth Independence Day", is a holiday that commemorates the June 19, 1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery in Galveston, Texas, and more generally the emancipation of African-American slaves throughout the Confederate South. The state official celebration is generally celebrated on June 19th and is recognized as a state holiday or special day of observance in forty-five states. Juneteenth symbolically serves as a reference point from which to measure and appreciate the progress and contributions made by African-Americans to society. Today, more than 150 years since, African Americans have elevated this celebration, publicly and privately to one of the most important of the year.

The 2018 Juneteenth NYC will be held (rain or shine) at Linden Park, located at Linden Blvd. & Vermont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11207. Activities begin at 11am until 7pm. Admission is FREE and open to the public. To RSVP, visit JuneteenthNY.com and on Facebook at Juneteenth NYC 2018. Attendees are invited to wear a culturally identifying to encourage cultural learning, sharing and community connections.

Sponsors include New York State Health, Home Depot, East New York Restoration, Brookdale Hospital, Metroplus, DJ Basiq and Umoja Events and partner NYC Parks Department. Small businesses interested in exhibiting can submit for vendor opportunities until June 15th, 2018, with fees starting at $50.

To learn more about Umoja Events, visit umojaevents.com. To connect with Umoja Events, visit the Umoja Events and Juneteenth Family Day Facebook pages, follow Umoja Events and the Juneteenth NYC pages on Twitter and on Instagram @UmojaEvents1 and @JuneteenthNYC. Follow the online conversation on the track with the hashtag #JuneteenthNYC.

For event flyers, still photos from past Juneteenth NYC celebrations and other Juneteenth NYC press assets, visit the bit.ly/JuneteenthNYC. For all Umoja Events booking and business inquiries, please e-mail info@umojaevents.com.

ABOUT UMOJA EVENTS
Umoja Events is a full service balloon decorating and event planning business. Umoja specializes in customized packages and unique planning resources, including licensed and fully insured DJ's, photographers, video, ministers, clowns, party rentals and more. CEO and Executive Director of Umoja Events LLC, Athenia Rodney, is a corporate and community event planner. Athenia leads a trained event logistics and planning team in organizing and navigates events to educate, entertain, and be a resource for families. The Umoja Events team produces several annual events including Juneteenth NYC, Halloween Fest, Back to School Rally and Christmas Brunch. The team also manages community events such as the Martin Luther King Concert Series, Movie Nights at the Park, galas and vacant lot beautification installments. Rodney's vision is to expand on creating and supporting events in communities of NYC and Georgia that will unite and empower families. To learn more about Umoja Events, visit umojaevents.com.