2nd Annual Juneteenth Village Fest: Celebrating Family and Freedom

Celebrate this day of family and freedom with It Takes A Village Family of Schools (ITAV) at its second annual Juneteenth Village Fest.

The Juneteenth holiday commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. In 2022, it became an officially recognized holiday in Chicago, and ITAV hosted its first Village Fest to mark the occasion.

This family-friendly event is free and will take place on June 18 at Anna & Frederick Douglass Park from 12-8 pm.

Village Fest will feature musical performances by Angie Stone, Marsha Ambrosius, Talib Kweli, BJ The Chicago Kid, and Kindred and the Family Soul. Attendees can also enjoy local performers, food vendors, community-based organizations and resources, carnival rides, and activities for all ages.

This event provides a space for students, families, partner organizations, businesses, and the broader community to commemorate the liberation of African descendants from slavery. Programming highlights the resilience, solidarity, culture, and progress of Black communities.

The Anna and Frederick Douglass Park on Chicago’s Westside is especially significant to ITAVs Village Leadership Academy (VLA). The park was renamed after VLA students’ “Change the Name” campaign, which successfully pushed for the renaming of the park, originally named after a slave-owning family in a historically Black neighborhood.

Juneteenth Village Fest celebrates family and freedom, and the rich cultural heritage of Chicago and the United States as a whole.

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Published May 19, 2023