history worth celebrating

10 historical and artistic ways to celebrate Juneteenth in Austin

Tank and The Bangas are headlining the Stay Black and Live Festival.

America's newest national holiday was going to keep pushing forward whether it was recognized or not. Juneteenth, the celebration of the formal end of slavery in the United States, is named to commemorate the day enslaved people in Texas learned they were free — two years late.

Now we're four years into the the tradition on a national level (86 years in since Texas officially accepted it as a state holiday, but who's counting?), and awareness is starting to pick up. This year we've seen an influx of local events in our inboxes; We hope that means even more celebrations and learning are in the works.

This list contains both. From educational workshops, to house parties, to food deals, here are some ways to celebrate Juneteenth in Austin this year.

Saturday, June 15

Central Texas Juneteenth Parade & Festival
10 am to 9 pm
Austin's premiere Juneteenth event is always its official parade, which puts history on the streets. Local Black groups who are putting together contingents for the parade will be in lockstep with ally groups from around Central Texas. After the floats, bands, and more make their way from the Oakwood Cemetery to Rosewood Park, everyone will gather for a long outdoor celebration (from noon onward). Then revelers can enjoy food, entertainment, and other local vendors into the night.

Black Makers Market Juneteenth Celebration
12-6 pm
Local nonprofit Black Makers Market will host its second annual Juneteenth Celebration at Huston-Tillotson University, featuring more than 50 Black-owned businesses, artisan vendors, bakers, and eateries. Families are encouraged to attend, and children can participate in educational activities at the dedicated kids’ corner. Music will be curated by Houston-based DJ Bloom. Admission is free, and attendees can RSVP via Eventbrite.

Historic Southgate-Lewis House
1-3 pm
To commemorate the reopening of the historically landmarked property after 10 years of inactivity, Austinites are invited to attend the Historic Southgate-Lewis House’s “A Juneteenth House Party” located at 1501 E. 12th St. The party will honor Black history and community through conversation, music, kid friendly activities, and more. Food and drinks will be provided by All Day Pizza while supplies last.

Austin Public Library’s Juneteenth Community Celebration
1-4 pm
Though all Austin Public Library branches will be closed on Juneteenth, this family-friendly event at the Willie Mae Kirk Branch will help kick off celebrations after the citywide parade with food, games, face painting, craft activities, and live music. This event is free to the public, and all ages are welcome.

Stay Black and Live Festival
3-10 pm
This fifth annual community-wide celebration will be held in Austin’s Rosewood neighborhood behind the George Washington Carver Museum. Festivities will include smoked barbecue from veteran pitmasters, an artist market, carnival games, educational workshops, film screenings, and live music by local artists. New Orleans-based Tank and the Bangas and Houston legend Scarface will headline the music portion of the festival. RSVP via Eventbrite.

Tuesday, June 18

Thinkery
4-6 pm
This children's museum’s next community spotlight event, "Black Heritage & Black Freedom: A Juneteenth Celebration," is a collaboration between local community organizations to educate about the history of Black Americans. The afternoon will be filled with immersive activities, educational programming, and storytimes to commemorate the significance of the holiday. Participating organizations include Black Austin Tours, Black Mama’s Village, Austin Urban Community Coalition, and more. Tickets can be purchased via Thinkery’s website.

Wednesday, June 19

George Washington Carver Museum
12-2 pm
As part of the museum’s “Free Your Mind Symposium” series, Zimbabwean-American writer and activist Dr. Zoé Samudzi will be speaking about the complexities of resistance, Blackness, and how these topics relate to the war in Gaza, genocide, and geopolitics. Attendees can join in-person at the museum or follow virtually via a livestream. This event is free, and guests can RSVP via Eventbrite.

Juneteenth: The Galveston Story screening
1:30 pm on June 19, 22, 23, 29, and 30
If the local Juneteenth celebrations get your gears turning about what really happened at the first Juneteenth celebration where it originated in Galveston, this screening at the Bullock Texas State History Museum has you covered. Galveston County community members and descendants of people who celebrated at the time come together in this film to pass down stories of that historical day. A Q&A with the filmmakers on June 29 provides additional insight (with registration required). The film is free with museum admission ($13, discounts available). Purchase entry at thestoryoftexas.com.

Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group
5-10 pm
If you’re planning on dining out at a restaurant on Juneteenth, consider visiting one of the many eateries under Emmer & Rye Hospitality, which will be participating in a company-wide giveback night by donating 10 percent of all sales to Huston-Tillotson University. Among the participating restaurants is CultureMap’s 2024 Restaurant of the Year, Canje, led by acclaimed Guyanese chef Tavel Bristol-Joseph.

If They Took Us Back screening & live music by Daniel Fears
Doors at 6 pm, show at 7 pm
After celebrating real history, consider the alternate one explored in the short film If They Took Us Back, in which formerly enslaved people are sent back to Africa in 1863. After more than 150 years, one of their descendants returns to collect reparations. Six Square, one of Austin's leading historical organizations archiving Black experiences, screens this film at the Paramount Theatre alongside a short documentary on its making. Versatile local musician Daniel Fears, who performed the film's soundtrack, will play at the event, which also includes vendors, an art exhibit, and discussion with the cast and filmmakers. Tickets ($38) are available at austintheatre.org.

live music concerts festivals history museums film education families kids

Who Has the Energy?

Austin City Council approves energy plan to go coal-free by 2035

Photo by Jeremy Doddridge on Unsplash

Austin Energy drafted a plan that the Austin City Council accepted unanimously.

Many are uncertain about the world's collective energy strategy, but the City of Austin has a game plan for the next 10 years. The City Council has unanimously adopted Austin Energy’s Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan to 2035.

According to a release from the city, this plan offers "a flexible path to a clean energy future that incorporates the community’s core values of reliability, affordability, environmental sustainability and energy equity."

Members of the public can review extensive documentation, including the 72-page report, at publicinput.com.

The plan authored by Austin Energy includes a number of strategies carried over from 2020. It includes a goal of going completely carbon-free by 2035 in favor of renewable sources like wind and solar; prioritizing solutions that directly impact the customer like better demand response, efficiency programs, solar options, and customer-installed battery storage; and reaching further into exploring more advanced systems like nuclear and geothermal tech or virtual power plants.

It also addresses the need for more responsive solutions during "extreme weather events," both in the heat and cold, which it proposes implementing locally. The lead meteorologist for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has predicted an overall warmer winter for 2025, but with greater chances of experiencing extreme cold — so this may be an increasingly pressing topic on Austinites' minds.

Despite a sweeping desire to enable more renewable resources, one of the local solutions would be allowing Austin Energy to add more, higher-efficiency natural gas peakers, which would have an emissions cap and only run as an emergency measure. A graph in the report shows that 50 percent of Austin Energy's 2023 generation was renewable, compared to 41 percent of ERCOT's.

"As renewable resources continue to increase in the ERCOT system, we’re seeing new operational challenges," the report explains. "One example is curtailment for these resources when too much power is produced and the system can’t handle it. This makes that resource less valuable to our customers. Local renewable energy, energy storage, energy efficiency and demand response investments avoid these challenges and will be especially important going forward."

“A big part of this plan is readying ourselves to get out of Fayette Power Project,” said Mayor Kirk Watson in the city release. “There must be replacement power to protect customers from energy shortfalls and additional energy market risks. For those who share the goal of getting out of coal, this plan is a step forward.”

Austin Energy created the plan with input from 7,512 customers, including 6,355 residential consumers. Their greatest concern was reliability, ranked as a No. 1 value by 38 percent of participants. There were also stakeholder workshops involving groups like the University of Texas at Austin, Austin ISD, H-E-B, Sierra Club, and Habitat for Humanity.

“We are extremely grateful to Austin City Council and our many community partners and industry experts who played a vital role in shaping Austin Energy’s future,” said Austin Energy general manager Bob Kahn. “We are confident that this plan provides the flexibility Austin Energy needs to meet the challenges ahead while reflecting the priorities of our community.”

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