Juneteenth 2023

Ultimate guide to jubilant Juneteenth celebrations in Houston, Galveston, and beyond

Juneteenth has been a federal holiday since 2021 and a state holiday in 1980. But here in the Gulf Coast region, locals have been celebrating since 1865. The cherished day marks the day Union soldiers arrived in Galveston and declared to the slaves there that they had been freed.

Sadly, it took two years for news that President Abraham Lincoln has issued the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation to reach area slaves. But rather than react with anger at the delay, they immediately toasted the discovery that they were free with dance, feasts, prayers, and more.

Here in Houston and Galveston, a host of Juneteenth-themed events abound. Venues all around the Greater Houston area and beyond will toast the day with concerts, food, festivals, movies, and more.

New for this year, a vivid mural by artist Chris Robinson at Bagby Park (415 Gray St.) celebrates Juneteenth by highlighting Houston’s historically Black neighborhoods: Freedman’s Town (also referred to as Fourth Ward), Fifth Ward, Independence Heights, Acres Homes, Sunnyside, South Park, and Third Ward. Each letter of the word "Midtown" represents one of the neighborhoods. The mural will be up through July 7.

Galveston

Of course, the birthplace of Juneteenth will bring it. Locals can check out all the events at Visit Galveston — from balls, comedy, concerts, cookouts, cruises, festivals, religious services, and much more. Highlights include a ball, concert at the stunning Grand 1894 Opera House, cruises, festivals and markets, and much more. The celebrations run this week through Monday.

Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier/Facebook

Galveston Island: No. 2 spring break destination.

Thursday, June 15

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and SOA Books Co. will celebrate Juneteenth with a Liberation Market. Swing by, support Black literary arts, and peruse the market for art, music, and drinks throughout the event.. 6:30 pm.

Rooftop Cinema Club Uptown is having Juneteenth screenings all throughout the month. Among the movies that’ll be playing: Set It Off, Juice, What’s Love Got to Do With It, Get Out, and Coming to America. 7:15 pm.

Friday, June 16

The Juneteenth Sneaker Ball will go down somewhere in downtown Houston this weekend. Ebony (aka Princess Streetwize) and Shiloh Williams will host this event, and they’ll be giving awards to people with the best African-themed attire/dope sneakers fit. 5 pm.

Miller Outdoor Theatre will present "Juneteenth at Miller Outdoor Theatre: A Celebration of Freedom." The two-day concert event will be a musical journey that embraces the sound of blues, classic rhythm & blues, and hip-hop. 8:15 pm.

Saturday, June 17

Children’s Museum Houston will celebrate Juneteenth with three days’ worth of events. There will be a live show about the vital contributions of African Americans, as well as a commemorative, poetic production put on by Ensemble Theatre. 10 am.

Emancipation Park Conservancy will start things off with an inaugural Juneteenth Freedom Run/Walk. Later in the day, there will also be a Juneteenth Music Festival at 3 pm, featuring music from The SOS Band, Lakeside, and Step Rideau & the Zydeco Outlaws. 10 am.

Mayor Turner’s Annual Acres Homes Juneteenth Parade will go down this weekend. The parade begins at Acres Homes Multi-Service Center, then travels north on W. Montgomery, west on Dolly Wright, and ends at Greater Zion Missionary Baptist Church. 10 am.

Finn Hall will have a block party celebrating Juneteenth. Stop by The Smoke, Swallow’s Nest, Craft Burger, Three Keys, and Carol Kays, the newest spot, to support the Hall’s Black-owned restaurants. Noon.

Razzle Dazzle My Canvas will celebrate the culture with a day full of fun, games, food, and live entertainment. Vendors will be there with some of the best food, oils, clothes, desserts, and items that you have ever experienced. Noon.

BLCK Market will have its fourth annual Juneteenth Celebration over at Greenstreet. Celebrate Juneteenth with the largest gathering of Black-onwed businesses and entrepreneurs. They will also have a Juneteenth event on Sunday. 1 pm.

Generation Park is hosting its inaugural Juneteenth Celebration at Redemption Square. Visitors can enjoy a market with local, minority-owned vendors, live music expanding many genres, speeches from elected officials, and visual & performing arts. 3 pm.

Club Sienna’s Sienna Juneteenth Jubilee will feature performances by the Reggie Jamz Band and Swag Boiz, as well as the TSU Tigers Sensations dance team. The market will showcase jewelry, art, books, candles, clothing, snacks, houseware and more. 7 pm.

Sunday, June 18

Ray’s BBQ Shack and STUFF’D Wings will join forces for a weekend full of Juneteenth stuff, including a Juneteenth/Father’s Day block party on Sunday. They will debut their new, limited-time menu items and will also have a huge surprise unveiling. 11 am.

Da Hookah Plug Lounge will get its paint, sip and brunch on for Juneteenth. Join them for a delicious lunch (or brunch) that will lead into some sipping and painting. There will also be a comedy show at 3 pm. 12:30 pm.

Lagoonfest Texas will present its Juneteenth Festival, featuring performances by Smokin' Joe Leonard, Blaque Vinyls, and the CC Rider Band. Guests will get to enjoy water activities or relax on the white sandy beach while they soak in the sounds. 1 pm.

Monday, June 19

The Tasting Room in Galveston will have a Juneteenth show featuring music and comedy. Violinist Dominique Hammons will come with the tunes, while Liz Faubles Wallace will come with the laughs. 4 pm.

Historic Eldorado Ballroom and Highway Vodka will debut “Libations for Liberation,” a cocktail competition commemorating Juneteenth. The competition will task 10 local bartenders with creating libations that embody the spirit of the national holiday. 6 pm.

Movie Review

Cookie Queens goes behind the scenes of Girl Scout Cookie season

Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions

Girl Scouts in Cookie Queens.

Few people are strong enough to resist the lure of Girl Scout cookie season every year, with the cookies’ limited availability and unique flavors a strong incentive to indulge. But only the girls and their families who have sold the cookies know the joys and stresses of trying to get people to buy them, a process that is detailed in the new documentary, Cookie Queens.

The film by documentarian Alysa Nahmias uses the stories of four different girls to represent the nationwide ritual for the Girl Scouts. They include 12-year-old Olive in Charlotte, North Carolina, a longtime top seller; 8-year-old Shannon Elizabeth in El Paso, Texas, who wants to earn the reward of going to camp; 5-year-old Ara in San Diego, California, whose goal is modest compared to most other girls; and 9-year-old Nikki in Chino, California, who has to compete with her older sisters in the cookie-selling bonanza.

The girls represent a cross-section of both ages and backgrounds, with some girls coming from wealthy families and some girls dealing with more limited means. And how much money your family has makes a big difference, as not only does someone richer have more freedom with their time and supplies, but all scouts are required to reimburse the organization for every box they take in, regardless of whether they’re able to sell it or not.

That caveat makes the journeys of the four featured girls feel wildly different. It’s clear from the start that Olive and Nikki’s families don’t give a second thought to the personal economics of selling cookies, with each girl taking in thousands of boxes at the beginning of the six-week selling season. With both Olive and Nikki rightfully confident that they’ll have no problem offloading their supply, their stories turn to how selling is personally affecting them, with each trying to reconcile the fun of doing it with the pressure they feel from their family members.

Shannon Elizabeth’s story is more harrowing, as her parents feel a strong desire to help her accomplish her lofty goal, but worry that the cost might literally be too high for the family as a whole. More than once, the parents are shown fretting that they won’t have the money to pay back what they owe should they fall significantly short in their sales. Their selling approach, which includes walking through an empty swap meet and standing outside a chain restaurant at night, only adds to their stress.

The most fun story to watch is that of Ara, whose innocence is matched by her confidence. Her parents teach her how much money they’ll owe with her small goal of 55 boxes, but right away she takes on more responsibility than expected. She’s shown making sales pitches and tallying the total number of boxes she’s sold with little-to-no help from either her mom or dad. With her high voice, glasses, and a monitor on her arm to manage her diabetes, she becomes the cute and sympathetic part of the film.

There are times that the film starts to feel more than a little manipulative, however. While many of the moments documented come off as organic, some of them seem like Nahmias is actively guiding the participants in order to get a better story. This is especially evident with Shannon Elizabeth and her family, whose early struggles turn into a miraculous feel-good story by the end, a turnaround that seems implausible at best. Everything with them might have been aboveboard, but Nahmias and her team edit the family’s journey in a way that pushes a bit too hard for emotion.

Cookie Queens, which was produced by a company owned by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, helps to give insight into the business of selling Girl Scout cookies for those who’ve only been on the purchasing end of the transaction. The dedication of each girl toward selling their allotted supply proves fun and interesting, even if the filmmaker tries to gild the lily on occasion.

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Cookie Queens is now playing in theaters,