The official state and federal holiday marks the end of slavery across the country – specifically, the day in 1865 that Union soldiers reached Galveston, Texas, to deliver word to more than 250,000 enslaved people that they were free. The day came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared all enslaved people to be free.
In Colorado and around the country, organizers have scheduled parades and festivals to celebrate African-American history. Many events will feature food, music, historical re-enactments of events, art exhibits and readings of the Emancipation Proclamation.
“We are ensuring that we're talking about … honoring our past while also creating the future that we would like to see for our families and communities,” said Yarkenda Payne-Diallo, the managing director of Justice for Black Coloradans, a nonprofit advocacy group.
Here is a look at some of the events scheduled for five Colorado communities this weekend:
Boulder: Juneteenth celebrations started in Boulder with a flag raising on Wednesday at the Penfield Tate II Municipal Building. Parking will be free on city streets and city-owned lots on Friday.
“This year’s celebration connects us to our community partners who are doing critical work to examine our shared history and build a more equitable Boulder,” Aimee Kane, the equity and belonging officer for the Boulder city government, said in a press release.
Colorado Springs: The African American Historical and Genealogical Society of Colorado Springs will host its fourth annual Juneteenth celebration, which is expected to feature re-enactment events and museum tours.
“Learn some history and learn some genealogy. Learn about the present and the past and the future,” said Candice McKnight, president of the historical society.
The Southern Colorado Juneteenth Festival is set to start Saturday with one of the region's largest celebrations. Norris Penrose Indoor Event Center will host free music on Saturday and Sunday as part of the sixth annual festival.
Denver: The Justice for Black Coloradans group will host events in and around Denver throughout the week. Wednesday, the group will host gubernatorial candidate Michael Bennet for a Soul Food Session at Zion Senior Center, 5151 E. 33rd Ave., to discuss issues such as housing instability and historic displacement, health equity, criminal justice reform, education and economic mobility.
Origin Story is an Afro-futuristic art exhibit installation set for Thursday that reimagines the Statue of Liberty at Understudy Gallery, 890 C 14th St., Thursday. Friday, the Toast to Freedom rooftop celebration event is scheduled for the Clayton Hotel, 233 Clayton St. Payne-Diallo said she is most excited about the Toast to Freedom.
“It's a time to just honor how far we've come and not have to think about the strategies of how we move forward,” she said.
Payne-Diallo said the event is meant to create a balance between the joy and the struggle Black Americans feel in fighting for freedom.
In addition, city officials will host a three-day celebration in the Five Points neighborhood in northeast Denver. The Juneteenth Parade and Juneteenth Music Festival are set for Saturday. The celebration ends with a planned “bar crawl” through Five Points on Sunday.
Durango: The community is expected to gather this year in Buckley Park on Friday to celebrate Durango Juneteenth and American history with live music, food vendors and family activities. The event will be organized by members of the Southwest Movement 4 Black Lives group.
Fort Collins: “Belonging” is the theme of the FoCo Juneteenth Community Celebration, with music Friday and a community bike ride Saturday.
Jamerika Haynes-Lewis, the NoCo Black Professionals spokeswoman for the Fort Collins Juneteenth celebration, said the annual event honors the “theme of belonging, and not just for belonging for this weekend but throughout each day, year, that we are a community.”
Juneteenth events are about more than Black history; they’re American history, Haynes-Lewis said.
Nationally, the theme for 2026 is “Juneteenth brings balance to America's celebration of freedom.”
When it comes to the legal history of the event, Congress passed the 13th Amendment making slavery illegal on Jan. 31, 1865. Legislators in 27 states ratified the amendment on Dec. 6, 1865, and it became part of the U.S. Constitution. The date "June 19" became a federal holiday in 2021. Colorado legislators approved the Juneteenth holiday in 2022.