Celebrate Juneteenth!
Sunday, June 22, 2025
9am–4pm
Juneteenth is a federal holiday that recognizes the 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This amendment outlawed the practice of enslaving people in America. For 246 years, generations of African American families were viewed as property, to be owned by another human being. Enslaved African Americans were bought, sold, separated from loved ones, forced to work without wages, and suffered inhumane conditions.
Juneteenth honors the “freedom fighters” and generations who came before us, as much as it recognizes their persistence towards freedom and restitution.
Boston Children’s Museum celebrates Juneteenth with a variety of music, dance, and artmaking activities developed in collaboration with community organizations, independent artists, museum educators, and local creatives. Through these partnerships, the Museum highlights the ingenuity of African American artistic traditions born out of resistance. These practices continue to flourish and fuel modern day movements which advocate for the importance of speaking out against injustices of any kind.
Sunday, June 22
10:30 AM–12:00 PM; 1:00 PM–2:30 PM
Art Lab
FREEDOM TO DREAM OUT LOUD: Sharing Our Dreams for a Better Future – Art Workshop
Freedom began with a dream! This workshop celebrates the culmination of nearly 250 years of dreams that were spoken, shouted, sung, written, and illustrated, until people all over the country became allies in our collective fight for freedom. Join us in the Art Lab to draw YOUR dreams for a better future and share them with your community.
Sunday, June 22
10:30 AM–12:00 PM; 1:00 PM–2:30 PM
STEAM Lab
FREEDOM TO SPEAK UP: Using Our Voices in the Face of Obstacles—STEAM Challenge
Don’t let anything stop you from speaking up for yourself and others! Join us in the STEAM Lab for an engineering activity that challenges you to build a structure to help a tiny figure speak into a microphone.
Sunday, June 22
11:00 AM–1:00PM
Outside Plaza (near the Milk Bottle)
FREEDOM TO MOVE: Dance Party with A Trike Called Funk
Join us outside on the plaza for this pop-up dance party, led by MC & Dance Lead Aaron Myers and DJ EdWord Galan, playing funky music that will inspire you to bust a move – or learn a new one!
This event is free and open to the public. Admission to the Museum is not required to attend.
A Trike Called Funk is a Boston-based creative venture co-founded in July 2021 by MC & Dance Lead Aaron Myers and DJ Edward Galan. In collaboration with local artists specializing in complementary types of music and dance, A Trike Called Funk orchestrates participatory dance experiences around a customized cargo tricycle, which is equipped with its own portable dance floor, power source, DJ equipment, and sound system. A Trike Called Funk not only performs and entertains, but teaches and engages all ages, with the aim of unleashing creativity, and building community everywhere you can pedal & park.
Website: https://www.atrikecalledfunk.com/
Instagram: @Atrikecalledfunk
Sunday, June 22
1:00PM–2:00PM
The Common
FREEDOM TO TELL YOUR STORY: Live Comic Creation
What do home, family, friends, community, and joy mean to you? In this collaborative live-drawing program, local comics creators LJ Baptiste, Brittney Bourne, and Joy Reid create art to share their own stories — with help from you! Presented in collaboration with the Boston Comic Arts Foundation.
Website: https://www.bostoncomicarts.org/
Instagram: @BostonComicArts
LJ Baptiste: @xscapistlj
Brittney Bourne: @atinyartist
Joy Reid: @gabrieljoyyy
Tabling by The Boston Comics in Color Festival (BCICF)
BCICF is a free, accessible arts fest which convenes artists of color across a spectrum of backgrounds, elevates their stories in the public arena, and facilitates discussions about the intersection of their work and contemporary culture. BCICF brings awareness to creators of color, encourages the public to engage with and learn from these creators, and is vital to the growth and development of this creative community. BCICF consists of an artists’ alley of prominent creators as well as fifteen public programs which include arts workshops, humanities panel discussions, live art demonstrations, and musical acts.
Sunday, June 22
2:30PM–3:30PM
KidStage
FREEDOM TO BELONG: Ron Reid’s Liberty Quintet, Global Jazz Concert
Celebrate Juneteenth with music rooted in resilience, heritage, and global connection. Led by Trinidadian-born bassist, composer, and Berklee Professor, Ron Reid, the Liberty Quintet blends Caribbean rhythms, Latin jazz, Pan-African grooves, and modern improvisation into a sound that tells stories from many places.
More than a band, the Liberty Quintet is a musical lifeline—created to support international artists, especially immigrant students, in building creative and professional lives in the U.S. Their name, Liberty, reflects the power of music to open doors to opportunity, belonging, and the freedom to feel at home.
Join us for this family-friendly concert as the ensemble invites children and families to move, listen, and celebrate the universal language of music.
Instagram: @ronireid