The Athens Juneteenth Music and Art Festival, organized by the Athens Anti-Discrimination movement, transformed College Avenue and Washington Street into a vibrant celebration of freedom and culture on June 19. From 3-7 p.m., the heart of Athens came alive with music, food, art and conversation.
Juneteenth is celebrated annually on June 19 and commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. It marks the day in 1865 when news of freedom from slavery finally reached enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
Michael Thurmond, an Athens native and DeKalb County CEO, tells the story of emancipation in Athens, at the Juneteenth festival on June 19, 2025. At the end, the crowd chants: “Free.” (Video/Sophia Eppley)
“When freedom finally came to Athens … one young Black woman got the word,” Athens native and Dekalb County CEO Michael Thurmond said. “And she ran out of the slave house dead into the fields, tears streaming down her face, and all she could say was: free.”
The festival is held in front of City Hall, according to Mokah Jasmine Johnson, co-founder and executive director of AADM, as it was the place where 5,000 freed slaves gathered after receiving word of their freedom.
The festival honored Black-owned businesses with countless vendors lining the street, celebrated Black culture and ancestry through dance, music and storytelling and created a space for Athenians of all ages and races to come together.
Among those Black-owned businesses was Layers of Love and SisterLocks, both owned by Angel Howard. Howard sells homemade candles, hair products, beard oil and shea butter.
“All of these businesses is how Black people … are becoming more independent year after year,” Howard said. “We’re coming into our own. We’re not letting people tell us what we can’t do anymore.”
The community conversation and storytelling panel or “griot circle” kicked off the festival, with words from native Athenians Hattie Whitehead, Linda Davis and others.
Each speaker explained what Juneteenth means to them as a Black person who grew up in Athens.
Whitehead grew up in Linnentown — the historically black neighborhood that was torn down during an urban renewal project, displacing around 50 Black families — and shared her experience as a young girl suffering from displacement and racism.
Barbara Barnett, youth leader and program director of Rites of Passage, was born and raised in Athens by her mother, a civil rights activist. Following in her mother’s footsteps, Barnett has “been on the battlefield since 1970 fighting and trying to bring peace and justice to Athens-Clarke County.”
Davis, Clarke County Board of Education District 3 representative, is the descendant of four formerly enslaved Athenians who stayed in Athens-Clarke County after freedom.
Linda Davis speaks on the stage at the Athens Juneteenth Music and Art Festival in downtown Athens on June 19, 2025. (Photo/Sophia Eppley)
“They bought land. They chased the American dream. They built schools, homes, churches, lodges, businesses and communities. They pursued skills, trades and worked for hire,” Davis said. “We are still doing those things today in 2025.”
Athenians from all walks of life attended the festival — some first timers, some regulars. Tangi Billups, Athens native and educator at Gainesville Elementary, has been coming to the festival for several years and has loved to see it grow. Her favorite part of the festival is seeing people of all ages and races come together for a day.
“It’s just not about the color, it’s about all colors coming together,” Billups said. “This is what we need in our city.”
The festival was family friendly, complete with a kids zone, face painting station, games and art projects.
Attendees of all ages had the opportunity to collaborate on a mural at the Athens Juneteenth Music and Art Festival in downtown Athens on June 19, 2025. (Photo/Hogan Rigole)
Breanna Jackson, a local artist with AADM, led a public art session: “Painting Freedom.” Sketching out the word “freedom” on a banner, Jackson allowed people of all ages and skill levels to color and add their personal touch to the community mural.
“[Juneteenth] makes me have a lot of pride for who I am and my ancestors and letting me know that I have a voice,” Jackson said. “Whatever form of art it is, whether it’s coloring or painting or writing or whatever, my goal is just to inspire whatever I can so we can continue to build leaders in our community.”
Pastor Troy performs at the Athens Juneteenth Music and Art Festival in downtown Athens on June 19, 2025. (Video/Sophia Eppley)
The main stage saw the performances of several musicians including Molly Tu Hott, Pastor Troy and Bella Blaq.
“When you listen to this hip-hop, you listen to this R&B, you listen to this soul, you listen to all this music, before there was that music, there was the African drums,” Johnson said. “There was the beats and the sounds of our ancestors. When the slaves were in the barn house all they had was their drums, their shakers and what they wanted was freedom.”
