Guilford County hosts Juneteenth Triad Farmers Market in Greensboro

Black farmers, food trucks, craft sellers and retail vendors will fill the Hayes-Taylor Memorial YMCA in Greensboro as Guilford County uses Juneteenth to spotlight local entrepreneurship, fresh food access and community celebration.

The third annual Juneteenth Triad Farmers Market is set for Friday, June 19, from noon to 6 p.m. at 2630 E. Florida St. The event is free and open to the public, and the county says it will be hosted by Dr. Irish Spencer, known as Wild Irish Rose, and presented by the Triad Black Faith Leaders & Black Farmers Network.

County planners are framing the market as more than a festival. Along with produce sellers and prepared-food vendors, the lineup will include live music, performances, DJ Precise, raffles, a youth poster contest, youth activities, a walkathon and a pit master contest. Guilford County’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship Department and NC Cooperative Extension - Guilford County Center are among the partners helping stage the event, which is designed to put money in the hands of local growers and small operators while drawing families into a familiar Greensboro community space.

The food-access piece is just as central. Guilford County says 13.7% of the community faces hunger or worry they will not have enough to eat, and the Triad Black Faith Leaders & Black Farmers Network says its mission is to fight and dismantle food insecurity in Guilford County and across the Piedmont region. The network became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in spring 2024, giving the group a formal structure for work that links fresh produce, Black farm ownership and neighborhood access to healthy food.

Greensboro’s Juneteenth page describes the market as a collaboration of African American faith leaders working to dismantle food insecurity, especially in neighborhoods that lack daily access to fresh food. That mission has deep local roots in communities such as Warnersville, Greensboro’s oldest African-American neighborhood, where Nallah Muhammad of Peaceful Seeds Garden has described the market as a chance to celebrate local farmers who are addressing food insecurity.

The event has grown into a public gathering that blends culture with economics. For vendors, it offers a holiday audience in one of Greensboro’s established community hubs. For Guilford County, it is a way to use Juneteenth as both a celebration and a practical platform for food access, neighborhood visibility and Black-owned business growth.