Warwick Juneteenth Festival returns with music, food and community fun

Union AME Multicultural Church will again anchor Warwick’s Juneteenth observance, bringing a free community celebration to Stanley-Deming Park on Friday, June 19, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The festival will mix live music, food and family activities with a clear civic purpose: making Black history visible in the center of town.

Residents can expect jazz and calypso performances, along with poetry, spoken word, dance and other inspirational acts. The day will also include educational games, multicultural foods and community exhibits, turning the park into both a stage and a classroom for families, faith groups and neighbors from across Orange County.

Rev. Sharon Davidson, pastor of Union AME Multicultural Church, described the festival as more than a one-day event, framing it as a way to honor freedom, embrace diversity and strengthen unity in Warwick. The annual gathering also has support from the Village of Warwick and Mayor Michael Newhard, underscoring that the celebration reaches beyond the church itself and into the town’s broader civic life.

Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when Union troops in Galveston, Texas, announced freedom to enslaved African Americans there, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The National Archives calls it the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, and it became a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, after President Joseph R. Biden Jr. signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. The White House also proclaimed June 19, 2021, as Juneteenth Day of Observance.

Warwick’s local celebration has grown into a visible part of that national meaning. In 2025, the town’s Juneteenth festival was held at Railroad Green from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. under the theme “The Freedom Festival of Warwick: Celebrating Multi-Heritage and Unity,” and the announcement invited surrounding towns and villages across Orange County to take part. Town Hall was also closed on June 19, 2025, in observance of the holiday.

This year’s move to Stanley-Deming Park, with a shorter afternoon schedule, keeps the same public-facing model in place: free admission, shared space and a community-wide invitation to remember, learn and celebrate together.