Denver’s resilient Juneteenth Music Festival staged its annual parade last year in the historic Five Points neighborhood, despite challenges that made it one of the city’s only parades of 2020.
“It was a real, actual parade down there,” said Norman Harris III, executive director of the music festival — the roots of which go back decades in Denver. “It was socially distanced, but we had people marching outside. … This year we plan to have one of the biggest Juneteenth celebrations the city has ever seen.”
That’s no idle pledge for the events, which will return to Five Points June 18-20. In February, Denver city council members declared Juneteenth a commemorative holiday, following years-long community efforts to designate it as such. Juneteenth, on June 19, marks the official end of slavery in 1865, a holiday that started in Texas and has expanded in various ways to the majority of states and Washington, D.C. Colorado began recognizing it as a ceremonial holiday in 2004.
“The (news) events of last year gave us the opportunity to understand the historical significance of Juneteenth,” said Harris, president of Mile High Festivals, which also produces the Five Points Jazz Festival, First Friday Jazz Hop nights, the Truck Stop food rally and others. “With things coming back online this year, we’re also focusing on making it a national holiday.”
They’ll have the support of Mayor Michael Hancock and Councilman Chris Herndon, who proposed the mostly symbolic city holiday earlier this year. But it’s far from Harris’ only concern.
This weekend, he and his partners — including Curtis Park Neighbors, The Five Points BID, KUVO jazz radio and Agave Shore — are offering live music on Welton Street (link to Thursday story) as part of the Five Points’ free Cinco de Mayo celebration.
Consider it a test run for the Juneteenth events, which Harris said will blanket Five Points with live entertainment in Cousins Plaza and Welton Street at Five Points Plaza, amid other shows. He’s still confirming details, but Juneteenth already got the buy-in from Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, which also plans to host shows in and outside its theater at 119 Park Ave. West.
Furthermore, Harris last year connected with Denver PrideFest — which typically took place on the same weekend as Juneteenth Music Fest, making them de facto competitors.
This year, PrideFest is staging its “hub”-based events June 25 and 26 with a mix of small, in-person and virtual programming. Civic Center park won’t see any, but smaller events — dance parties, drag queen-hosted pool gatherings, family-oriented events at Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and “movie-themed activities” with Denver Film’s Sie FilmCenter — will abound, Denverite reported.
Virtual events will also (ideally) make up for the lack of in-person programming, such as PrideFest’s annual parade, which is canceled for the second year in a row, organizers said.
“One of the things we were discussing with The Center on Colfax (PrideFest’s producer) last year was the challenge of intersectionality, and the choice some folks had to make between going to PrideFest and going to Juneteenth,” Harris said. “We’ve been trying to figure out the best way to holistically bring our communities together, and comfortably. That’s not as easy as it sounds, and we’ve got quite a bit of work behind the scenes to do.”
To that end, Harris and The Center on Colfax are already planning Denver’s first-ever Black Pride event, which would unite the two marginalized communities striving for social justice — though they’ve not solidified details.
“There’s no way you can ever replace Five Points Jazz Festival,” Harris said of the event that had grown considerably in recent years, with an estimated 2019 attendance of 100,000. It typically takes place on the third Saturday in May. “But we’re doing all kinds of things to support businesses in Five Points, with art-walks and yoga in the park and other programming.”
Harris is optimistic his nonprofit JMF Corp. (Juneteenth Music Festival) can raise the rest of the $500,000 needed to put on the event, in part, with the June 18 virtual telethon at juneteenthmusicfestival.com (where donations can also be made now).
For more information and updates on the events, visit denverpride.org/pridefest or milehighfestivals.com.
