PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

There will now be two major Juneteenth festivals taking place in Pittsburgh in June.

Pittsburgh City Council has agreed to fund the Western Pennsylvania 2024 Juneteenth Celebration, which will be held June 14-16 in Point State Park, and also Fusion Fest on June 29 in Downtown and the Hill District.

Funding both is a compromise over some initial confusion involving the direction the city wanted to go with a city-sponsored event for Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery on June 19, 1865 in Texas. The official national holiday — established by President Joe Biden in 2021 — is on June 19.

This year, City Council aimed to launch its first city-sponsored Juneteenth event. William B Marshall, with the POISE Foundation, had been putting on a Juneteenth celebration for the public since 2013 and had expected funding this year. 

Three companies responded to the city with proposals for sponsorship and $125,000 in funding for this year: Stop the Violence, owned by Marshall; Rainbow Serpent, owned by Mikael Owunna; and Bounce Marketing and Events, owned by Fantasy Zellars. All are owned and operated by local African American community members.  

In a vote May 29, City Council decided to work with Bounce Marketing. The company has organized such events as Homecoming events for University of Pittsburgh, the August Wilson Block Party in the Hill District and Mayor Ed Gainey’s inauguration. Zellars is the president and founder of Bounce Marketing, which specializes in “creating memories and experiences in various industries around the world.”

Fusion Fest will be held at the Greenwood Plan building in the 200 block of Smithfield Street, Downtown. Zellars describes the event as a “celebration of Pittsburgh’s rich Black culture and vibrant art scene. We plan to bring the best in talent, art, fashion, food, music, and dance right to the heart of Downtown Pittsburgh.” Zellars also stressed the importance of hiring local talent. Fusion Fest will also be organizing a Hill District edition of City in the Streets, which focuses on bringing the government to the people, as well as an Open Street for bikers and skaters. 

City Council also awarded $125,000 to Marshall’s event. His 2023 Juneteenth celebration received $125,000 from the city with a promise for the same amount of funding for this year’s event.  

“We are extremely pleased with the actions of City Council and its decision to support the residents of Pittsburgh,” Marshall wrote in an email after the City Council vote.

“We want to make sure Juneteenth is sustainable,” Gainey said in a press conference shortly after the City Council vote. “We want to make sure that the city has an event that is doing great things to talk about the importance of Juneteenth, not only in a city but throughout. That is my vision.” 

Jilian Musser’s reporting is supported by the Pittsburgh Media Partnership.