Juneteenth 2022 Events: Your Bay Area Guide to Celebrating the Holiday

To mark Juneteenth’s second year as a federal holiday, we’re back with another edition of our Bay Area Juneteenth roundup. Here are some of the events around the Bay this weekend where folks will be gathering, performing—and celebrating emancipation.

Bay Area Juneteenth Events

Afrocentric Oakland’s Juneteenth Weekend
This two-part weekend celebration at Lake Merritt will kick off Saturday with the 10th annual Pan-African Wellness Fest, featuring guided meditation, yoga, Tai Chi, self-defense, spoken word performances, interactive art installations, a youth zone, keynote speakers, Black excellence awards and vendors. Lake Merritt Amphitheater. June 18, 12-8pm, $5. Details here.

Sunday, Afrocentric Oakland will host its annual Fam Bam celebration, also in its 10th year. “Fam Bam X” boasts live performances from DJs, art displays, a youth zone, PanAfrican vendors, and a Black Father’s Day tribute. Lake Merritt Amphitheater. June 19, 12pm-8pm, $20. Details here.

Juneteenth With MoAD
San Francisco’s Museum of the African Diaspora will host an slate of in-person and virtual events to celebrate Freedom Day. Virtual offerings include a panel of artists discussing representation and equality paired with revolutionary music. There will also be a presentation from Dr. Daina Ramey Berry, chair of the history department at the University of Texas at Austin, on the history of the Transatlantic slave trade through to the emancipation of enslaved people in America. In person, the museum will host St. Gabriel’s Celestial Brass Band as they lead a second-line procession and perform in the salon room.  Admission to MoAD’s current exhibitions will also be free all day. June 18, 11am-6pm. Details here.

‘The Joy Protocol’ at the Bayview Opera House
The Bayview Opera House will host the premiere of “The Joy Protocol,” a collaboration between San Francisco choreographer Gregory Dawson and jazz musician and composer Richard Howell. The multidisciplinary performance explores finding joy in the time of COVID protocols. June 16-18, 8pm, $15-$50. Details here.

East Bay Regional Parks Juneteenth Events
If you’d like to get out and celebrate Juneteenth in nature this year, the East Bay Regional Parks have you covered. There’s a Juneteenth Celebration Hike at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont that will celebrate Black contributions and achievements throughout history and in the fields of science, conservation, and art. Ardenwood Historic Farm, also in Fremont, will host an all-ages baseball game. At the Father’s Day and Juneteenth Celebration at Crown Memorial State Beach in Alameda, there will be a story circle at the top of every hour and craft-making throughout the day at the Crab Cove Visitor Center. June 19. Details here.

52nd Annual Sonoma County MLK Juneteenth Community Festival
This festival will feature live music, food, a basketball tournament, arts and crafts, dominoes, spoken word performances and Zumba. There will also be a march from Julliard Park to Martin Luther King Park to honor Sonoma County activist Vince Harper. Martin Luther King Park. June 18, 10am–6pm. Details here.

Hayward Juneteenth Outdoor Fitness & Wellness Festival
This event will feature trap yoga, dance workout and twerk-out sessions for the adults; and rock-climbing instruction, arts and crafts and the Hayward Public Library’s bookmobile for the kids. Hayward Heritage Plaza. June 18, 10am–1pm. Details here.

‘BLACK AS U R’ screening at the Castro Theatre
In this documentary, filmmaker Micheal Rice explores racism and homophobia within Black communities and the unique challenges faced by those who hold both queer and Black identities. June 19, 6:15 pm, $17.50. Details here.

“Straight Outta Hunters Point” 20th anniversary screening at the Bayview Opera House
This 2003 documentary takes viewers on an insider’s tour of the public housing project Hunters Point, where director Kevin Epps grew up. There is also a pre-show performance by Pat Wilder and San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin. This event is a fundraiser in support of the SF BayView Black National Newspaper. June 19, 7pm. Details here.

Elements Juneteenth Party with Timmy Regisford
Dance legend Timmy Regisford leads ELEMENTS’ panel about the Black and queer roots of house music, followed by a 21+ after party at a secret location in Oakland. June 18, 9pm. Details here.

East Oakland Futures Festival
This block party along the Scraper Bike Way will celebrate East Oakland’s food, arts, tech and culture with an Afrocentric tilt. A community bike ride will kick off the event. June 18, 11am–6pm. Details here.