This year's inaugural Gulfport City-Wide Juneteenth Celebration - Freedom Weekend - promises to be an amazing celebration of the day African Americans in Texas learned of their freedom two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Along with parade, we're featuring live musical acts, dance performances, market vendors and more. Plus, this year's festivities will include an awards ceremony honoring community members and a special acknowledgement for fathers in attendance.
Sign up today to become a volunteer for the Freedom Weekend. Click below.
Register today to become a part of the 2021 Freedom Parade for the Juneteenth celebration. Click below.
Become part of the Melanin Village as a vendor at the 2021 Gulfport City-Wide Juneteenth celebration. Click below.
Join us for some fun and African-American culture with our Art Walk and Talent Showcase. Click below to sign up.
As part of our “Freedom Day” celebration, the Mary Spinks-Thigpen Oratorical Scholarship contest will be held on Friday, June 18, 2021 at New Evening Star Baptist Church at 6:30 p.m.
1st- 3rd place winners in four tiers for (Kindergarten- 12th grade) will be named. More than $2000 in scholarships will be awarded!
About the scholarship
The Mary Spinks-Thigpen Oratorical Scholarship was established to honor the continued legacy of Mrs. Mary Spinks-Thigpen. Known as an advocate and trailblazer for African Americans across the MS Gulf Coast, Mrs. Thigpen continues to be an inspiration to our community. Along with being well-known in the Gulfport community of Forest Heights, she has dedicated countless passionate years to Gulfport’s African-American communities and its youth. Most notably, Mrs. Thigpen faithfully served for years the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast Forest Heights Center, as well as a founding and influential member of the Coast-Wide Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Celebration. In recognition of Mrs. Thigpen empowering the youth of our communities, we honor her as the namesake of this Oratorical Scholarship.
Join us for the big festival day when we will enjoy local entertainments from all along the MS Gulf Coast including gospel artists, Blues & Oldies, Hip-Hop, a LIVE DJ and more.
Plus you get to join in all the fun with interactive activities, including a Hip-Hop workout, Live cooking demonstration, life sessions and Sept Up 2 Dance. And you don’t want to miss our Potato Salad Competition, Tik Tok Challenge, Line Dance, Spades Competition and much more.
When putting on a community-wide event, we know the value of our small local businesses, churches, and organizations. We also wanted to find a creative and feasible way for you to help financially support the celebration.
Here is the opportunity to sponsor a portion of the Gulfport Juneteenth Celebration by making a small financial donation. Click here for details.
Thank you in advance.
