DENVER – This year’s Juneteenth Music Festival will include several new additions to the festival line-up.
The annual festival, which is traditionally held in Five Points, will once again be held on Welton Street, but will also include several block parties on nearby side streets.
“Probably half the cities DJs are going to be creating block parties on side streets throughout Five Points,” said Norman Harris, JMF Corporation executive director.
JMF Corporation is the festival organizer, and Harris says this year's event will also feature a new community space.
“One of the newest things people should look for at Juneteenth is a new space called "The Most Beautiful Thing." It's down on 28th and Welton,” Harris said. “During Juneteenth, it's going to be focused on art, and an art activation will be hosting probably about 15 to 20 different artists.”
Harris says afterwards, the space will be used for weekly community events.
“We want to make sure that people are still keeping Welton Street in their orbits following Juneteenth because there are so many great businesses and so many great things to support down there,” Harris said.
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This is the first Juneteenth Music Festival since state lawmakers officially named Juneteenth a state holiday.
“On Monday, quite a few people are going to have the day off. So, we do expect to have more people coming this year and pretty excited about it,” Harris said.
Harris says another highlight of this year’s festival include headliners Twista and Dave East, as well as local artist Sammy Mayfield.
“I feel really, really good about it. And I'm really glad to see it grow,” Mayfield said.
Mayfield, a Denver native and legendary blues singer, will perform at the festival for the first time in nearly a decade. He says he has a lot of memories of performing in Five Points and at the festival.
“When I was growing up, I was 12 years old playing at the Rossonian,” said Mayfield. “It’s the homecoming I'm looking forward to.”
Denver7 is a proud sponsor of the Juneteenth Music Festival.