Preparing to set up at Pear Blossom Park in Medford, organizers of the local Juneteenth celebration will bring plenty of activities, education and entertainment for people to learn about the holiday and its history while seeing the work being done by the Black Alliance and Social Empowerment community organization. 

The Juneteenth celebration is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 21, at the park, located at 312 E. Fourth St., and the event will include live music, DJs, a kids’ zone, vendors and more. 

“You can expect a lot, anything from amazing bands with live music to keynote speakers,” said Vance Beach, founder and executive director of BASE. “It sets the tone for the summer and going into a new year, and it’s something we cherish and hopefully will have a lot of impact and education.” 

BASE, the main organizer of the Juneteenth celebration, is a Rogue Valley-based organization that provides resources, advocates for and hosts events and programs for Southern Oregon’s Black community. 

The Juneteenth celebration is free to attend, and visitors are requested to check in at the main BASE tent to participate in the numerous activities such as the photo booth and kids’ zone. 

People are also invited to bring blankets and lawn chairs to the celebration. 

The event will celebrate the ancestral culture of African Americans with performances of African drumming, dancing and more, Beach said. 

The keynote speaker for the event will be Nakeia Council Daniels, director of the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

“She’s an Army veteran, and she’s an advocate for all things veterans,” said Kim McKandes, emcee for the upcoming Juneteenth event and a member of BASE. 

Daniels is the first Black person to lead the Oregon VA since it was established in 1945.

“She understands the underserved veterans in the state and she really presses to make sure that they are found and seen and heard … she’s an awesome speaker and is charismatic and funny, and she sings as well,” McKandes said. 

“We’re going into our fifth (Juneteenth event) now. Juneteenth is a special moment for BASE; it was actually our first event ever as an organization, and we held it during the COVID year before it became a national holiday,” Beach said. 

“Since then, Juneteenth has grown bigger and bigger each year and is something special in terms of the significance of it,” Beach added. 

Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of the remaining enslaved people in 1865, marking the end of slavery in the United States. 

It became a federal holiday in 2021 and marks the freedom of the final slaves in Galveston, Texas, which occurred almost two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation declaring enslaved people in Confederate states to be free. 

BASE’s Juneteenth event is the second largest in the state, only surpassed by Portland’s celebration, McKandes said. 

Considering last year’s event had unexpected protesters who attempted to disrupt the celebration, organizers will be taking extra precautions to keep people safe. 

“We have taken necessary steps to prepare our youth and families and other stuff we work on in terms of being prepared for those disruptions with deescalation,” Beach said. “It’s unfortunate that we’re in 2025 and we still have to look at those things.”

While Juneteenth commemorates the country’s history, organizers also see it as an opportunity to push against current injustices and look toward the future.

“For us, what makes this celebration even more important is that we’re here in the present and we continue to press on,” Beach said. 

A current issue BASE organizers are working to bring attention to is the “Justice for Hakiym” campaign, with BASE members petitioning to exonerate wildland firefighter Brian “Hakiym” Simpson who is currently incarcerated at Snake River Correctional Institution for what supporters say was an act of self defense in a racially motivated attack by another firefighter in 2024 in Josephine County. 

There will be a tent at the Juneteenth celebration for people to sign the petition to support Simpson and help in other ways. 

To learn more about BASE, visit baseoregon.org.

Reach reporter James Sloan at james.sloan@rv-times.com.