Join the City of Rio Rancho and the NAACP Rio Rancho Northwest Mesa Branch for Rio Rancho’s inaugural JUNETEENTH FREEDOME DAY CELERBATION! Admission is FREE!

Friday, June 17TH, 2022

5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Campus Park at City Center

(2516 King Blvd. NE Rio Rancho, NM 87144)

This event is free to the public and will feature food, activities, live music, and a beer garden. There will also be vendor booths and community services booths on hand for event attendees to purchase goods and receive information about healthcare and other community/social services.

Additional Information

The event is subject to weather, and may be canceled due to such conditions as rain, wind, lightning, or public health orders. Admission is free. Parking and park seating space is available on a first come, first served basis. Blankets, umbrellas, and coolers are permitted. Food vendors will be on-site. No glass, outside alcoholic beverages, or individual grills will be allowed. Live music starts at 5:30 p.m. Visitors can access City Center via Unser Boulevard/King Boulevard and Paseo del Volcan/Broadmoor Boulevard.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger issued General’s Orders Number 3 in Galveston, Texas to ensure that all enslaved people would be freed. Despite the Emancipation Proclamation being signed two and a half years earlier, Black people were still being held as slaves in Texas. Following the Civil War, the Union Army was sent to ensure that all people, in every state, would be free. Communities throughout the United States have continued to celebrate Juneteenth. Texas became the first state to name Juneteenth as an official holiday in 1979 and on June 17, 2021, Juneteenth National Independence Day was made a federal holiday.