“All are Welcome,” read a bright red and white sign under the words “Freedom Fest.” As attendees were ushered into Bo Diddley Plaza Saturday afternoon, they were met with live music, food and family-oriented fun to continue Gainesville’s month-long Juneteenth celebration.
Freedom Fest was part of the 2025 Florida Emancipation Celebration and one of the final events in Gainesville’s “Journey to Juneteenth.”
Juneteenth is a commemoration of June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were informed of their freedom, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
The event was sponsored by Visit Gainesville and the City of Gainesville’s Office of Equity & Inclusion.
Along the brick pathway surrounding the plaza’s stage, over a dozen vendors and organizations set up tents colored orange, yellow, white and blue.
Nathaniel Courtney Jr., the event’s main organizer, is the founder of Nathan Ross, a nonprofit that promotes and preserves African American and Indigenous culture through art, education and entertainment. He created the organization to empower the community and said Freedom Fest does the same.
Part of celebrating Juneteenth is educating people about the history of the day, he said.
“[We] use this event to galvanize the community so that we can create a better future,” Courtney said.
Freedom Fest vendors sold a variety of items rooted in Black history and culture, such as headscarves, perpetual calendars and necklaces. Other organizations, including the League of Women Voters of Alachua County and the Cultural Arts Coalition, taught attendees about African American history in Florida.
Virginia Lynn, a 59-year-old Gainesville resident, sold bundt pound cakes at the event, representing her young business, Simply Bake. She started the business in February after she was laid off from her job.
She makes the cakes at her home, she said. It took her 12 hours to bake 70 cakes the day before the event.
While each cake is baked in the same oven, Lynn said no cake comes out the same, which she believes symbolizes a larger meaning.
“Just like with our culture, we’re all different sizes, all different colors, all different shapes,” Lynn said. “It’s a beautiful thing.”
Erinisha Hamilton, a 32-year-old Gainesville resident, helped organize the event. She owns the nonprofit Sliick Garden, which teaches kids to grow food. She planned activities to entertain children, including hula hoops, jump ropes and face painting.
As children happily participated in the games, Hamilton said she found her own joy seeing the vendors lining the plaza’s stage.
“I love the fact that there’s so many Black-owned businesses,” Hamilton said.
Live music and diverse tents to explore encouraged event-goers to mingle, creating a space to “get the vibes going,” Hamilton said. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, she added.
A number of attendees watched speakers and several performers take the stage, sitting on lawn chairs or against the brick walls to watch.
Michael Stephens, a 52-year-old Gainesville resident, sat on a blue lawn chair and soaked in the summer sun.
“I just found out about [Juneteenth] a few years ago, so I like to take part in it every chance I get,” Stephens said.
As the sun began to set, more people joined the plaza’s hubbub.
Becca Jenkins, a 23-year-old UF veterinary student, said she came to Kava Gator Coffee Shop, located in the southwest corner of Bo Diddley Plaza, to study for her board exams. Jenkin’s head bobbed to the plaza’s music while she read her book inside.
The music was “an added bonus,” she said. She hadn’t known about the event until she arrived.
Nina Chadwick, an 18-year-old University of South Florida political science freshman, was visiting a friend in Gainesville when she stumbled upon the event by chance.
The lively downtown scene wasn’t something she saw in her hometown of Mount Dora, Florida, she said.
“It’s really nice to see the community getting together,” Chadwick said.
Contact Alanna Robbert at arobbert@alligator.org. Follow her on X @alannafitzr.
Alanna Robbert is a journalism senior and a general assignment reporter for the Metro Desk in Summer 2025. In her free time, she enjoys reading and going to the gym.
