Allentown’s Juneteenth celebration returns Saturday with headliner AJ McQueen at Cedar Beach Park

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown will mark Juneteenth with a free, daylong celebration Saturday at Cedar Beach Park, capping a weekend of music, sports and community events with a performance by Houston-based hip-hop artist AJ McQueen.

The celebration runs from noon to 9 p.m. at the park, 2600 Parkway Blvd., and is open to the public at no cost. It is organized by the City of Allentown in partnership with Blue Pulse Lounge, which curated this year’s entertainment lineup.

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States and became a federal holiday in 2021, the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Allentown, the state’s third-largest city, has built its observance into a multiday program that organizers said is meant to honor freedom, celebrate Black culture and strengthen community ties across the Lehigh Valley.

Billed as “The Cookout,” Saturday’s entertainment leans heavily on Lehigh Valley performers and runs through the afternoon and into the night, according to the event’s organizers. The schedule features a jazz set led by the Rev.

Gregory Edwards, an Allentown pastor, community developer and longtime social-justice advocate, along with R&B group GOE Troupe, a Vybe, the spoken-word nonprofit Basement Poetry, children’s programming and DJ sets. Gates open at noon, and McQueen closes at 8 p.m.

McQueen, who was born in St. Louis and is based in Houston, is a conscious hip-hop artist whose music centers on themes of freedom, purpose and personal growth, according to the organizers. He has been featured on outlets such as BET and Revolt TV. He has also received a White House service award for his community work, according to his booking agency.

Organizers said the day will also include a segment addressing youth gun violence, with an emphasis on mentorship, healing and positive pathways for young people.

Saturday’s event is the centerpiece of a broader Juneteenth weekend in Allentown. The city marked the holiday Friday with a flag-raising ceremony at City Hall at noon, and a basketball tournament is scheduled at Cedar Beach Park from Friday through Sunday, alongside family activities, food trucks and local vendors.

The celebration is run through the city’s Special Events Bureau, which organizes Allentown’s largest public events.

If rain interferes, the city has set a rain date of Sunday, June 21.

RSVP registration and a full schedule are available on the event’s landing page, and additional details on the weekend’s activities are posted on the city’s Juneteenth page. Organizers said attendees who register are entered into a giveaway for concert tickets and a hotel stay; entrants must be 18 or older.