West Philly's Mainstreet Celebrates Juneteenth

This past Sunday West Philadelphia’s parade and festival celebrating Juneteenth, the federally recognized holiday commemorating the freeing of slaves in Galveston Texas in 1865, again passed through the 52nd street corridor with phenomenal turnout and success. The event, organized by the Pennsylvania Juneteenth Initiative and originally put on in June of 2016, was on hold last summer for pandemic related conditions and restrictions, but returned this year stronger than ever with around 2,000 total participants and upwards of 25,000 attendees along the mile and a half parade stretch that culminates in a vendor fair and public concert in Malcolm X Park.

Philadelphia’s is one of the largest and most well attended Juneteenth celebrations across the entire nation, and besides being an enormous point of pride for the city and its residents, it brings with it innumerable benefits to the community at large, and its business owners. The festival in Malcolm X Park hosted over 250 vendors this year, a record number, who were able to showcase and sell their wares to festival attendees. The parade and festival also draws a normally unprecedented amount of foot traffic to the corridor, bringing much valuable business to local store and restaurant owners.

The Enterprise Center paid a visit to the festivities this year as well, rolling our Center for Culinary Enterprises’ food truck, and Curbside Business Service vehicle out along the parade route for festivalgoers to visit. From all of us here at The Enterprise Center,

Happy Juneteenth!