Starting Friday, weekend of events, parade, celebrate Juneteenth in Laurens
Grammy-nominated Gospel singer James Fortune will be headlining the music this Saturday afternoon, June 14. A variety of events take place from Friday evening though 10 p.m. this Saturday as the City of Laurens celebrates Juneteenth.
Laurens, South Carolina – This upcoming weekend the City of Laurens will present Juneteenth Laurens, 2025, with two-time Grammy-nominated gospel singer James Fortune and a full schedule of other entertainers, speakers and events.
The June 13-14 celebration begins at 7 p.m. this Friday evening with a talent show at the Capitol Theatre and there are still spots open for singers, artists or dancers to vie for cash prizes up to $100.
“We still have spaces for the talent show,” said show co-coor- dinator Tiffany Williams- Greene. “We have categories for children, teens and adults, so we can take all ages and all types of talent.”
Registration and tickets are available online at cityoflaurenssc.com/juneteenth2025.
The Saturday schedule of events starts at 9 a.m. with a Breakfast Conference upstairs in the Laurens County Museum’s Magnolia Room. The ticketed breakfast will feature a women’s panel speaking on current concerns facing families, with a keynote address by retired Presbyterian College Professor Booker Ingram.
“Juneteenth is a celebration of the anniversary of June 19, 1865, proclaiming freedom for the enslaved in Texas, and it is America’s longest-running African American holiday,” said Cassandra Campbell, a member of Laurens City Council and co- coordinator of the Juneteenth celebration.
“The City of Laurens first announced its observance of Juneteenth on June 19, 2020,” Campbell said, “and we took its observance a step further with its initial Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration Festival in 2022.”
Vendors will begin setting up on the public square about noon Saturday and the Buffalo Soldiers, Carolina Cruisers, participating churches and dig- nitaries will join this year’s Parade Marshal, Rev. Anthony Sims, in the Juneteenth Parade at 2 p.m., starting at the Laurens Middle School and traveling down West Main Street to the Square.
A full afternoon of entertainment will begin after the parade, Campbell said.
“We will have introductions by Laurens Mayor Nathan Senn and ringing of the Freedom Bells, and James Fortune will begin his gospel performance about 3:45 p.m.,” she said.
Other entertainers on The Plaza will include a wide variety of speakers, including Jamerious Evans encouraging youth through Spoken Word, comedian Superdad Jones, Saxophonist Darius Starks and an African Dance Team about 6 p.m., followed by Laurens County Line Dancers and wrapping up with the ever popular The Band LevelZ with David E.
For more details see the City of Laurens or the Laurens Juneteenth Facebook pages.
This story originally ran on Page 1 of the Wednesday, June 11, 2025 issue of The Laurens County Advertiser.
