Juneteenth in Renton: Celebrating local Black-owned businesses, artists

See photos from the June 28 festivities at Liberty Park and the city’s June 18 flag raising.

By Bailey Josie • June 30, 2025 4:30 pm

“Juneteenth: A Freedom Celebration” took place June 28 at Liberty Park in Renton — complete with face painting, live performances, food trucks, yard games and 50 Black-owned businesses from throughout South King County.

Along with local vendors, artists and artisans, Seattle’s Double Dutch Divas set up jump rope and hula hoop activities at the park’s basketball court, encouraging Juneteenth guests to learn how to play double dutch and get active.

Taking place every year on June 19, Juneteenth is often described as the United States’ second Independence Day. The National Museum of African American History and Culture describes the origin of the federal holiday as follows:

“Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later.

“Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as ‘Juneteenth,’ by the newly freed people in Texas.”

On June 18, the City of Renton had its inaugural Juneteenth flag raising celebration where councilmember Ed Prince “thanked the community members that petitioned the city for formal recognition, and shared the holiday’s personal significance, as his grandfather grew up in Galveston, Texas.”

LaGea Rodgers, Rebecca Rodgers, A’Jea Brown and Adam Thomas of Diamond Love Gifts pose with some of their handmade gift items. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing