Juneteenth Celebration in Hillcrest

By Nicole Hinebaugh

Juneteenth, which was held June 16 at the Hillcrest neighborhood, was a wonderful celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. There were nearly 500 participants over the course of the day, from Hillcrest and from all over Asheville!

Big thanks to the multitude of volunteers and sponsors who made the event possible. There were activities such as inflatable jump-houses, face painting, balloon twisting, and water games for the children, tournaments, a tomato raffle, lots of free food and snow cones, and a variety of entertainment for all.

The lineup included a spoken history of Juneteenth by Itiyopiya Ewart, a discussion of the Prison Industrial Complex by Stephen Smith, live poetry by Ekua Adisa and several open-mic participants, singer-songwriter Jonathan Santos, a live capoeira demonstration by Stephan Bonitz and crew, a hip-hop performance by Thomas of Hillcrest’s own GPE, a live African dance performance by La’Ney African Dance Troupe, and a great ongoing selection of music from DJ Supaman!

Special thanks to Luke Perry, who hand-built a custom wooden stage for the event which will continue to grace the events of the Hillcrest neighborhood and many other communities in Asheville!

This celebration was a collaboration between WWD-F and the Hillcrest Resident Association Board. The Hillcrest board members worked hard to organize many details of the day including volunteers, entertainment, and more, and we look forward to the continued success of our future collaborations!

To see photos from the event check out this facebook page, www.facebook.com/WWDFAsheville.