3 things happening in North Carolina this week: Juneteenth and local Outer Banks artists

Greenville Juneteenth celebration. (Photo via Visit NC)

By Billy Ball

June 16, 2025

Every Monday, Cardinal & Pine makes its picks for our favorite events of the week in North Carolina. This week, June 16-22.

“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a proclamation from the executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”

That’s how the order of June 19, 1865 went, as Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and freed some of the last known enslaved people in the United States. President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was issued in September 1862, but freedom came slowly.

A year after the news reached Galveston, local Black folks held a “jubilee.” Through the years, that freedom celebration became Juneteenth, and though it wasn’t formally recognized as a federal holiday until President Biden did it in 2021, it’s one of the most important American holidays. There are plenty of Juneteenth celebrations across North Carolina this week. I’ll highlight a few below, as well as some more North Carolina happenings.

Historic Whalehead in Currituck County, North Carolina. (Shutterstock)

Under the Oaks Arts Festival

Corolla, NC

Tuesday – Wednesday

This is one of your best opportunities to connect with and buy from local artists on the coast.

Whalehead, a restored, 1920s-era mansion in Corolla, plays host to the Under the Oaks Arts Festival, a two-day art show loaded down with local talents. Expect pottery, glasswork, painting, photography, jewelry, and more.

More info here.

The quarters where enslaved people lived, Historic Stagville plantation in North Carolina. (Shutterstock)

Emancipation Tour

Historic Stagville plantation

Durham, NC

Thursday, June 19, 11 am – 3 pm

Few things make the truth about slavery feel more real than walking a plantation grounds and visiting the ramshackle houses where people were once kept as property.

On Juneteenth, historic Stagville in Durham honors the occasion with free walking tours. Stagville was one of North Carolina’s largest plantations, with more than 900 enslaved people. The tours will tell the stories of the people who were enslaved here. It takes about 90 minutes to complete, with stops outdoors and indoors, according to North Carolina Historic Sites.

More info here.

Stagville in Durham hosts free Juneteenth tours. (NC Historic Sites)

Juneteenth in Greenville

Greenville, NC

Saturday, June 21, 5-9 pm

The “Black Belt” is a term used to describe the parts of the South that were dominated by the economics of slavery.

This region, which includes parts of eastern and northeastern North Carolina, is still home to some of the South’s largest Black populations.

Which makes Greenville as fitting a place as any to honor this holiday.

Look for food, music, a Black-owned vendor fair, fireworks and more. More info here.

For a longer listing of North Carolina’s Juneteenth events, check out this guide from ABC-11.

Juneteenth Emancipation Day Celebration, June 19, 1900, Texas. (Photo via Austin Public Library)

Author

Billy Ball

Billy Ball is Cardinal & Pine's senior newsletter editor. He’s covered local, state, and national politics, government, education, criminal justice, the environment, and immigration in North Carolina for almost two decades. His reporting and commentary have earned state, regional, and national awards. He's also the founder of The Living South, a journalism project about the most interesting people in the American South.

Have a story tip? Reach Billy at [email protected]. For local reporting that connects the dots, from policy to people, sign up for Billy’s newsletter.

View all posts

CATEGORIES: THINGS TO DO

Support Our Cause

Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for North Carolinians and our future.

Since day one, our goal here at Cardinal & Pine has always been to empower people across the state with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of North Carolina families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.