Long Beach’s waterfront Juneteenth celebration, which has drawn thousands to celebrate Black culture and heritage for the past five years, has been canceled for the foreseeable future, according to the event’s organizers.
Juneteenth commemorates the date — June 19, 1865 — when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to the last enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
Black Americans have celebrated Juneteenth for generations, but it became a federal holiday in 2021 after then-President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.
Long Beach’s Juneteenth celebration, founded and organized by resident Carl Kemp, began that same year.
Though the inaugural event started relatively small, with a little more than 3,000 people attending that first year along Pine Avenue in downtown, the Juneteenth celebration continued to grow in popularity. It also shifted locations to Rainbow Lagoon Park, and more than 20,000 came out to the 2025 event, which featured Grammy Award-winning singer Lalah Hathaway as the headlining performer.
Carl Kemp speaks during Long Beach’s annual Juneteenth Celebration at Rainbow Lagoon Park on Saturday, June 18, 2022. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
The Dorsey High School Drum-line and Drill Team perform during Long Beach’s annual Juneteenth Celebration at Rainbow Lagoon Park on Saturday, June 18, 2022. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
Jacqueline Brent of Los Angeles moves to the music at the 3rd annual Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 17, 2023, at Rainbow Lagoon in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Large crowds attend the the 3rd annual Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 17, 2023, featuring musical performances, vendor booths and food trucks at Rainbow Lagoon in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
The Dembrebrah Drum and Dance Ensemble performs during Long Beach’s annual Juneteenth Celebration at Rainbow Lagoon Park on Saturday, June 18, 2022. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
The Greater L.A. Cathedral Choir performs at the 3rd annual Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 17, 2023, at Rainbow Lagoon in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Attendees dance to the music at the 3rd annual Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 17, 2023, at Rainbow Lagoon in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Severina Britto, left, and Muriel Clark sway to the music at the 3rd annual Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 17, 2023, at Rainbow Lagoon in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
The Antioch Church of Long Beach’s Mass Choir performs during the annual Juneteenth Celebration at Rainbow Lagoon Park in Long Beach on Saturday, June 18, 2022. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
Faith Harris of North Hollywood dances during Long Beach’s 4th annual Juneteenth celebration at Shoreline Aquatic Park on Saturday, June 15, 2024. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
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Carl Kemp speaks during Long Beach’s annual Juneteenth Celebration at Rainbow Lagoon Park on Saturday, June 18, 2022. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
Kemp, who also serves as Long Beach City College’s associate vice president of public affairs and marketing, had been thinking about planning a large-scale Juneteenth event for several years before it became a reality.
Kemp had never celebrated Juneteenth prior to being in jail for a year.
“For me, that journey began in prison. I never celebrated Juneteenth until I was in prison, which is ironic, because it’s a celebration of Black freedom,” Kemp said in a Monday, Feb. 23, interview. “That was born in me when I was Black and not free.”
After returning home, consulting elders of Long Beach’s Black community and pooling support from community groups and volunteers, Kemp was able to secure sponsorships, funding and support from both the Long Beach City Council and the city’s Convention & Visitors Bureau for the 2021 event.
It was a success — one of this first large-scale events in Long Beach after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — and had continued to get bigger each year since.
Thousands have come out annually to celebrate and honor Black history, culture and joy with live music and dance performances, Black-owned restaurants and artisans, community gathering, and more. Past Juneteenth events have also featured performances from major acts such as Anderson .Paak, Marsha Ambrosius, Kelly Price and Eric Benét.
The heart of Long Beach’s Juneteenth celebration, Kemp said in a Monday social media post, was always about creating “space for Black vendors, Black entertainers, Black nonprofits, and organizations doing the work to uplift and support our community. A space where dignity, unity, culture, and joy could be felt in the air and seen on every smiling face,” he said in a Monday post to social media.
But this year, Kemp said Monday, the waterfront Juneteenth event has been canceled because of scheduling conflicts with the city — and likely won’t return to Long Beach for the foreseeable future. He initially announced the event’s cancelation in a video posted to social media on Monday morning.
The location, Kemp said, was an important feature of the event.
“Having this event near the water and the sea breezes and grassy knolls and family-friendly picnic environment that Rainbow Lagoon offered, or any other seaside options that you know have been available for big events in the past — that’s always been a priority, to have that aspect of Long Beach’s beauty available to the guests of the Long Beach Juneteenth Celebration,” Kemp said. “And none of those options were made available.”
And since there isn’t a venue that can accommodate the vision for Long Beach’s Juneteenth celebration, Kemp said, it likely won’t return in future years.
“For me, the standard requires venue options that don’t currently exist,” Kemp said, noting that the event is off “if and until, you know, venue options that match the standard become available.”
The city, meanwhile, said it only learned of the Juneteenth event’s cancellation through the Monday morning social media post.
Long Beach’s special events and filming office, according to a Monday statement from city spokesperson Kevin Lee, told the organizers of the Juneteenth event about availability for the location back in June.
“At that time, the first weekend of June 2026 was still available along the waterfront and the event organizer never formally or informally indicated they would like to conduct their event during that time, and that weekend was soon after requested by an event organizer for a different event,” Lee said, adding that the city offered an alternative location and was willing to explore other locations for the event.
“The event organizer never responded and ultimately, chose to cancel their event in Long Beach,” Lee added. “The city learned of this cancellation through the organizer’s Instagram video. It is unclear to the city why they chose not to explore further the options made available to them.”
Long Beach, the statement said, understands that Juneteenth is an important holiday across the nation and locally.
“The City remains committed to supporting community-led events,” Lee said, “and continues to be available to work with the organizer should they wish to consider the options provided to them before they canceled.”
Producing the Juneteenth celebration has been a massive labor of love, Kemp said, adding that he’s grateful for all the attendees, community members, partners, sponsors and other supporters who made it possible — and so successful.
“It was a really hard thing to do with a really rich reward. And I love Black people, I love Black culture and I love Long Beach, and love is irrational — so it makes no sense to have worked as hard as we did,” Kemp said. “I haven’t made any money on it, but it’s so much love. We don’t make any money on our children. It’s just so much love that went into this event, and it’s only made me love this city more. This event is a product of people of all kinds from all kinds of places making it happen.”
“I’m so grateful for the people who volunteered their time and believed in an idea and what the idea was about. That’s really where it all came from, people who believed in an idea and worked really hard every year to make it happen,” Kemp added. “I hope that the video left a taste of gratitude in the minds of people who watched it. Really, that’s what I’m left feeling more than anything.”
And as for celebrating Juneteenth, Kemp said, there are many other events planned throughout Southern California — and he hopes the community will show up for those as well.
“Juneteenth is always going to be, and as I said in the video, there (are) lots of options to celebrate Juneteenth all over the Southland and beyond,” Kemp said. “It’s not the end of Juneteenth; it’s the end of the Carl Kemp Production’s Juneteenth Celebration.”