Vale Cemetery will once again host a Juneteenth celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States on June 19 from 3 to 6:00 pm.
The annual celebration is held in the historic African American Ancestral Burial Ground section of Vale. This area holds the final resting places of formerly enslaved freedom seekers who made Schenectady their home, Civil War veterans, abolitionists, and individuals whose graves were located from an older African-American burial ground on Veeder Avenue near State Street.
The event will include a libations ceremony, African drumming, a Negro spiritual performance, poetry reading, a headstone preservation demonstration, and an ice cream social with ice cream courtesy of Stewart’s. This year, attendees are also encouraged to bring their own picnic in keeping with the historic tradition of families picnicking in rural cemeteries like Vale.
Cohosted by Vale Cemetery, the Hamilton Hill Arts Center, and Community Father’s Inc., this event is free and open to the public.
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Tours, unless otherwise noted, start at 2 p.m. from the Caretaker's Cottage adjacent to the main entrance on State Street.
There is ample parking available and due to the size of the cemetery/park a shuttle bus is used. There is a $10 donation requested with children under 12 free.