State College will celebrate Juneteenth 2024 on Friday and Saturday. The borough will begin celebrations with an Art Exhibit opening at 6 p.m. on Friday and continue with a block party from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Friday’s exhibit opening will take place at the Woskob Family Gallery at 146 S. Allen St. The gallery will feature artist KO, a Penn State graduate hailing from Nigeria, whose paintings and sculptures examine the relationship between historic events and contemporary society.

Saturday’s block party will take place at the 100 block of South Fraser Street. The event will feature musical headliner Bilal, the Marching Cobras, and more. Bilal, who is releasing a new album Friday, is an R&B artist from Philadelphia who has worked with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller, Talib Kweli, Common, and more.

Juneteenth is a federal holiday signed into law in 2021, commemorating the day federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to ensure the freedom of all enslaved people. State College’s Juneteenth celebrations were founded by the State College NCAAP and hosted with the borough, the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State, and the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau.