Festival Fever: Juneteenth Celebration @ Troy’s Freedom Square, 6/16/12

(See details below on how you can win a FREE CD from Shokazoba…)

Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in America, and what better place to host festivities than Freedom Square in Troy.

Located at the corner of 101st Street and 5th Avenue in North Troy, Freedom Square will be abuzz with a Juneteenth celebration from 3-7pm on Saturday (June 16). Sponsored by Collard City Growers, Missing Link Street Ministry, the Sanctuary for Independent Media and Troy Bike Rescue, the free, family-friendly fest will feature food, family activities and, of course, lots of great music.

Here’s the schedule of musical performances slated for Saturday’s Juneteenth celebration:

3pm: S.K.A.T.E. (Troy-based conscious hip-hop group)
4pm: The Heavenly Echoes Gospel Singers (classic southern gospel group from Albany)
5pm: The Ameros (Albany-based politically charged rock band)
6pm: Shokazoba (10-piece Afrobeat big band based in Northampton)

Bring lawn chairs and blankets. The rain site for the festival is the Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy. And if you can’t make it out to the fest, there will be a live, four-camera, stereo-sound, video webcast of the performances online at the Sanctuary’s website.

BUT WAIT… Would you like some MORE free music? We’re giving away a free copy of Shokazoba’s latest CD, “Congress for Sale” to a lucky Nippertown reader. To enter to win, just post a comment below. Please leave your email address, too. We won’t publish it, but we’ll use it to contact you if you win. The winner will be selected at random and notified on Friday. Enter today! Good luck! This contest is now closed. Congratulations to the winner, who has been notified by email.

ADDITIONAL UPCOMING FESTIVALS FOR 2012:

The Frendly Gathering Music Festival @ Timber Ridge, Windham, VT, 6/14-16/12
River Street Festival @ River Street, Troy, 6/16/12, FREE
Upper Union Street Strawberry Festival & Art Show @ Upper Union Street, Schenectady, 6/16/12, FREE
Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival @ Croton Point Park, Croton-On-Hudson, 6/16&17/12
The Old Songs Festival @ Altamont Fairgrounds, Altamont, 6/22-24/12
Friehofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, 6/30-7/1/12
Fabulous Fourth Celebration @ Empire State Plaza, Albany, 7/4/12, FREE
CountryFest @ the Times Union Center, Albany, 7/7/12
Scream It Like You Mean It @ Upstate Concert Hall, Clifton Park, 7/8/12
GE’s Kids Day @ Empire State Plaza, Albany, 7/8/12, FREE
Shockwave Festival @ Upstate Concert Hall, Clifton Park, 7/20/12
Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, 7/31/12
McDonald’s African American Family Day @ Empire State Plaza, Albany, 8/4/12, FREE
Empire State Plaza Food Festival @ Empire State Plaza, Albany, 8/15/12, FREE
SAWFest Music Festival @ Salem Art Works, Salem, 8/18/12
Restoration Festival @ St. Joseph’s Church, Albany, 9/7-9/12
Local Legends Live @ Empire State Plaza, Albany, 9/8/12, FREE
FreshGrass Bluegrass Festival @ MASS MoCA, North Adams, 9/21-23/12
Hannaford Hispanic Heritage Celebration @ Empire State Plaza, Albany, 9/22/12, FREE