Ceremony will feature community performances, student presentations, remarks from local leaders, and a ceremonial flag raising
Hillsborough County, Fla. (June 16, 2026) - Hillsborough County will observe Juneteenth with its Fifth Annual Juneteenth Flag-Raising Ceremony at noon on Thursday, June 18, at the north entrance of the Frederick B. Karl County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, FL 33602.
The event will bring together community leaders, elected officials, clergy, students, and residents to honor Juneteenth, the annual observance marking the end of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day news of emancipation reached enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
The ceremony will feature remarks from Hillsborough County officials, community leaders and elected officials, musical performances by the Tampa Bay Juneteenth Coalition Community Choir, a presentation by students from Howard W. Blake High School Air Force Junior ROTC, and the ceremonial raising of the Juneteenth flag.
Following the program, elected officials and community leaders will participate in a photo opportunity around the flagpole.