Pittsburgh City Council approves $125,000 in funds for for first city-run Juneteenth celebration

PITTSBURGH — On Wednesday, Pittsburgh City Council approved funding for the first official city-run Juneteenth celebration.

The event will be held on Smithfield Street, meaning the city will have two different Juneteenth celebrations more than a week apart.

“Our Juneteenth event is called Fusion Fest, which will celebrate echoes of our ancestors and beats of the future,” said Fantasy Zellars, of Bounce Entertainments.

Zellars will coordinate the city’s official Juneteenth celebration. The council approved $125,000 for the event.

But, with just 30 days until the event, only the date and location have been announced. The one-day event will be held on June 29, 10 days after the Juneteenth holiday on the 19th.

Festivities will take place along Smithfield Street inside and around the Greenwood Building, a black-owned property.

Zellars says they haven’t secured artists, vendors or activities for the event, but said “we are looking forward to hiring local talent.”

The other Juneteenth event set to go off in the city is scheduled to coincide with the holiday and has confirmed acts, including Mast P and Kelly Price. That event has not yet secured funding.

B. Marshal is organizing the second event, and has been hosting Juneteenth events for more than a decade.

Channel 11 previously reported that Marshall was initially awarded money to host the 2023 and 2024 Juneteenth celebrations, but the Mayor’s Office rescinded that offer, opting to take applications for the contract. Zellar and Bounce Entertainment ultimately won the bid.

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“We felt that at the end of the day, we need to be more transparent.”

City Council has now proposed giving Marshal $125,000 for his event. We asked the Mayor if he’d support those efforts. he did not answer the question directly but said:

“I also plan to continue to support him, and I plan to go to as many of the Juneteenth events that I can…”

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