Funk, hip-hop and R&B hitmakers to descend on Pittsburgh for Juneteenth celebration

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June 17, 2025

By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The larger Mellen Park will host this year’s Juneteenth festivities in Pittsburgh (Cbaile19, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Back in 1984, it would have been hard to imagine Morris Day and the Time bringing the First Avenue vibe to a baseball field in Mellon Park.

Forty-one years later, the audacious Minneapolis funk band will rock the Juneteenth Celebration there with “Jungle Love,” “The Bird” and other infectious hits.

Since 2013, the annual Juneteenth celebration in Pittsburgh, presented by Stop The Violence Pittsburgh, has united thousands for such legendary R&B and hip-hop acts as the Ohio Players and Rakim.

This year, the four-day event — running from June 19-22 in commemoration of the end of slavery in the U.S. — returns with what should be one its most popular lineups yet. It’s slated to be headlined by The Time, R&B faves Dru Hill and Donell Jones, and rap legend Jadakiss.

[…]

“This year they determined that they were going to shut down all the areas in Downtown Pittsburgh,” says Juneteenth promoter William Marshall, of B Marshall Productions.

[…]

Get information about the celebration.

Check out our events calendar for Juneteenth events in Milwaukee and beyond.

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