Celebrating Culture and Community at the Watson Family Foundation's Annual Juneteenth Festival

By Dakota Parks for Inweekly

Every Juneteenth has its own soundtrack, but there are always common threads: music spilling through public parks, families sharing stories over plates piled high with food, the slap of dominoes against card tables and laughter from children racing through the crowd.

Rooted in the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when enslaved African Americans in Texas finally learned they were free two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, Juneteenth is the celebration of Black freedom and culture that officially became a federal holiday in 2021.

Beneath the holiday designation is a chance to reflect on the work still left to do while honoring the generations who first fought for Black freedom. It’s a day of remembrance, centered around both gathering together and looking back.

That spirit is at the center of the Watson Family Foundation’s annual Juneteenth Festival, returning to downtown Pensacola on Saturday, June 13.

Now in its fifth year, the free event is packed with live entertainment, cultural performances, family activities and community traditions. The festival’s family reunion theme invites residents of all backgrounds to celebrate Black history while strengthening the bonds that connect Pensacola’s diverse community.

“The theme reflects exactly what we want this event to feel like,” said Kimberly Watson, president of the Watson Family Foundation. “In many ways, Juneteenth is about reconnecting with history, culture and each other.”

For Watson, the family reunion theme highlights how Black communities have historically preserved culture, shared stories and supported one another across generations.

“Family reunions have always been a cornerstone of the Black community,” Watson said. “We wanted to create that same welcoming atmosphere where everyone, regardless of race, background or age, feels like they belong.”

The Watson Family Foundation has spent years building programs around that philosophy.

Founded in 2018, the organization provides school supplies, laptops, lodging assistance and hardship relief for families in need. Education and community support remain central to its mission, and Watson sees the annual Juneteenth festival as a natural extension of that work.

“Everything we do as a foundation centers around strengthening families and creating opportunities,” she said. “This festival is a free event because we believe every family should have access to positive, enriching experiences regardless of income.”

Young attendees can spend the day in a dedicated kid’s zone featuring face painting, obstacle courses and interactive activities. Families can enjoy live entertainment together, browse local vendors and participate in community traditions ranging from a sweet potato pie contest to a “Family Feud” style game, plus spades and dominoes tournaments.

The foundation will also award a $1,000 scholarship to a Pensacola State College student, continuing its investment in education.

“Education changes lives,” Watson said. “It creates opportunities, opens doors and helps break barriers. We believe investing in students is one of the most impactful ways to invest in the future of our community. Scholarships not only provide financial support but also send a message to students that their hard work matters and that their community believes in their potential.”

This year’s festival also features an expanded entertainment lineup that includes drumming and dance by the Polimbatree African Drummers, gospel and opera performances, spoken word artists and a hip-hop street dance crew.

“Watching children dance, grandparents teach dominoes and neighbors connect across generations is always my favorite part of the day,” Watson said. “Juneteenth is a reminder of how far we’ve come and how much can be accomplished when communities come together. Beyond the history, it’s about celebrating the strength and beauty of our culture, and the contributions Black Americans have made to our nation.”

“Celebrating publicly allows people to see the richness, diversity and contributions of Black culture in a positive and uplifting way. Joy itself is powerful,” she added. “While history includes hardship and struggle, it also includes triumph, innovation, creativity and excellence. Public celebrations help educate, inspire and unite people while ensuring these stories continue to be shared for generations to come.”

Telling Stories

One of the people helping tell those stories at the Watson event is spoken word poet Kelli Pogue, better known as Abena Whasayo Isake.

For Isake, Juneteenth has always felt personal—and not just because her birthday is on Juneteenth. The themes that define the holiday are the same themes that have shaped much of her work.

A poet since age 12, Isake first turned to writing after attending the funeral of a teenager from her community who had been killed by gun violence. What she saw stayed with her.

“A lot of the times, you don’t see when we gather as a community when it’s something to celebrate, but when something tragic happens, we’re here ready to come together as a community to talk about what happened,” she recalled.

The experience became the subject of her first poem. More importantly, it introduced her to the power of storytelling as a way to process grief, ask difficult questions and connect personal experiences to larger themes of ancestry, identity, freedom and the African diaspora.

“If it’s something affecting me personally, it’s usually affecting the collective community too,” Isake said. “I don’t know how to separate the two completely, the personal and the political.”

In one of her best-known pieces, “Heavy is the Crown,” she challenges audiences to think beyond simplified narratives of Black history.

“We weren’t just slaves or kidnapped Africans,” she said. “I want the younger generations to know we come from royalty and history-rich civilizations. When you really think about what a king and a queen is, and the perspective of who you are and where you come from, that crown is heavy.”

Another poem, “This Mourning,” explores the grief and longing that can accompany tracing ancestry through generations disrupted by slavery.

“It is grief for me,” Isake said. “I would love to stand at my grandmother’s feet and have her tell me about the generations before her. Where did I come from? What did they look like?”

Instead, she pieces together family history through fragments, memories and stories passed down over time. Yet the poem ultimately lands somewhere hopeful.

“If I don’t have anything else,” she said, “I know I come from God, and that’s enough.”

This year, festival attendees will hear a brand-new piece written specifically for the Juneteenth celebration. The new piece will be accompanied by her nephew, who will weave “Lift Every Voice and Sing” throughout the performance.

The collaboration feels especially fitting to Isake.

Although she describes herself as a homebody and devoted mother to four, her poetry has found a wider audience through collaborations with musician Lepoleon Williams and the cultural arts collective Polimbatree, whose performances incorporate traditional African instruments alongside spoken word.

That collaborative partnership helped bring her work out of private notebooks and into public spaces.

“My thing is the word,” she said. “I share my gift, then I go sit back down. You have to listen to the words. Every word is there for a reason.”

Drawing inspiration from Black female writers like Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison and Octavia Butler, Isake’s words often challenge audiences to sit with uncomfortable truths.

“While we celebrate freedom on Juneteenth, it’s important to draw attention to the issues still happening today that are trying to counter the freedoms our ancestors struggled and fought for,” Isake said.

Yet she remains grounded in the same sense of community that inspired her first poem decades ago.

“Even in the midst of the struggle, we still have each other. That’s why amongst the celebration, it’s important that we respect and remember,” Isake said. “Pouring libations and remembering our ancestors is just as important as lighting a firecracker.”

The Watson Family Foundation Presents:

Juneteenth Family Reunion for the Culture Festival 2026

WHAT: A Juneteenth celebration with food trucks, family games, local vendors, live entertainment and more

WHEN: 12-6 p.m. Saturday, June 13

WHERE: Museum Plaza, 300 S. Tarragona St.

COST: Free to attend

DETAILS: watsonfamilyfoundation.com, @watsonfamilyfoundation