In heat and harmony: Juneteenth Marketplace & Art in the Park event attracts hundreds to Malcolm X Park

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Despite an extreme heat warning Sunday, vendors, community members and live music filled Malcolm X Park in celebration of the annual Juneteenth Marketplace & Art in the Park.

Small business owners carefully set up their displays as people walked around.

Nicole Rayfield, owner of Polish Me Unbothered, traveled from Wilmington. “This is such a celebration of the culture of the people,” she said. “It’s just a way of showing that we all can get along, we all have so many talents, so much creativity and we’re great at business.”

Rayfield’s nail polish brand sells a wide range of nail polish colors, each cleverly named.  She said Juneteenth resonates with why she began her business and her own goals.

“It was started in response to really just being tired and feeling invisible and toxic workplaces, and so you want freedom,” Rayfield said. “That’s the one thing you always want, Juneteenth represents that.”

She said she has only been in business for three months, and she started her company after finishing her Ph.D. in organizational leadership.

“My mission is to uplift and encourage all women, all people, to know that they’re seen and they’re celebrated,” Rayfield said.

The Schroder family was among the hundreds of people who admired the displays as they walked.

Gail Schroder, a Philadelphia resident and teacher, said that she and her husband have been taking their two young kids to the festival for years.

“It’s amazing that it’s been here for so long,” said Jim Schroder, who works in public health. “Kudos to the people who have been running this for decades.”

“They have great kids programming, which is really fun and it’s made it easy to come and enjoy it,” Gail Schroder said.

On the north corner of Pine and South 15th streets, vendor Deana Lucas was setting up her African-inspired clothing and accessories booth.

The 26-year-old designer and Philadelphia resident said that she travels across the world, especially to Ghana, to attain her colorful fabrics and to gain inspiration.

“Our mission is to provide authentic and affordable apparel and accessories, so that’s what we’re all about,” Lucas said. “A lot of African print colors, bright colors.”

She said she celebrates the significance that Juneteenth means to her.

“It started with freedom, obviously, freedom and unity. But now it’s the point where we have festivals when we come together and we’re celebrating expression,” Lucas said. “Everyone comes in their best dressed and things that they wouldn’t wear to work every day.”

Octavia Geiger, a Philadelphia resident and policy analyst, joined her friends as they rifled through jewelry on display.

“I’m from West Philly, so it’s nice to see lots of business organizations and local community come together to celebrate,” Geiger said. “I feel like there’s not a lot of times you can really do that right now.”

She said that besides spending time with her friends, she recognizes the event as a time to reflect on the meaning of Juneteenth.

“It’s a day to commemorate the end of slavery and also to kind of reckon with America’s history over the past 500 years and more specifically the past 150 years,” she said.

Juneteenth events continued across Philadelphia on Sunday with the Juneteenth Parade & Festival, Jubilee at Bartram’s Garden, JAWNTEENTH: A Juneteenth and Pride Celebration and the 2025 Phoenixville Juneteenth Celebration.