Review: Olympia’s 6th Annual Juneteenth Celebration

Originally published on June 22, 2026

Giving you a glimpse at my personal life, I have a goal of walking 10,000+ steps each day. The longer this routine has been incorporated into my life, the more in awe I have become of just how far and where 10,000 simple steps could take you. A portion of my steps Saturday led myself and my mama to Olympia’s 6th Annual Juneteenth Celebration presented by the Women of Color in Leadership Movement.

We heard vibrant music as we approached the festival, and it became the perfect soundtrack for the joyous and meaningful conversations that took place during our time there.

Every vendor we encountered was kind and very open to conversation, which made strolling through the festival not just a shopping experience, but a community get together. I have met a couple vendors before, but was grateful to get to know more Olympia neighbors.

The work that the lovely Shawna Hawk and Women of Color in Leadership Movement are doing is incredible, intentional, and impactful. I look forward to diving deeper into their website and keeping tabs on their activities like the new fan girl I am. Watch this video to learn more.

I appreciate the educational opportunities this event held all the way down to the flyers being handed out. Click here then scroll down a little to read the flyer from this most recent event.

This event left me wanting more and more, like an audience that gives a standing ovation begging for an encore. Shawna Hawk and everyone else involved in the movement, please continue to keep this celebration tradition alive and keep bringing us more and more opportunities to connect like this…this was my favorite event of the weekend!

Readers, audiences, and community members, if we want events like this to continue to flourish in our area, it is our job to support local organizations doing work like this. One of the most impactful ways is by donating, which I invite you to do by clicking here.

Shopping the Festival

As we strolled through the festival, we immediately regretted not having the world’s largest budget, but that made us all the more grateful for the treasures we purchased including matching Michael Jackson stickers by artist Kay Burnett of Kay’s Paint Joint and empowering (but not matching) shirts from Demarciano Clothing.

Burnett’s color palette would be best described as joy itself and the way she uses it in all her designs is captivating. Plus, Burnett isalso just really nice and fun to talk to!

Mama and I also enjoyed chatting with the Father-Daughter team running the Demarciano booth, who made time for deep and meaningful conversation…not everyone does that now in days…anywhere…but it makes all the difference and brightens lives! Starting conversation was easy as we admired their very thoughtful, intentional inventory which contained the perfect balance between humor, honoring history, celebrating God, and packing in the all important punch.

When I was in college, I wrote my main capstone project on the history and social connotations behind Betty Boop. When I approached that project originally, I wanted it to be centered around Betty Boop’s race: she was originally black. My professor said I couldn’t do it because there was not enough academic research on it at the time, and that is what led me to talk about gender colonization. I don’t regret studying from that direction, but do feel it is deeply important to keep discussing her racial history.

Why am I bringing up Betty Boop in a review of a Juneteenth event? Well, the shirt I got from Demarciano was dedicated to this very topic. The heading of the shirt says “Celebrating Black History 365” and then has a paragraph about the original inspiration for Betty Boop, black singer Esther Jones paired with a photo of Jones and a drawing of Betty Boop with brown skin. It is now my new favorite shirt and conversation starter!

A Happy Reminder

Were you unable to make the festival? Well I have good news for you! You can still enjoy the artwork and creations of vendors like Kay Burnett of Kay’s Paint Joint and Demarciano Clothing by following them on social media, exploring their websites, and making online purchases.