Crowds fill Pittsburgh's Mellon Park to celebrate Juneteenth

Quay Simmons, a Juneteenth vendor sporting a “Strong As A Mother” T-shirt, wasn’t going to let a little rain on Thursday get her down.

For the fifth year now, the Pittsburgh native has left her day job driving trucks to haul a booth’s worth of quirky bracelets and colorful purses to peddle at the annual Juneteenth celebration.

Pockets of gray clouds dropped rain around 3 p.m. on Simmons’ booth — located this year in Mellon Park, an event first. But hundreds of people continued filling the vendor area.

“Downtown, it seemed like there was a lot of traffic — this is different,” said Simmons, 46, gesturing to a group of kids playing on wide swaths of green grass. ”The rain might put a damper on stuff. But these next three days? We’ll rebound.”

Simmons’ optimism was common among those who trekked to Pittsburgh’s East End for this year’s Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people in the U.S.

The holiday — on June 19 every year — commemorates the date the last American slaves were freed in Texas in 1865.

Reatha Marshall, sister of event organizer William “B” Marshall, remembers the roots of Pittsburgh’s Juneteenth being planted in 2011 in the city’s Strip District neighborhood.

“There was only 50 of us at the time — and look at it now,” Marshall said with a laugh. “It’s just grown. Now, we’ve got thousands of people here, some coming from different cities.”

Those attending could count Donovan Murphy among the out-of-staters.

Murphy brought his Island Quizine food operation — which offered everything from jerk chicken and fried catfish to oxtails with butter beans — from Baltimore to the Steel City.

“Pittsburgh is a real rival to Baltimore — so I wanted to come up and enjoy something other than the rivalry,” Murphy laughed. “The community here has just been great.”

On the first of its four days — the celebration runs at Mellon Park and Downtown through Sunday — Juneteenth also remained safe and upbeat, several people noted. No fights were reported Thursday, organizers told TribLive.

“I’m glad to see, as the years have gone past, that it’s always a joyful event,” said vendor Victoria Jemison, 67, of Duquesne.

Jemison’s son ran home to snatch up more fedoras after she quickly sold through her supply — several dozen in black, white and highly popular “sky blue” variants.

People also flocked to the food.

Corporate sponsors dotted the park. In one, those attending could build a customized bobblehead for free.

But booths hawking deep-fried Oreos ruled the roost. Murphy said Island Quizine’s jerk chicken was being served as quickly as his chefs could cook it.

That also brought a smile to the face of Portia Diaz, an Indiana County woman whose food truck was making its first Juneteenth appearance in Pittsburgh.

To honor the day, Diaz placed souvenir Juneteeth flags in each drink she served, including her “dreamsicle boba” — 24 ounces worth of shaved ice and ice cream, in flavors ranging from key lime pie to mango honeydew.

“The boba is what people are eyeing,” said Diaz, 55. “But milkshakes are becoming a thing, too. We do milkshakes. It seems to be catching on.”

The party continues Thursday night when R&B legends Morris Day and The Time take the stage. Dru Hill will perform live on Friday.

On Saturday, event attendees will celebrate with their feet: a parade hits Downtown at 11 a.m.