Nathan Smalls on Clubhouse

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This month Juneteenth will officially be recognized as a holiday in New Jersey, marking an important step worth celebrating for black culture in our state. And making its debut in Atlantic City on the same weekend is another celebration of black culture – the Black Excellence Festival.

“We chose the date to coincide with Juneteenth because it was obviously significant to the black community,” says Nathan Smalls, creator and CEO of the Black Excellence Festival. “Especially coming on the heels of the Black Lives Matter movement, we just felt it was a great opportunity to do some healing and reflecting and to celebrate at the same time,”

Running from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, June 18 and 19, the Black Excellence Festival heads to Showboat for two days of culture, comedy, shopping, live music, films, panels, workshops and more. There will also be free COVID vaccinations and health screenings offered each day from AtlantiCare.


With the popular Essence Festival in New Orleans being virtual this year, the Black Excellence Festival has become the nation’s largest in-person celebration of black culture. But it took some careful planning for it to all come together.