Juneteenth Celebrations with Scotland Community

BFM supports the Scotland Community of Potomac and their Annual Scotland Juneteenth Heritage Festival that focuses on the celebration of the historic Black communities of Montgomery County.

• Spanning six days, the 2025 Festival will have events across the County.
• An all-day celebration will be on Thursday, June 19, with activities such as a 5-K run, community Expo, children’s carnival, exhibits at the renovated Scotland A.M.E. Zion Church in Potomac, MD, food, sports, and fireworks.
• The mostly free activities will be held at several Bethesda, Rockville, and Cabin John locations.  To register for tickets, go to https://www.juneteenthscotland.org/schedule-of-events 

Founded in 1880 by William Dove, a formerly enslaved farm worker who was the first Black man to own land in Potomac, Scotland was once an enclave of more than 500 acres along Seven Locks Road. The community’s only remaining historic structure, the Scotland African Methodist Episcopal Zion church, has been renovated after a catastrophic flood in 2019. Today, the Scotland community consists of 100 townhouses on 10 acres on Scotland Drive, just off Seven Locks Road. Twenty-five of these homes are still owned by descendants of the original founders of the community.