BFM supports the Scotland Community of Potomac and their Annual Scotland Juneteenth Heritage Festival (https://www.juneteenthscotland.org/schedule-of-events-2026), which focuses on the celebration of the historic Black communities of Montgomery County. The 2026 Festival will have events across the County from June 13-19.
● Opening night on Saturday June 13, 7-9 p.m., includes a performance by Grammy Award winning gospel singer Hezekiah Walker along with his Love Fellowship Choir at the Bethesda Theater.
● Worship with Scotland A.M.E. Zion Church at 12:45 p.m. on Sunday, June 14.
● Experience the Interfaith Comedy Show from 6-8:30 p.m. on Monday, June 15 at the Blackrock Center for the Arts.
● Youth clinics in football, cheer, and basketball are available June 16 - 18
● Friday, June 19, is an all-day celebration, mostly in Cabin John Village or Park, with a 5-K run, a community wellness and social action Expo, a children’s carnival, a journey through history at the renovated Scotland A.M.E. Zion Church in Potomac, food, a baseball classic, and evening fireworks.
For more details and ticket registration, 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.
