By Lookout Staff

June 18, 2015 -- Blues and island sounds, food, arts and crafts and more will greet visitors to Virginia Avenue Park at this weekend’s 23rd annual Juneteenth celebration.

Hundreds of people, mostly families, usually turn out for the event, which marks June 19, 1865, when slaves in Texas finally learned they had been freed more than two years earlier by President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, City parks officials said.

“This year is a significant year, because it’s the 150th anniversary of Juneteenth,” said Carla Fantozzi, principal program supervisor at Virginia Park.

Actress Juanita Jennings will be the MC for the event Saturday, which features music, dance, food, and “a whole lot of fun,” said Fantozzi.

Performances on the main stage include Grammy-nominee Ray Brooks & the Blues Masters Band; Motown, R& B, and soul by Route 101; reggae by Island Rhythm Production; samba with Samba Samba Dance and the participatory Lava Bai Drum Circle.

Crafts, face painting, and games for kids will be found at the Kids’ Zone. A pop-up legacy museum will highlight the history behind the Juneteenth Celebration. The festival will also include a cultural arts marketplace, Texas-style BBQ, and other favorite foods.

Several nonprofit African-American organizations, including the local NAACP and other groups, will have booths at the event, Fantozzi said.

Although Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation became official on January 1, 1863, news of the freedom act didn’t reach slaves in Texas until April 1865, when Gen. Gordon Granger of the Union Army landed in Galveston, according to juneteenth.com, a national registry of Juneteenth organizations and supporters,.

“The celebration of June 19th was coined ‘Juneteenth’ and grew with more participation from descendants” of slaves, said the website. “The Juneteenth celebration was a time for reassuring each other, for praying and for gathering remaining family members.”

Santa Monica’s free Juneteenth celebration and barbecue at Virginia Avenue Park, 2200 Virginia Avenue, will be held on Saturday, June 20, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Virginia Park’s 9.5 acres also feature two large grass areas for picnicking and recreation, including two basketball courts, two playgrounds and a splash pad.

Find more information visit www.smgov.net/vapark, or call 310-458-8688.