EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The City of El Paso is hosting a Juneteenth Celebration on Saturday, June 15.

The event will be held from 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday at Nations Tobin Park, 8831 Railroad Dr.

The celebration, organized by the Parks and Recreation Department in partnership with the nonprofit organization Black El Paso Voice, is an opportunity to commemorate and learn more about Juneteenth, the news release said.

The event is a free, outdoor celebration that will include family games, activities, live music, jumping balloons, food, informational booths and more.

Juneteenth celebrates the day when all slaves were officially freed in the United States. This year, Juneteenth will be observed on Wednesday, June 19.

ABOUT JUNETEENTH

Juneteenth — also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day or Emancipation Day — celebrates the day that Texas slaves learned of their freedom, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. The earliest documented Juneteenth Celebration took place in Galveston, Texas in 1866. The federal government officially declared Juneteenth a national holiday on June 17, 2021.

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