Saturday will mark the start of Lawrence’s third annual weeklong Juneteenth celebration with the Family Fun Festival in Burcham Park.

While the eight-piece Grammy award-winning Dazz Band performs at this year’s festival, those attending the event, which begins at 11 a.m., can check out vendor booths and visit a crafts tent as well as enjoy food and drinks. Local and regional bands also will play during the day.

Other events next week include a night of oral histories and will conclude with a tour and cookout at Clinton Lake Museum in Bloomington Park on Saturday, June 24. This is the first time the museum, noted for its Underground Railroad exhibits, has been included in the Juneteenth celebration.

“I think it ties in so nicely with the festival,” said Donna Bell, one of the organizers of the celebration.

“I’m delighted,” museum curator Martha Parker said about being a part of Juneteenth.

The Clinton Lake area and the Wakarusa Valley is known for its integration history and Underground Railroad connections for slaves leaving the South and headed for freedom, Parker said.

Juneteenth is celebrated because it was June 19, 1865, when the last of the slaves in America were notified of their freedom in Texas. That notification came two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves.

In recent days, Juneteenth committee members have visited the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence to explain the history of Juneteenth. Children there are preparing posters, essays and murals about Juneteenth at the club sites in Cordley and Woodlawn schools and the main club building, 1520 Haskell Ave.

“Juneteenth is really a celebration of freedom,” Bell said. “When you start looking into the history of African-Americans, what’s remarkable is that it really involves all cultures and all people, and that’s what we want to celebrate in Lawrence.”

An evening of oral histories has become a tradition during Lawrence Juneteenth. This year, the event will be Thursday, June 22, in Kansas University’s Dole Institute of Politics. The main topic will be the African-American experience in Lawrence. The speakers will be a mix of teachers, counselors and administrators.

On Friday, June 23, will be the three-on-three basketball tournament at the Lawrence Community Building, 115 W. 11th St. It will run from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Contact the Boys and Girls Club at 841-5672 to enter a child in the poster, essay and mural contests; to register for the basketball tournament; to register a vendor booth by Thursday; or to volunteer at any of the events.