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Hamblen County’s Juneteenth Celebration will return to the Downtown Farmers Market on June 19.

The event will be hosted on the green from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and will include more than 40 vendors, food trucks and live performances.

“This year the event will be hosted on Monday which is different than we have had it in the past,” said Dr. Alpha Alexander, Morristown Task Force on Diversity chair. “This year, we decided to have it on the actual date of Juneteenth.”

“Last year we had over 1,000 people attend the event and this year we really want to get the crowd out to support the holiday.”

The free event will feature live performances from Brian Clay, Amy Coleman and Chris Blue, an American soul singer and winner of season 12 of the American talent competition “The Voice”.

Blue also performed in Morristown to celebrate the opening of Fulton Hill-Park.

“We truly look forward to having Chris Blue perform,” she said. “He is such a talented singer and it will be a real treat to have him come to our community to sing.”

The Drums Up, Guns Down dancers will return to the main stage for the second year in a row and the guest speaker for the event will be City of Newport Mayor Roland Dykes.

“We are going to explain June 19 and the significance of the day and the history behind it,” Alexander said.

June 19 is a federal holiday that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, it is celebrated on the anniversary of the order, issued by Major General Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, proclaiming freedom for slaves in Texas.

Nearly two years after President Abraham Lincoln emancipated enslaved Africans in America, more than 250,000 African Americans embraced freedom by executive decree in what became known as Juneteenth.

“It’s important that we celebrate the day the slaves were freed so we can preserve our history, celebrate diversity within the community and also bond with the community and see the various great aspects of the community that make it what it is,” Alexander said.

Another important date for Tennesseans is August 8, the day in the year 1863 Tennessee Military Governor Andrew Johnson freed enslaved people.

“We celebrate Juneteenth as a national holiday but the significant date for us living in Tennessee is August 8 or Jubilee Day when the slaves were freed in the state,” she said. “We usually have a celebration in August honoring that historical day as well.”

For more information about the Juneteenth Celebration, send an email to hamblenjuneteenth@gmail.com.