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MURFREESBORO – The Hertford County African American History Coalition will host the 4th annual Murfreesboro Juneteenth Freedom Day, scheduled for 12 noon until 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 15 at Riverside Park in Murfreesboro.

Admission is free.

DJ Ronnie P will start the entertainment at 12 noon. The African American history program starts at 1:30 p.m. and will feature a libation ceremony, the playing of TAPS to honor local United States Colored Troops, poetry from Trinette Vaughan Sharpe, and Jackie Ruffin Pittman portraying Hannah Crafts, America’s first female Black novelist.

Tobias Cortez and his band will take the stage at 5:30 p.m. Tobias is a native of Como and was a contestant in 2021 on American Idol.

Dozens of vendors will be in attendance with food, crafts, merchandise, and educational information.

There are still sponsorship and vendor opportunities for this year’s Juneteenth festival. For more information, email cultivatornc@gmail.com, call 252-319-6168, or contact any Coalition member.

The rain date for this year’s festival will be Saturday, June 22.

Juneteenth is an often overlooked event in our nation’s history. On June 19, 1865, Union troops freed enslaved African Americans in Galveston Bay and across Texas some two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Soldiers from Northeastern North Carolina who were part of the United States Colored Troops where in Galveston on Juneteenth.

The Hertford County African American History Coalition was founded in 2018. Its mission is to collect, document, preserve, and celebrate the contributions of African Americans in the local community. James Futrell and Brandon Vaughan serve as the Coalition’s co-chairs.