Multiple events are slated throughout Gainesville to celebrate the fourth annual Journey to Juneteenth: Florida Emancipation to National Celebration.

The first event is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 18, for the Florida Emancipation Celebration at the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center. The event is free to the public.

The city of Gainesville will hold a flag-raising ceremony and proclamation from 9 to 10 a.m. on Monday, May 20, at the City Hall Plaza (200 E. University Ave.) to officially recognize Florida’s actual emancipation date – May 20, 1865. The date marks the day when enslaved Africans first learned of their freedom in Tallahassee, over two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

Monday’s ceremony is open to the public and is just one of several city of Gainesville’s monthlong program of events through June 19, the date when communities nationwide commemorate the announcement of freedom reaching Texas in 1865.

The city of Gainesville posted a list of the monthlong events below:

• Florida Emancipation Celebration, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, May 18 at the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center (837 SE 7^th Ave.), free.
• Before Juneteenth: Emancipation in Florida film screening, 7-8:30 p.m. Monday, May 20 at the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center (837 SE 7^th Ave.), free.
• Alachua County Community Remembrance Project exhibit opening honoring the victims of racial terror lynching, 1-3 p.m. Saturday, June 1 at the Alachua County Admin Building (12 SE 1^st St.), free.
• In Our Right Mind: Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias in Communities of Color film screening, 5-7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 2 at the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center (837 SE 7^th Ave.), free.
• Juneteenth Film Festival opening reception and screenings, 5-8:30 p.m. Saturday, June 8 at the A. Quinn Jones Museum & Cultural Center (1013 NW 7^th Ave.), free.
• Greatest Graduation Party: For the Culture, 6-9 p.m. Saturday, June 8 at the MLK Multipurpose Center (1028 NE 14^th St.), free.
• Smooth Flava Gainesville, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, June 9 at Bo Diddley Plaza (111 E. University Ave.), free.
• The History of the Seminole Nation: Unchained and Unconquered, 4-8 p.m. Sunday, June 9 at the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center (837 SE 7^th Ave.), free.
• Freedom Walk 5K, 7-10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 15 at Depot Park (874 SE 4^th St.), free.
• Freedom Fest 2024, 3-9 p.m. Saturday, June 15 at Bo Diddley Plaza (111 E. University Ave.), free.
• Tha Cookout: A Juneteenth & Fatherhood Celebration, Noon-6 p.m. Sunday, June 16 at Cynthia Chestnut Park (2315 SE 35^th St.), free with registration.
• Justice on Trial: Reloaded, Off Broadway Play, 6 p.m. Sunday, June 16 at Upper Room Ministries (3575 NE 15^th St.), ticketed event.
• Honoring the Journey to Freedom – Reflection and Resilience – and Still We Rise, 12-8 p.m. Tuesday, June 18 at the Santa Fe College Blount Center (401 NW 6^th St.), free.
• Juneteenth Breakfast and Black Music Month Celebration, 7:30-9 a.m. Wednesday, June 19 at the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center (837 SE 7^th Ave.), ticketed event.
• The Jubilee: Celebrating Arts, Culture and Education, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday, June 19 at Bo Diddley Plaza (111 E. University Ave.), free.
• Storytime at Depot Park, 10:30-11 a.m. Thursday, June 20 at Depot Park (874 SE 4^th St.), free.

Additional details about Journey to Juneteenth events can be found online.