Thursday marks the 160^th anniversary of when slavery ended in America, and The Harmony Foundation will hold its fourth annual Juneteenth celebration at the Hyde Community Center in  Newton Highlands to mark the holiday and celebrate freedom.

The family friendly festival will run from noon to 4 p.m. at the Hyde Center (90 Lincoln St.).

There will be food trucks (Reggae Foods and Zaz), live music, face-painting, games, shopping and more.

Although President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation—an order freeing all slaves in Confederate states—took effect on Jan. 1, 1863, news and compliance traveled slowly. The order was not implemented in all of the Confederacy until long after.

On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced the end of slavery, freeing the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people there and completing the liberation of the South.

That day is known as Juneteenth, a holiday celebrated in the South ever since. In 2020, after a summer of racial unrest following the murder of George Floyd, President Joe Biden had Juneteenth made a national holiday, starting in 2021.

Join Newton leaders and residents on Thursday as we celebrate this major turning point in American history and welcome this week’s sunny weather with joy.