Downtown Sykesville plans Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration Saturday

Downtown Sykesville Connection, along with Find Your Purpose Inc., will host the third annual Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration in Sykesville Saturday.

The event will feature a variety of activities and performances designed to engage and entertain all ages, including art, food, music and sidewalk chalk art, as well as a breakdancing showcase, dancers, rappers and a steel drummer, according to a news release from DSC.

The event will commemorate and honor the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, reflecting on the enduring significance of equality and freedom in the community and beyond, according to the release.

Bree Batson, event coordinator at Downtown Sykesville Connection, said the aim of the event is to make Main Street a place for everyone.

“Our mission as a whole is to make Main Street a very welcoming open space for everyone and for everyone to feel like it’s just as much their street as their neighbor’s street,” she said. “Bringing on Juneteenth as one of [our] events is a crucial point of letting everyone know that this is a space where everyone’s welcome.”

Billy Lyve, founder of Find Your Purpose Inc., a Westminster-based nonprofit, said he hopes the event will be a celebration of African Americans in the community and beyond.

“My grandmother was a very prominent Black woman in Jonesville and in the Sykesville/Eldersburg area,” he said. “Being part of one of those families and then being able to come back and to be in a position to put on something cool for the minorities, it’s a celebration in and of itself. It’s a celebration of freedom and everything that happened back in the day enabled us to be able to do the things we’re doing today.”

The Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration will take place on Main Street in downtown Sykesville, noon-4 p.m., Saturday. For more information, visit downtownsykesville.com.