NATCHEZ &045; Nine years ago, organizers of the Natchez Juneteenth festival wanted to create an annual event that offers the entire community a chance to learn about and celebrate the history of African-American emancipation.

They saw Natchez, with all its antebellum history intact, as uniquely suited to commemorate that day in June of1865 when belated news of freedom finally reached the slaves in Galveston, Texas.

On Saturday, those goals were realized, as crowds gathered under the shady oaks of Melrose National Park to exchange cultural lessons and enjoy a day of music from area performers.

&uot;We want this to grow into a tourist attraction for Natchez.

We’ve had visitors come from places like Atlanta and Memphis before,&uot; said Juneteenth committee member Royal Hill.

Holding the festival at Melrose, an antebellum estate where slave quarters still stand for tourists to see, is significant to the celebration.

&uot;It was an estate&045;not a plantation.

But they did have slaves here. It brings an awareness to the park,&uot; said Hill.

Park superintendent Keith Whisenant echoed Hill’s observation.

&uot;There is a definite link between Melrose and the slave labor that helped build that wealth,&uot; said Whisenant.

Earlier, a group of about 25 people gathered a mile away at the Forks of the Road, where a busy Natchez slave market once operated.

There, Kenya Gowans took time to describe an item of African culture, a multi-colored, wooden rod known as the the Staff of Life.

&uot;It’s from the Yaruba culture of West Africa.

Each color represents a different attribute of the Creator,&uot; said Gowans, who traveled from Mount Olive to attend the festival.

The group then sang &uot;Fongo Alafia,&uot; a traditional African greeting song, before walking to Melrose, the stark beat of African congas leading the procession.

&uot;The walk is symbolic of how a slave might have been sold and led away to one of the plantations,&uot; said Hill.

At the park, children played in colorful air jumps while vendors sold cold refreshments.

Gospel choirs were set to perform in the morning, followed by blues and R&B artists later in the day.

Proceeds from this year’s activities, which included an African-American fashion show on Friday night, will be used to purchase a state historical marker for the United Methodist Church on Martin Luther King Street.