MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — The Middletown Art Center invites the public to celebrate Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, this Saturday, June 19, especially as Juneteenth has just been established as a federal holiday.

The evening is packed with exciting cultural events beginning at 4:30 p.m. and continuing until 10 p.m.

For details and tickets visit www.middletownartcenter.org/sol.

Juneteenth events begin with the launch of Sounds of Liberation with Clovice Lewis hosted by Sabrina Klein at 4:30 p.m.

This is the first in a series of intimate performances and conversations with Black musicians living in Lake County about race and music.

At 6 p.m., the full Juneteenth Celebration begins with an authentic Kenyan dinner by local Chef Feswali Mulanda. Pre-purchase of dinner tickets is recommended.

At 7 p.m., Clovice Lewis will introduce us to Juneteenth, followed by a reading of poems by Langston Hughes and Lucille Clifton with Lake County Poet Laureate Georgina Marie.

A highlight of the evening is call-and-response singing with Gloria Scott, then West African dance and drumming with Djibril Camara.

Live music and dancing with Midnight Sun Massive begins around 7:30 p.m. and continues until 10 p.m.

Food and beverages are available for purchase, the dance is free to the public. All proceeds support the Sounds of Liberation project.

Lewis is an award-winning musician, composer and educator who plays cello with the Lake County Symphony, among others. His musical, “Harlem Voices” and his Harlem Voices Training Project lay the groundwork for Sounds of Liberation’s potential for experiential and transformative learning and raising of awareness to the Black experience, racial equity and social justice.

Sabrina Klein has spent her career working in the arts to engage audiences in meaningful experiences. She moved to Lake County last spring and brings a passion for social justice, a strong belief that the arts make the world a better place, and that each person and every community have a right to the arts in their daily lives.

Chef Feswali Mulanda’s love of cooking began as an 8-year-old preparing food for his younger siblings in Kenya. Still cooking as if for family, Mulanda has been a chef at Harbin Hot Springs since 2002, preparing memorable delicious meals, including Kenyan dishes.

Singer-songwriter Gloria Scott will lead a call-and-response singing. Scott is best known for her work during the 1960s and 1970s when she produced several hit singles with Sly Stone and had a hit album produced by Barry White. She was also an Ikette for Ike and Tina Turner, and wrote numerous hits for other musicians throughout her career. Scott currently resides in Lake County and plays and sings with a church in Lucerne.

Djibril Camara, master West African dancer, choreographer and teacher from Guinea, recently moved to the tri-counties region. He will be accompanied by dancers and drummers including Lake County musician and music educator Victor Hall who also performs with Midnight Sun Massive.

A multi-instrumental eight-piece band whose genre is an eclectic blend of reggae, ska, calypso and soul, Midnight Sun Massive will provide the evening’s dance music. Now in their third decade of making music together, the band continues to evolve, and has recently added a horn section.

Sounds of Liberation with Clovice Lewis will be livestreamed on Zoom and Facebook free to the public. Live-audience tickets have sold out.

All Sounds of Liberation events will take place in hybrid format with limited live audience seating and livestreamed. Events will be recorded by PEG TV for future education and awareness raising.

Sounds of Liberation is made possible with community support and with support from California Humanities, a nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit www.calhum.org.

Register to Join the event on Zoom for the Sounds of Liberation launch with Clovice Lewis and find out more about MAC’s Juneteenth Celebration at www.middletownartcenter.org/sol.