The Annapolis Juneteenth Parade & Festival breaks new ground this weekend, with a new route, a new location, an expanded celebration and a new kind of museum.

The Juneteenth Museum Café, a planned celebration of local cooking, opens with a dedication ceremony Thursday morning at 141 West St., followed by an awards gala at Fresh Start Church in Glen Burnie on Friday night.

The parade and festival, however, remain the highlight of the weekend, marking the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Black people in America — in Galveston, Texas — learned they had been emancipated. Although Maryland was also a slave state, emancipation in November 1864 is a far less widely celebrated date.

The parade starts at St. John’s College at 11 a.m. Saturday, and then heads up West Street out to Amos Garrett Boulevard.

At 2 p.m. Saturday, the festival, dubbed Cajune Fest 2025, opens at the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds in Crownsville and runs until 10 p.m. It continues Sunday after the parade and lasts until 10 p.m. Admission is free.

The event includes food, games, exhibitions, fireworks and lots of music. The headliner on Sunday is Kierra Sheard-Kelly, a four-time Grammy-nominated gospel singer.

Here are some other great things happening in the week through June 25.

Remembering Carr’s

3 p.m. Thursday

Way back in 2018, Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley envisioned a concert celebrating connections to Atlantic and Elektra records — both founded by St. John’s students who fell in love with the music of Carr’s Beach in the 1950s.

Now, Annapolis Parks and Recreation is making it happen at Elktonia/Carr’s Beach Heritage Park. It’s a fraction of the land once owned by the founders of Carr’s Beach, a Black beach resort in the days of segregation that drew national music acts.

Performers include Mousey Thompson and the James Brown Experience, Voices of Motown Philly, Stoney Ellis and more. Shuttle services will connect the strip of sand on the Chesapeake Bay with designated parking areas.

The concert will be split over two adjacent locations, the new park and the Ellen Moyer Park across Edgewood Road. The event is free and is part of the city celebration of African American history for Juneteenth.

Summer concert

6 p.m. Friday

Goshen Farm, a museum that celebrates the farm established near Annapolis in 1663, opens its summer concert series.

Cape Tree and Live 11, two neighborhood bands, start the series. Admission is free, although donations are requested. Attendees should bring chairs or blankets to spread on the ground.

Farm fresh

7 a.m.-noon Saturday

The first day of summer also means produce begins its parade through a farmers market.

The Anne Arundel County Farmers’ Market on Riva Road is open year-round, but no time is better than summer for a drop-in.

Admission is free, with produce, prepared food and other products priced individually. The market is also open from 9 a.m. to noon on Sunday.

For a full list of list of area markets, check out the buying guide published online by Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp.

Longest day paddle

6:30 p.m. Saturday

You can spend the longest day of the year paddling Back Creek at the Annapolis Maritime Museum’s Solstice paddle.

Tickets are $60 plus taxes and fees.

The other bridge run

6:30 p.m. Monday

You’ll have to wait until November to run the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, or you could cross the Naval Academy bridge with Peake Social.

The adult sports league is offering a free summer introduction to its Peake Run Club on a 5K route that will start at Chessie’s Wharf, the brewpub in West Annapolis, and then head over the Severn River bridge before looping back.

After the run, enjoy happy hour specials at Chessie’s Wharf and specials from Always Ice Cream.

Book release

6 p.m. Tuesday

Annapolis author Kate Myers is out with her second novel, “Salty.”

It’s a story of estranged sisters thrown together in the Caribbean, a comedy of women similar to “Excavations,” her debut that helped Myers reach the status of best summer read in 2023.

Park Books will host the author at Maryland Hall, where she’ll talk about her work.

Tickets are $29.68, plus taxes and fees. A ticket includes a pre-signed copy of “Salty.”