Russellville will celebrate the freedom of slaves this weekend.

The annual Emancipation Proclamation celebration, also known as the Eighth of August, will be Thursday through Sunday. The opening ceremony will be at 6 p.m. Thursday at Bank Street AME Zion Church on Fifth Street.

“Opening ceremonies are always church services,” said Michael Morrow, curator and archivist for the West Kentucky African-American Museum and Research Center.

Activities begin at 3 p.m. Friday with a soul food festival and Mary Ann Fisher blues concert featuring the group Southern Avenue at Sixth and Morgan streets.

The soul food festival will feature fish, ribs, chicken, mutton, barbecue, pizza rolls and more, Morrow said.

“You name it,” he said. “They sell everything.”

A parade will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday beginning on Fifth Street and ending at Hampton Park. Opening ceremonies start at 10 a.m. at the park. There will be softball, dust bowl and horseshoes. A golf tournament will be at Rolling Hills Golf Course at 1600 Pine Tree Court. A block party will be at 9 a.m. at Fifth and Morgan streets.

Various churches will have homecoming celebrations and participants will finish the dust bowl on Sunday, Morrow said.

“That ends the Eighth of August,” he said.

The museum will be open from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday for tours. There will be several exhibits. A new exhibit, “We’ve Come This Far by Faith,” tells of 150 years of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Kentucky Conference. There is a display called “Mary Ann Fisher: Songbird of the South,” which tells the story of the Russellville native who sang backup for legendary singer Ray Charles. “Racial Violence in Logan County: the Rufus Browder Story” tells the story of four men hung in 1908 and the aftermath in the African-American community in Russellville and the region. “The School on the Hill: Knob City School” talks about the segregated school for African-Americans. It features pictures of classes from 1912 to the 1950s when it was integrated. “Fighting for Freedom: From Slaves to Soldiers” is about soldiers who fought in the Civil War. “Alice Dunnigan: From the School House to the White House” discusses the first African-American woman in the White House press corps.

The celebration draws about 3,000 each year, sometimes more depending on what’s going on, Morrow said.

“You celebrate freedom,” he said. “You celebrate the transition from slaves to freedom.”

— Follow features reporter Alyssa Harvey on Twitter @bgdailynews.com or visit bgdailynews.com.

— Editor’s note: The initially published version of this story included an incorrect start time for the parade Saturday. The story has been updated to reflect the accurate time.