Oak Bluffs is the place to be for the Fourth of July weekend.

That’s always been the case, according to many residents, and now they have one more reason to think so.

This weekend, the community will conduct its First Annual Juneteenth Day of Independence, a Multicultural Celebration. Events include a beach concert Friday and a dance Saturday. Both nights will feature live music, plenty of food and several vats of non-alcoholic ginger beer.

And townspeople are predicting great success.

“This is the first of its kind,” said Myrna Allston, who will provide refreshments. “There’s something for folks to do and get involved in. I’m looking forward to it.”

These events were planned by Bob and Michele Holland, who thought it makes sense to provide activity for the many thousands of guests likely to patronize the town this weekend. The events are sponsored by Pepsi-Cola and the state Department of Health; they are produced by RDM Productions of Roxbury. The events do not allow alcohol or smoking.

Because the Hollands also wanted to celebrate the culture of the town’s African-American guests, they named the events a celebration of Juneteenth. Juneteenth, officially June 19, marks the day when slaves in Galveston, Tex., learned that President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation. News of the proclamation had been slow to spread through the country. The word got to Texas on June 19, 1865 -- two and a half years after the proclamation was signed, giving rise to a long overdue celebration. Today, about 130 cities in the United States have Juneteenth events. In Texas and Oklahoma, Juneteenth is an official state holiday.

“There’s always another side to all the holidays,” said Mrs. Holland, the town’s multicultural coordinator. “On the Fourth of July, we celebrate Independence Day, but it’s also something we celebrate for our independence.”

Mrs. Holland had attempted to plan a Juneteenth celebration in the school, closer to the actual date of the holiday, but the school schedule made this impractical.

By conducting the celebration this weekend, she’s hoping for a high level of participation, even if the celebration is belated. She emphasized that everyone is welcome.

“It’s like having a Christmas party,” she said. “You don’t necessarily have to have it on Christmas Day. But the spirit of the celebration is there and ties in with the ideas.

“This is not a racial thing, although it’s anticipated that there will be a lot of African-American families there. No one is to be excluded. It’s just a beach party. The purpose of everything going on is to accommodate families.”

Here is how events will proceed:

The beach party runs from 4 to 10 p.m. Friday at Inkwell Beach, also known as the Pay Beach. Parking will be available at Waban Park at a rate of $5 per car.

The beach party will feature three performers: Just IV, Oversoul Theater Collective and Freestyle Poetic & Friends. West Indian food and ginger beer will be sold.

On Saturday, a dance at the Oak Bluffs School, on Trade Winds Road, is scheduled from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Admission is $10 per person. Parking is free. Performers will include Taliah, Chemistry and Unique Style. Again, West Indian food and ginger beer will be provided.

Mrs. Allston said she plans to prepare palaw, a dish of rice and chicken and peas. Ginger beer is a lot like ginger ale, only the ginger taste is stronger, said Mrs. Allston, who lives in Oak Bluffs and Boston and is president of the Cottagers.

“It’s something like ginger ale only it’s concentrated,” she said. “It’s hot. Everything in the Caribbean is hot. I’m from the West Indies, so I guess I’ve been making it all my life. It’s delicious.”

Mrs. Holland and others are predicting a successful couple of days, especially if the early part of this week is any indicator.

“The people are here,” Mrs. Holland said on Wednesday afternoon. “I’ve been all morning just trying to get around Circuit avenue. The people are here and coming. I think it should be a nice turnout.”

Asked why the Fourth of July is always so big in Oak Bluffs, Mrs. Holland deferred to her husband Bob, whose family has come to Oak Bluffs for many years.

“It’s always been a big holiday and blacks have been here in large numbers,” said Mr. Holland, who is chairman of the Island’s Million Man Association. “It’s like you come out of hibernation and you want to see what everybody’s been doing all winter.

“A lot of people who come here in the summer, it’s their way of reconnecting. I’m always interested in that particular day, because I’m interested in seeing how people reconnect with each other. It’s like they just have to be here. They’re not really taking vacation yet. It’s just, people have to be here.”