POTOMAC, MD — The Scotland community of Potomac is expanding its annual Scotland Juneteenth Heritage Festival in 2023, with three days of music and other activities from June 17-19.

The festival will be held at Cabin John Regional Park in Bethesda and the Cabin John Village Mall & Shopping Center in Potomac to benefit restoration and rebuilding efforts at Scotland A.M.E. Zion Church, located at 10902 Seven Locks Road.

The Scotland AME Zion Church has been a center of community for Black congregants since 1924, but its structure was nearly destroyed and left unusable by a flood in 2019. The church and its community partners in Montgomery County have launched a multiphase project to repair and restore the building.

Last November, the church was also burglarized and vandalized. Montgomery County Police said the suspects forced their way into the church on Nov. 25, vandalized property and left the scene.

The annual Scotland Juneteenth Heritage Festival will begin the evening of June 17, with a musical gala at the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Club, and conclude on June 19, with a Freedom Day Concert at the Scotland community from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.