Children, adults and families are invited to enjoy national parks for free this coming week.

The Vicksburg National Military Park is hosting National Junior Ranger Day event to kick off National Park Week. The celebration will be from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the U.S.S. Cairo Museum.

“The Junior Ranger program encourages America’s youth to explore, learn and protect everything about our National Parks,” ranger Will Wilson said in a press release.

The celebration will include light refreshments, weapon demonstrations, military drills, dress up in uniforms, presentation of junior ranger badges and a tour of the U.S.S. Cairo.

“It’s always a great experience to give opportunities to kids to learn more about the park and more about the National Park Service,” superintendent Bill Justice said.

The junior rangers don’t have to stay at the daylong celebration and are invited to come and go when convenient. There is no set schedule for the events but rangers and volunteers will be at the museum during the day.

The Junior Ranger Day celebration is a free event that is held every year in the over 400 national parks.

“It’s incumbent upon us as park rangers and even as folks who are stewards of national parks to ensure that we create stewards of future generations, and the Junior Ranger program is a great opportunity for us to do that,” ranger Ray Hamel said. “It introduces kids to our particular story and why it’s important, why they should care and how it’s relevant to their lives.”

Hamel said children would get a more fun hands-on experience through Ranger Day instead of an academic study.

“It’s a fun way for families to get their kids involved and pretty much facilitates an interest,” Hamel said.

The next event at the park will be Conversations with a Ranger at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the park’s visitor center auditorium. Light refreshments will be provided.

This month’s program will be entitled “America’s Best Idea,” and those who attend can give their thoughts and opinions on the park. Justice called it a facilitated experience or a conversation and not a time where people are just given information. Hamel said it is good for the rangers and the public to make these connections.

“We’ll talk about the importance of the park, the agency and the ethos or the mandate we have to preserve our special places,” Hamel said. “It’s a chance to establish a dialogue with our constituents because it is after all their park.”

National Park week starts Saturday and goes through Sunday, April 24. Admission to the park is free the entire week.

“This year the National Park Service is celebrating its centennial, National Park Week gives parks an opportunity to showcase what makes them significant, special or unique,” Wilson said in a release. “Vicksburg, the turning point of the American Civil War, is certainly all three.”

Justice encouraged people who want to visit the park frequently after park week to purchase a park pass.