FAITH — The Faith Fourth of July will host an unplanned soft opening Thursday night with the “Latin and Hispanic Night,” an announcement that spawned surprise and confusion online.

Faith Mayor Randall Barger, who also serves on the Fourth of July board, said that both the event and the theme were brought to the organizers by the company, Magic Midway, who was originally supposed to be holding an event in Thomasville this week. The event in Thomasville fell through, however, so the company was able to set up the rides early and asked the organizers if they could hold a soft opening.

The Latin and Hispanic Night idea also came from the company, said Barger. A significant percentage of Magic Midway’s employees are Hispanic along with the owner and their family, so the company wanted to host an event that offered them a special opportunity.

The event spawned confusion online due to the unexpected nature of the post and how quickly it was taken down. Several people online expressed concerns about the possibility that the event was an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement operation due to the current political atmosphere and conversations that have surrounded the event and town’s history. Barger said the post was taken down because the comments on the post had gone off-topic from the event itself.

The soft opening begins at 6 p.m. and lasts until 10 p.m.