We’re coming up on the 3rd year of Juneteenth officially becoming a federal holiday.
You can expect events all over the city celebrating this momentous day but first – you need to make sure you eat!
Weeksville Heritage Center and Black-Owned Brooklyn will be having their second annual Juneteenth Food Festival on June 17 and 18 and it’s gearing up to be one you don’t want to miss.
The Weeksville Heritage Center x Jummy’s Picks Juneteenth Food Festival will feature 28 top-tier food vendors with cuisine representing the American South and other regions across the African Diaspora, as well as a small marketplace with numerous goodies all from Black brands for you to grab. The event will also deliver cultural performances, including an all-day house music set by the Brooklyn-based Soul Summit DJ collective.
The celebration of Juneteenth dates back to 1866 when the holiday was first observed to commemorate June 19, 1865 — when more than 200,000 enslaved Black Texans were informed they were free, two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Reflecting this history, the Juneteenth Food Festival will feature a curated collection of food businesses offering African American delicacies such as barbecue, fried fish, crab boil, red beans and rice, red drinks, red velvet cake, pies and ice cream!
To represent Brooklyn’s diverse Black community, the celebration also offers flavors from regions of Africa and the Caribbean. You can indulge in cuisines representative of both Juneteenth and Caribbean American Heritage Month at this festival – there will be something for everybody. Vendors will have Vegan options available too!
Last year’s festival garnered over 7,000 attendees over two days. The event returns to the grounds of Weeksville Heritage Center, a historic site and cultural center in Central Brooklyn that was one of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America.
The Juneteenth Food Festival vendors have been carefully selected by Black-Owned Brooklyn, a publication that spotlights Black businesses throughout the borough, under their curatorial brand, Jummy’s Picks.
The event will extend onto Buffalo Avenue between St. Mark’s Avenue and Bergen Street on June 17 and June 18 from 12-7 pm.
And now for what you’ve been waiting on, here are some of the vendors you can expect to see at the Weeksville Heritage Center x Jummy’s Picks Juneteenth Food Festival!
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Black Castle by Black Nile – Sliders filled with soul food flavors
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The Crabby Shack – Chesapeake Bay area crab legs, crab rolls and more
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Dept. of Culture – James Beard-nominated Nigerian cooking
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Greedi Vegan – Vegan comfort food drawing on Southern traditions
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Doc’s Cake Shop – Rich, Southern-style desserts
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Abu’s Bakery – Bean pies and other African American desserts
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Breukelen Rub – Classic BBQ with housemade spice blends
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Mac Shack – Inventive mac ‘n cheese creations
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Lakou Cafe – Vegan-friendly Haitian cuisine
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GG’s Fish and Chips – Fried fish and other soul food staples
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Aunts et Uncles – Vegan Caribbean fare
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Brooklyn Sweet Spot – Southern desserts from the South Carolina Lowcountry
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Patsy’s Rum Cake – Caribbean rum cakes made from scratch
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F1RST – Contemporary food for the soul
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Sweet Catch – Seafood and other Southern staples
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Branch Patty – Jamaican-style patties and coco bread
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2 Girls & a Cookshop– Jamaican-inspired tacos
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Fat Fowl – Modern Caribbean cuisine
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Makina Cafe – Veggie-forward food from Eritrea and Ethiopia
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Kitchen Time – Sliders and loaded fries
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The Little Hot Dog Wagon – Hot dogs, vegan sausages and more, with homemade kraut
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Kit an’ Kin – Seasonal Caribbean fare
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Crème & Cocoa Creamery – Caribbean-inspired ice cream and sorbet
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Island Pops – Caribbean ice cream and ice pops
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Brooklyn Tea – Fresh-brewed iced tea
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Stay Press’d – Fresh juices and smoothies
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Brooklyn Brewed Sorrel – Hibiscus-spiced Caribbean sorrel
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Happy Cork– Black-owned wines and spirits
For the full vendor lineup and more information on attending, head to the Weeksville Society website!