San Francisco 2018 Juneteenth Festival

Posted on by Egusiwithlattes

This past June I had a chance to go to the Juneteenth Festival in San Francisco. The holiday, which is on June 19th, marks the moment that all African Americans held as slaves in the United States were informed that they were free. This historic event took place in Texas about two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. It is not recognized as a national holiday yet but it is considered one of the oldest celebrations of the end of slavery.

This year was the 68th celebration in the city of San Francisco. I had missed the parade, arriving just in time to see catch one of the cowboys walking his horse into his trailer. 🙁 I did however get to enjoy some of the festivities afterward. There was a car show, music, dancing and a good number of food vendors. 🙂 Several businesses also set up booths to sell their wares. I got a nice skirt with matching head-tie from Lola’s African Apparel (lolasafricanapparel.com).

It was a good time. I took several photos but I was not familiar with the camera I was using. So half of my pictures came out blurry.  Here are some of the good ones.

San Francisco Juneteenth Festival 2018
A cook preparing food at the booth for Mi Granny’s Kitchen. (migrannys.com) Afro-Caribbean caterer in the Bay. The team doesn’t have a restaurant yet but they have set up booths at festivals. Their meat pie was tasty. Next time I will try their jollof rice plate.
San Francisco Juneteenth Festival 2018
B.B.Q. booth at the festival. I did not purchase a plate but it certainly smelled delicious.
San Francisco Juneteenth Festival 2018
Booths at the festival.
San Francisco Juneteenth Festival 2018
Cacao Milk Bar booth. When I first saw this booth I thought they were just selling chicken & waffles. Later, while reviewing the photos, I realized that they were selling chicken & waffle cupcakes! You can see what they look like on their Instagram page @cacaomilkbar.
San Francisco Juneteenth Festival 2018
Fashion boutique at the festival. There where several businesses selling African clothing. I took a few photos of my favorites but unfortunately those photos came out blurry. I will have to share better photos when I purchase from them again.

I hope I will be able to attend next year and see the parade. Next time I will test my camera settings in advance so I can share more of it with you. 🙂

 

 

2 thoughts on “San Francisco 2018 Juneteenth Festival”

  1. I like open air markets and festivals with very few people. lol.. Easy to walk around, get good pictures, see all the options around you.. Good for me, bad for business I guess.. Sorry about the blurry pictures and camera. I enjoyed reading the post and looking through the photos. Felt like I was there…

    1. Thanks. I agree, open air markets are best when I have room to walk freely. Although when there is a lot of people I can easily look at the items in a booth without feeling pressured to buy something. I’m happy that you like the pictures 🙂

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