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Thali

Next: 19 Jun 2027

Juneteenth

Barbecue and red food and drink mark the end of slavery in the United States.

Juneteenth Emancipation Day Celebration, June 19, 1900, Texas.
Photo: Mrs. Charles Stephenson (Grace Murray), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

What is eaten for Juneteenth

Juneteenth remembers 19 June 1865, when enslaved people in Texas were told they were free. It has been kept by Black Texans ever since with cookouts, and barbecue is the centre of the table. Red is the colour of the day. Red drinks such as hibiscus tea and strawberry soda, watermelon and red velvet cake are served. Many trace the colour to the hibiscus and kola nut drinks of West Africa, and it also stands for the blood and endurance of those who were enslaved.

The dishes

Barbecue in the United StatesThe cookout is the heart of the day.Hibiscus teaA red drink with roots in West Africa.Red velvet cakeThe red dessert.Potato saladOn every cookout table.

Also part of it, and being written: Watermelon (Red and in season in June.).

About this page

Written by the Thali desk with AI assistance. Background: "Juneteenth" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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