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LAPLACE — Top Notch Creole Creations’ Juneteenth Festival will include a segment on gun violence awareness. The program starts at noon on Sunday, June 18 at 975 Cambridge Drive in LaPlace. Please wear orange and RSVP to 504-939-2935.

Community member Kita Harry and her mother opened Top Notch Creole Creations to share recipes that have endured the test of time while being passed down through generations of family. The opening of the restaurant in 2022 coincided with Top Notch’s second annual Juneteenth event, celebrating the contributions of the Black community in Creole food, art, gospel music and more.

Harry pledged to revitalize the community in times of hardship by making the Juneteenth festival bigger and better, year after year.

The two-day festival kicks off at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 17 with a jambalaya/pastalaya cook-off and car show in the parking lot of the restaurant. Sunday will feature a pop-up shop, a Juneteenth program beginning at 11 a.m., presentation of the Juneteenth honoree at noon, a stop the violence prayer vigil at 3 p.m., and a comedy show starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets to the comedy show can be purchased at Top Notch Creole Creations Restaurant.

“This is the third annual event, and I’m adding a comedy show, a car show, and a cook-off. Last year we had it with the grand opening of my restaurant, but it goes beyond that. It’s about making the Juneteenth holiday something big, something that we can celebrate the way we celebrate other holidays,” Harry said. “We’ve been granted this holiday for such a significant reason, and I’m really trying to make it something grand in St. John Parish. My main focus this year is making it bigger and better, and we’re going to have everyone come together to learn about the roots of Juneteenth. That way, we can appreciate how far we have come as an African-American community.”