For 22 years, Jamican-born Tamara Nisbeth has been working in a kitchen. But it wasn’t until her daughter needed to raise money for a trip to China that the Colorado transplant started focusing on her roots. After successfully raising cash by selling her Jamaican baked-goods, like beef patties (savory turnovers), Nisbeth opened her first restaurant, Reggae Pot Jamaican Grill, in May of 2015 in Colorado Springs. Now, she’s three weeks into her second outpost in Centennial and onto her fourth year at Denver’s Juneteenth Festival.

“Jamaican food, to me, is an experience really,” Nisbeth says. “If you say ‘Jamaica,’ the first thing somebody says is ‘jerk chicken’ or ‘oxtail.’ It’s because we're everywhere on the map.”

And Nisbeth hopes to bring the same experience to Juneteenth. This weekend, Reggae Pot Jamaican’s new food truck will be serving up Nisbeth’s signature jerk pork, jerk chicken, oxtail, beef patties, pineapple upside down cake, and the Jamaican sweet potato pie.

It might be his last year before retiring from the barbeque business, but Gary Moore, the owner of Big G’s Bar-B-Que food truck in Denver, is no stranger to the Juneteenth festival. With six years under his belt, Moore is ready to serve up his favorite plates this weekend.

“I like going. It's a lot of work. When you get done...you don't have to worry about going to sleep. You'll sit down, sleeping,” Moore laughs.

This weekend, Moore hopes to take festival goers back in time with “old school-style” pig-ear sandwiches, hot links, and wraparound hot dogs—food Moore’s mother used to sell. Also on the menu are Moore’s specialty sandwiches like the Mile High Monster, which is a hot link topped with pulled pork and Moore’s signature barbeque sauce. 

“I’m hoping that everyone stops by to give us a try,” Moore says. “If we get you here to try it, you’ll definitely come back."

Inspired by a family full of cooks and the joy of baking, Zyaire and Char’Les started their own dessert company, Little Sistas Treats, at ages of nine and 11 years-old. Now, the young bosses are getting ready to sell their desserts for the first time at Denver’s Juneteenth festival this weekend.

“Most people don't have opportunities like this, you know, it's just very, it's very inspiring to other little girls,” Zyaire says.

For Char’Les, running a business with her sister has helped her feel successful and continue to feel inspired. “If we wouldn't have been doing this, other people wouldn't have been inspired by what we're doing and we wouldn't have been able to make it this far,” she says.

The duo will be serving oreo cheesecake cones, key lime cones, and strawberry cones, which symbolize the Juneteenth colors. 

“We'll have more stuff like rice krispies, cupcakes, cookies, everything. ‘Cause, you know, we don't want to miss out on delicious cookies,” Zyaire says.

Victoria Carodine is a digital content producer for Rocky Mountain PBS. You can be reach her at victoriacarodine@rmpbs.org.

Clarissa Guy is a multimedia journalist for Rocky Mountain PBS. You can contact her at clarissaguy@rmpbs.org.