For Immediate Release
‘TASTE OF A TASTE OF SOUL’ TO DEBUT AS PART OF THE
BET EXPERIENCE AT L.A. LIVE JUNE 28-30
Bakewell Media Partners with BET and AEG
To Bring City’s Most Popular Food Event to Downtown Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES – (April 17, 2013) – The BET Experience at L.A. LIVE just got a little tastier with the addition of ‘Taste of A Taste of Soul’. Everyone is encouraged to bring their appetites to the event as Bakewell Media has struck a deal with BET and AEG to bring a ‘taste’ of its blockbuster food festival, Taste of Soul, to the BET Experience at L.A. LIVE, June 28-30, 2013. A variety of chefs and restaurants will be onsite to share their culinary delights with attendees hoping to sample a selection of main dishes, sides, desserts and heart-healthy foods prepared by local food vendors during the three-day event filled with concerts, educational seminars, VIP events, after-parties and the BET Awards.
“We wanted to be able to showcase African American foods during the BET Experience,” said Tom Reynolds, BET’s Vice President of Business Development & Strategy. “Our collaboration with Danny Bakewell, Sr. and Bakewell Media affords BET Experience at L.A. LIVE participants the opportunity to taste delicious cuisines from a variety of African American restaurants located in the Los Angeles area. This is not only a treat for those locally, but also for those who are coming in from all over the country who want to try regional twists on dishes that they know and love—or those they want to try for the first time.”
Taste of A Taste of Soul will be located in the Fan Festival area of the BET Experience at L.A. LIVE. In addition to the over 50 purveyors that will be selling foods from everything such as red beans and rice and jerked and fried chicken to pecan pies and peach cobblers, Taste of Taste of Soul stage will feature cooking demonstrations by top LA chefs and food competitions. Live music performances with major artists and StarQuest winners from 2012’s Taste of Soul are also scheduled.
“I believe that as African American businesses we need to collaborate as often as possible with each other,” says Danny J. Bakewell, Sr., Founder/Creator of Taste of Soul and President/CEO of Bakewell Media. “We need to develop strategic alliances that benefit each of us and our businesses individually and also help strengthen our community collectively. The partnership of Taste of Soul and the Taste Of Soul Nation alongside BET and its worldwide fan base is a win-win for everyone–for the food vendors and other businesses that are a part of the Taste of Soul, for our community and for BET and the BET Experience because it brings the local fan base of Taste of Soul together with the BET’s national fan base–all to celebrate the Black Experience and to have a good time in an atmosphere of love, peace and togetherness. I applaud AEG for hosting this event along with BET. Other than the Taste of Soul, this will probably be one of the largest gatherings of Black businesses and economic empowerment for Black businesses in Los Angeles. This will certainly be the largest gathering of Black businesses in downtown Los Angeles in the history of this city.”
“From the moment we began planning the BET Experience with our partners at BET, we knew that to create a truly authentic cultural experience for our guests, food would be a critical component as we highlight the positive aspects of African American life and our community,” said Sean Dee, Chief Brand Officer, AEG Live. “Without a doubt, our partnership with Danny and Bakewell Media was the one and only way to proceed to create L.A.’s one of a kind food experience within the Bet Experience in L.A. LIVE. There is nobody better to produce this one of a kind food experience in an atmosphere of respect, peace, pride and pleasure than Danny and his organization.”
Taste of A Taste of Soul will operate from 12 noon – 6:00pm on Friday, 10 am – 6:00pm on Saturday and 10:00am – 1:00pm Sunday, June 28-30th.
Interested vendors who want to be a part of the “Taste” of Taste of Soul should call 323-299-3800. Online vendor applications are available at www.tasteofsoulla.org.
About BET Experience at L.A. LIVE:
The BET Experience is an exciting weekend consisting of concerts from A-list talent at STAPLES Center, Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE and Club Nokia, the BET Film Festival, Fan Festival, live tapings of “106 & PARK”, The BET GRAMMY® Museum exhibit, Music Matters Stage, BET Revealed Seminars and the BET Awards. For the first time ever, tickets to the BET Awards show are available to the public through VIP ticket packages. For more information and to purchase concert tickets and VIP packages visit www.BETExperience.com.
About BET Networks
BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation’s leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks – BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.
About BET Awards?
The BET AWARDS is one of the most watched award shows on cable television according to the Nielsen Company. The BET AWARDS franchise remains as the #1 program in cable TV history among African-Americans, and it is BET’s #1 telecast every year. It recognizes the triumphs and successes of artists, entertainers, and athletes in a variety of categories.
About AEG
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or is affiliated with a collection of companies including more than 100 of the world’s preeminent facilities such as STAPLES Center (Los Angeles), The Home Depot Center (Carson, CA), Best Buy Theater (Times Square, New York), Sprint Center, (Kansas City), Rose Garden Arena (Portland), Target Center (Minneapolis), Mercedes-Benz Arena (Shanghai, China), MasterCard Center (Beijing, China), O2 World Hamburg, Allphones Arena (Sydney, Australia), Ericsson Globe Arena (Stockholm, Sweden), O2 World Arena (Berlin, Germany) and The O2 arena and entertainment district (London, England), which are all part of the portfolio of AEG Facilities. Developed by AEG, L.A. LIVE is a 4 million square foot / $2.5 billion downtown Los Angeles sports, residential & entertainment district featuring Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE; Club Nokia; a 54-story, 1001-room convention “headquarters” destination; along with entertainment, restaurant and office space that officially opened in 2010.
AEG Live, the company’s live-entertainment division, is the world’s second largest concert promotion and touring company, and is comprised of touring, festival, exhibition, broadcast, merchandise and special event divisions with fifteen regional offices. AEG Global Partnerships, a division responsible for worldwide sales and servicing of sponsorships naming rights and other strategic partnerships. In 2010, AEG launched its AEG 1EARTH environmental program with the announcement of 2020 environmental goals and the release of the industry’s first sustainability report. And in 2011, AEG introduced AXS Ticketing, the first phase of its new entertainment platform serving as the company’s primary consumer brand, which also will feature a mobile service as well as a video content service now in development. For additional information, visit www.aegworldwide.com.
About Taste of Soul
In seven years Taste of Soul has become the best attended and most popular family festival in all of Southern California. In 2012, more than 300,000 people attended the one-day festival. Event-goers indulge in the culinary delights of select food vendors at this one of a kind food exhibition. “Taste of Soul was created to highlight the positive aspects of African American life and to encourage the enjoyment, respect and appreciation of our community and each other in an atmosphere of respect, peace, pride and pleasure.” Danny J. Bakewell, Sr., Founder/Creator.
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PR Contacts:
BET Experience:
Ginger Campbell
SNAP Productions
323.933.4155
Gwen Priestley
323.972.3268
BET Networks:
Marcy Polanco
212-975-4048
Zabrina Horton
310-481-3737
