On Saturday, Oct. 19, Taste of Soul Family Festival celebrated year 19 of providing millions of attendees with the best cultural experience in ethnic foods, art, street vendors, music performances, and overall family fun at one of the largest one-day street festivals in the country.
On Tuesday, Oct. 29, the Taste of Soul organizers invited over 300 festival vendors to a special appreciation reception at The Beehive in South L.A, CA, sponsored by Wells Fargo, thanking them for their entrepreneurial spirit and economic contribution to the festival.
“The vendors are the heart and soul of the festival. They bring such a financial boost to our community of attendees,” said Taste of Soul project manager, Amira Elswify.
Elswify, along with the TOS staff, met with vendors months before the festival, which included procedure-based meetings prior to the event.
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“During that time period, we developed a bond with the vendors. We see their efforts and we want them to be successful,” she said.
The vendors entered the elegant campus where servers offered a soulful cuisine of appetizing offerings prepared by Mel’s Fish Shack. As they sat together enjoying the food, they shared stories of their festival accomplishments and networked.
According to Bakewell Media and L.A. Sentinel Executive Vice President Brandi Bakewell, the appreciation reception provides the Taste of Soul staff an opportunity to thank the vendors for their share of contributing to the economic revitalization of the Black community.
“This is one of our favorite events in the Taste of Soul season because we have an opportunity to thank all of you. Without your popcorn, your cheesecake, your lobster, mac n cheese, [the festival] wouldn’t happen,” said Bakewell.
Two vendors gave testimonials about their experiences. “I first want to thank the Bakewell family for having us all. Give us our big day on their stage and giving us an opportunity to highlight and showcases our businesses in an event that they put together for us,” said returning vendor, Katrina Butts, owner of K. Michelle’s Catering.
Oliver Jermaine, Superior Crack Seasoning, shared his experience as a first-time vendor. “This was the first time I had to buy a tent for any reason. I make the world’s best spices, and I would sell out of my trunk, he said.
Jermaine shared that while he usually sells out of 13 mom & pop and butcher stores, his margin of profit at the festival was better than he expected. “I 4X-ed the vendor fees and that made it all worth it to me.”
Sentinel Vice President Nicole Williams thanked the vendors, saying, “You should be proud of yourselves. You are a part of history. This is our 19th annual Taste of Soul. We are the largest free one-day street festival on the West coast.”
Although the festival is free, Williams mentioned how vital the sponsor’s role is in providing financial support as she introduced Mario Holton, Wells Fargo vice president of Philanthropy & Community Impact for the Southern California region. Wells Fargo was the sponsor of the appreciation reception.
Holton shared that the company appreciates the enormous impact the festival has on the community.
“You don’t have a seat at the table, you’re probably on the menu. So, we want to thank the Bakewells and Taste of Soul for creating the seats at the table for all of us, and for having something positive to do in our community,” said Holton.
Each year, Holton leads a panel discussion of financial experts to help share vital information to the vendors.
“Tonight, we just plan to provide the small business owners with the resources that they need by bringing all the CDFs and small business development centers here to provide support in the area of financial literacy,” he said.
The panelists included Chaz Pringle (Marketing/PR consultant), Effie Turnbull-Sanders (University of Southern California), China Naylor (PCR Business Finance), Robert Lewis (BCIF), Jon Kinnard (Vermont Slauson Economic Development Corporation), Marlyn Lainez (Wells Fargo Small Business Banker), and Claudia Carrillo (Wells Fargo Merchant Services.)
The panel shared various tools on financial literacy with the vendors on. Spikes of PCR Business Finance explained her efforts in supporting the vendors at the Taste of Soul event.
“The last three years just making sure that the vendors are aware that there are resources to help them through their challenges, and then also just to partner with them through their success as well,” she said.
“Taste of Soul is just such a big cultural icon in our community; one of the few things that we actually have, that we own, that we run in our own community that’s just no violence and promotes positivity,” added Holton.
Vendor Rhonda Ray expressed pride in the partnership with Taste of Soul.
“We are so proud to partner with the Taste of Soul. Danny, we thank you. It was great. It was amazing. We have over 25 small businesses, Black owned businesses in our collective in Afro City, and we just had a great time sharing everything with the festival community,” she said.
Crystal, of Soull Good Eats, appreciated the feeling of security, community, and making a financial profit.
“I’m gonna have two booths next year. Maybe three. We’re entertaining, we have family, we have togetherness, all in one space, and we get to highlight and showcase our businesses to people that would have never seen us before. We have a space on the internet, but this is better than the internet,” she said.
Vendors were given special Taste of Soul festival gift bags filled with festival t-shirts and gifts from various doners.
