Thousands eat, dance, support Crenshaw at Taste of Soul



TasteofSoul

 

Monte Hayes,71, had only to walk down the street from his home to check out the Taste of Soul festival for the very first time.

“To me it means, all people of all races are here and it’s like, ‘taste me, I’m good,’” he said.

The 9th annual celebration was held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and took over a mile of Crenshaw Boulevard from Stocker Avenue to Rodeo Road, where families and friends from all walks of life danced in the street. Attracting 350,000 people this year, the street festival presented by The Sentinel newspaper bills itself as L.A.’s largest.

Signature South L.A. restaurants provided the “tastes,” including What the Funnel, Dulan’s on Crenshaw, Southern Girl Desserts, Post and Beam and Yo Halal’s popcorn.

The festival also brings out a unique blend of soulful sounds and artists each year. This time, the lineup featured Tyrese, Angie Fisher, AKNU, Michelle Williams and many other performers across four main stages, along with young artists featured on the “StarQuest” stage. [Read more…]

Taste of Soul 2011



It was shoulder to shoulder on Crenshaw Boulevard Saturday for the annual Taste of Soul street festival. The live entertainment, food vendors, local artists’ crafts, and non-profit organizations drew crowds of people.

The annual mid-October festival, presented by the Los Angeles Sentinel shuts down a stretch of Crenshaw Boulevard from MLK Boulevard to Rodeo Road for 10 hours, with the festivities running from 9 am to 6 pm.

imageAt some points during the day, the street was so packed with people that festival-goers could only inch along at a snail’s pace, causing a traffic jam in the pedestrian-only street. The street was lined with food vendors selling Mississippi and Louisiana style chicken and fish, Cajun and New Orleans food and peach cobblers, pralines and sweet potato pie.

Cool sounds of jazz music wafted in the air, as people tried to make their way to the food stands in search of some good soul food.

Despite the multitude of choices, there wasn’t enough food to feed this crowd. For a good part of the day, the lines at most food stalls averaged 30 minutes and more.

The staff of Intersections South LA was at the festival all day, where we had the opportunity to meet and greet many members of our community for the first time, as well as other friends and longtime supporters who stopped by our table to say hi.

image Many people stopped by the Intersections South LA table to record their stories, learn more about our news website, sign up for our weekly newsletter and to contribute to Intersections South LA.

If you missed us at our table and would like to write for our website or contribute story ideas, please email us at [email protected].

A Taste of Soul



The 4th annual Taste of Soul L.A. Festival will take place on Crenshaw Boulevard on October 17, 2009. Danny Bakewell, the Publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Sentinel, and the man who founded the event, talked to Annenberg Radio News host Brittany Knotts about what it means to the community to have such a large, free event.

A Taste of Soul Festival