Food from the Soul festival, a celebration of Black and brown culture, heads to Tampa this weekend

By Kyla Fields on Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 4:56 pm

The first rendition of what is hopefully an annual foodie festival heads to downtown Tampa this weekend.

Perry Harvey Sr. Park, located at 1000 E Harrison St., is the host of the first annual Food From the Soul festival, happening from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23. Food From the Soul promises “entertainment and ethnic cuisine from people of color,” in the form of dozens of Florida-based businesses, restaurants and pop-ups, a foodie competition, a spread of local vendors and live entertainment.

In addition to dishing eats to festival goers, vendors can also enter an overarching, yet friendly, “food fight” competition to see which dishes rank supreme in each category (and yes, this writer is a judge).

General admission tickets run for $25 each, but attendees will pay anywhere from $1-$3 for a sample plate of food from any vendor that piques their appetite. Kids ages 17 and under can attend Food From the Soul for $10. VIP tickets are also available for $125 and include exclusive samples from a few local restaurants and businesses, free drinks and access to a VIP-only bar. All ticketing tiers can be browsed directly on foodfromthesoulfestival.com.

Festival organizer Kimberly Jackson—founder of Tampa-based PR and event consulting company KVJINC—made it a point to represent cuisines from a variety of Black and brown cultures around the globe, from African and African American to Caribbean, Latin American and Asian. Just a few of the local businesses that will pop up at this weekend’s festival—whether they’re just vending, competing or both— include Orlando-based Juanitos Pastelillos Y Mas, Asher Amen African Cafe, Steaming Pots, Take A Bao, Two Grandma’s Soul Food, ChefonPoint, Trini Guy Grilling, Saffron’s Gourmet Sauces and South Carolina-based Country Boy Cooking.

Jackson tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that she first got the idea for the festival after realizing that a majority of the people she interacted with for work-related events weren’t familiar with any local businesses that made African, Hispanic or any other cuisine that falls on the margins of common American fare. “I would organize public forums and events in different neighborhoods throughout Tampa and always wanted the region’s culture represented in the catering. At that moment I realized a lot of folks weren’t aware of any Black or brown caterers local to Tampa—and I wanted to change that,” Jackson says.

“When Black and Brown people start our businesses, we don’t have the funding to get a PR person or access to capital and funding like our white counterparts, so this festival is an opportunity for these folks to get their names out there,” Jackson continues. “As a first year festival we’re just going to see what works and what doesn’t and will hopefully be able to scale up in 2024.”

Food From the Soul was supposed to happen earlier this year, but delays and other factors caused it to be pushed back until this weekend.

For the latest information on the first annual Food From the Soul festival, head to its Instagram at @foodfromthesoulfestival or Facebook at @Food-from-the-Soul.