Soul of the Southside Festival

04/15/2026

VISUAL ARTISTS

We’re now accepting applications for the
Southside We Outside Art Fair at this year’s SOTS celebration.

Sell your work. Be in community. Be outside.

Photographers, mixed media artist, sculptors, painters, fine art artist can apply at the link in bio
or by visiting www.soulofthesouthside.com/get-involved

04/07/2026

🖤 Vending inquiries are now OPEN for the SOTS Black-Owned Marketplace! 🖤

This isn’t an open application because it’s a curated market built with intention, care, and community in mind.

Want to be considered?

Step 1 — Reach out
Email [email protected]
Include your business name, what you offer + links/photos of your work

Step 2 — We review + curate
Every inquiry is personally reviewed as we build a marketplace rooted in variety, quality, and experience

Interested? Learn more via the link in bio or visit soulofthesouthside.com/vending

03/25/2026

Feed the block. Food truck applications are open for Soul of the Southside · Juneteenth 2026. Bring your flavors to Lake Street & Minnehaha Ave this June 19th. Apply at soulofthesouthside.com/get-involved or at the link in our bio

03/23/2026

If you’ve been waiting for your moment, this is it! Applications to perform at the 5th annual Soul of the Southside are officially open. Apply at the link in bio.

www.SoulOfTheSouthside.com/get-involved

11/20/2025

Give to the Max Day is here.
Soul of the Southside is Black-led cultural infrastructure, and today, we’re raising $10,000 to keep this work free, accessible, and rooted in community power.

If Soul of the Southside has ever made you feel proud, seen, safe, or connected then today is your day to show love back.

Give now. Share this. Stand with us.
https://www.givemn.org/story/SOTS



Photos by

11/19/2025

Soul of the Southside feels different because the community makes it different.
Every year, we witness moments you can’t manufacture

🖤 A grandmother dancing with her grandbaby in the middle of the street
🖤 A first-time vendor selling out before 3:00pm
🖤 A healer guiding a circle of Black women breathing together
🖤 A drummer teaching a kid their first rhythm
🖤 A poet crying after their set because it was the first time they felt truly seen

These moments aren’t “programming.”
They are offerings created by us, for us.

In the last 5 years, Soul of the Southside has become a place where hundreds of Black creatives, storytellers, entrepreneurs, healers, and cultural workers can show up in their full brilliance and be valued for it.
Over 200+ Black creatives and businesses have been paid, supported, uplifted, and centered through SOTS.

Today’s post isn’t about stats.
It’s about the feeling of Soul of the Southside and the way we show up for each other, invest in each other, and celebrate each other.

On Nov 20, we aim to raise $10,000 to keep this ecosystem thriving.
Not for the day but for the people.

Donate early: https://www.givemn.org/story/SOTS

Photos by at SOTS 2025

11/18/2025

Soul of the Southside is not an event. It is Black-led cultural infrastructure.

For five years, we have been building a place where Blackness is centered, where our stories are protected, and where our creativity strengthens a whole community.

Soul of the Southside is a closed-loop ecosystem on East Lake and Minnehaha Ave. We’ve reclaimed space where culture, joy, and resources stay in community, not extracted from it.

In that time, we have created dignified, paid opportunities for 200+ Black artists, creators, healers, storytellers, vendors, media makers, and community safety leaders. And proving that Black joy is not just an emotion, it is an economic strategy.

On Wednesday, we kick off Give to the Max Day with the goal to raise $10,000 to continue building this infrastructure so our people have what we deserve:

🖤 Spaces that remember us
🖤 Work that values us
🖤 Celebration that heals us
🖤 Legacy that outlives us

We’ll be sharing more stories, impact, and ways to support over the next 3 days.

If you’re new here, welcome home.
If you’ve been with us, thank you for building with us.
We are just getting started.

This is circulation, not scarcity.
This is legacy, not a one-day event.

📌 Learn more or give early:
https://www.givemn.org/story/SOTS

10/22/2025

10/22/2025

*New Matching Grant Alert*
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Over 650 donors have given more than $56,000—we’ve officially hit 75% of our goal! 🎉

Now we need your help for the final stretch. We have less than 10 days to reach our goal and secure The Hook & Ladder’s future.

The Hook isn’t just a venue—it’s a community of people who show up for one another. One of the amazing events we’re proud to host each year is the Soul of the Southside Juneteenth Celebration.

And here’s some unbelievable news: Soul of the Southside Festival is giving $1,000 as a matching grant to help us finish strong! That means your donation is doubled today. 💥

Let’s see if we can get 20 donations today and keep this momentum going!

Donate Now ➜ https://www.givemn.org/organization/Firehouse-Performing-Arts-Center

09/30/2025

SOTS is pulling up to Saturday October 18th and Sunday the 19th at The . Come step into a world where we see possibilities and color. Where what’s imagined becomes reality and where we are the superheroes we’ve been looking for.

If you’ve never been, ConFluence is a community organized convention, celebrating art, fandoms, sci-fi, futurism, and fantasy intentionally centered on content by and for Black people and the greater community.

Tickets are on sale now. See you soon.

06/27/2025

Find what liberates you and do that! There is power in your joy.

Soul of the Southside 2025



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