More than 50 vendors will line the paths of Wright Park in Tacoma this Saturday for the Bite of Black Business, a free, all-day celebration of Black-owned enterprises that runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and features food trucks, live music, local art and jewelry, and a kids zone. This year's edition carries a back-to-school theme, with organizers adding a giveaway of school supplies for families heading into the new academic year.
The event is hosted by The New Generation 2.0, a nonprofit dedicated to uplifting the African American community in Tacoma, according to The News Tribune. Vendors this year include Fantastic Smoothies and The Cookie Clubhouse among the food offerings, alongside sellers of local art, jewelry and other goods, per the same report. The nonprofit was co-founded by Erin Sarvis and community organizer Cory Le, who launched the Bite of Black Business on Juneteenth 2020 amid the summer's nationwide reckoning over racial justice, according to The Russell Family Foundation.
A Festival Built On Economic Empowerment
The market format was designed from the start to promote financial empowerment and help build Black generational wealth in Tacoma, the foundation notes. It has since grown well beyond Pierce County: in May 2021, organizers expanded the concept to Seattle's Gas Works Park, drawing more than 70 Black-owned vendors, according to KING 5 News. Le told the station that the recurring market format gave vendor families predictable monthly income and a chance to build community networks.
The timing is no accident — Saturday's gathering falls within National Black Business Month, an annual August observance launched in 2004 by historian John William Templeton and engineer Frederick E. Jordan Sr. after the pair encountered systemic obstacles securing startup financing for Black-owned enterprises, according to America250.
The Wealth Gap Behind The Vendor Tables
The festival's economic-empowerment framing reflects real disparities documented in Tacoma. Black or African American residents make up 10.7% of the city's roughly 223,700 people as of 2024, per U.S. Census Bureau estimates. A city-commissioned report from Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity found that Black homeownership in Tacoma steadily declined from 1990 to 2020, with Black mortgage applicants facing a 14% lower approval rate than white applicants in 2020 — underscoring why business ownership has become an alternative pathway to building wealth when homeownership access remains uneven. Countywide, Census Bureau data show Pierce County had 3,529 minority-owned employer firms out of 15,514 total employer firms in 2023, roughly 22.7% of local employer businesses.
A Historic Park As The Backdrop
Wright Park itself adds another layer of local history to Saturday's gathering. The 27-acre downtown arboretum was established in 1886 after land was donated by Tacoma Land Company president Charles B. Wright, and it now hosts more than 600 mature trees across 145 species, according to Metro Parks Tacoma. The park is a Level 1 “Signature Park” within the Metro Parks system and sits on the National Register of Historic Places. Its centerpiece, the W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory, was built in 1908 and houses a 12-sided glass dome along with a permanent collection of more than 500 exotic plant species.
The park has also been the site of recent public-safety concerns. In July, Tacoma Police responded after a teenager was wounded in what investigators suspected was an accidental self-inflicted shooting during an evening gathering at Wright Park, as previously reported by Hoodline. City officials have continued balancing violence-reduction strategies with community-based youth programming in public spaces even as outdoor gatherings like Saturday's festival move forward.
Saturday's Bite of Black Business is free to attend, with organizers offering discounted booth space for vendors and free participation areas for youth and nonprofit community services. Between the food trucks, live music, kids zone and school-supply giveaway, organizers are positioning the day as both a celebration and a practical resource stop for families in the neighborhood surrounding Wright Park.
