Nearly three miles of Crenshaw Boulevard will shut down to cars and open up to food trucks, gospel choirs and marching bands on Saturday, October 17, as the Taste of Soul Family Festival returns for its 21st year. The free event runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. between Obama Boulevard and Stocker Street, and organizers describe it as Southern California's largest free street festival.
The festival has come a long way from its first run in 2005, when about 25,000 people showed up, according to LAist. Organizers now put annual attendance at roughly 350,000, while Cedars-Sinai has reported a record 500,000-plus attendees in a single year, according to Cedars-Sinai. Danny J. Bakewell Sr., chairman of the festival organization, pitched the idea to then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa after asking why Los Angeles couldn't hold events like those in New Orleans, LAist reports.
A Parade, Gospel Stages and More Than 100 Food Vendors
The day kicks off with a parade featuring marching bands from Dorsey and Crenshaw high schools alongside a local church drill team, per the same account. From there, the festival features live performances spanning gospel to soul, curated by Inglewood radio station KJLH. More than 100 food vendors serve up a range of cuisines along the route, with organizers framing the festival as a genuine economic boost for small businesses across Southern California.
Brian McMillan, who owns The Kobbler King in South Los Angeles, has worked the festival as a vendor for 20 years and calls it his biggest event of the year. He told LAist that customers place cobbler orders after the festival that carry his business through Thanksgiving, adding that Taste of Soul feels like a family reunion. Pamela Bakewell, meanwhile, pointed out the contrast with another major Southern California event, noting that Taste of Soul remains free while Coachella tickets run $500.
Getting There: A Transit Corridor Rebuilt Around the Festival
The festival route now runs along a stretch of Crenshaw Boulevard with its own fairly recent transit history. LA Metro serves as the event's official transit partner, offering direct access via three K Line stations along the corridor — Expo/Crenshaw, Martin Luther King Jr., and Leimert Park — following the light rail's opening in October 2022, according to LA Metro. That line's arrival restored rail transit service to the Crenshaw Corridor for the first time in more than 60 years. The festival's northern boundary also carries its own history: the Los Angeles City Council officially renamed Rodeo Road to President Barack Obama Boulevard in May 2019, a 3.5-mile change that created what the Los Angeles Times described as a presidential row alongside Washington, Adams and Jefferson boulevards.
Free Health Screenings and a Stage Named for a Community Organizer
Beyond the food and music, Taste of Soul offers free health services including blood pressure checks, mammograms, dental exams and eye exams, per LAist. Festival sponsors include Cedars-Sinai, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, and Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital. Cedars-Sinai provides free flu vaccinations and health-navigation services. A separate Children's World zone features activities and sensory-sensitive programming alongside free pediatric dental and vision screenings supplied by St. John's Community Health, as detailed by Secret Los Angeles.
The festival's gospel stage carries its own tribute: it was named in memory of Brenda Marsh-Mitchell, whom the Los Angeles Sentinel celebrated. The festival's partners include Mothers in Action and the Brotherhood Crusade.
A Media-Backed Institution With Deep South L.A. Roots
Taste of Soul is organized by Bakewell Media. CBS2/KCAL9 aired live news coverage, and the festival featured a Radio-Free KJLH stage, according to CBS Los Angeles.
LAist's coverage of the festival comes as the outlet navigates its own funding challenges. Congress voted in 2025 to defund public media, and the outlet now relies entirely on community funding to continue its reporting.
