*A former Taste of Soul vendor is raising a question that might make some small-business owners think twice before signing up for the popular Los Angeles festival: Where’s the profit?
In a video, the woman says participating in the 2024 Taste of Soul festival turned into an expensive business lesson.
According to her account, she spent approximately $10,000 preparing for the event but generated only about $1,000 in sales.
That’s a whole lot of preparation for a whole lot of disappointment.
Now, following the 2026 festival, she’s asking other vendors to speak up about their experiences. And she’s not interested in hearing who merely broke even.
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Taste of Soul Vendor Says the Numbers Didn’t Add Up
“I’m very curious to know who actually profited this year at the Taste of Soul,” she says in the video. “Not broke even. Who actually made money?”
The woman explains that her own experience two years earlier convinced her never to participate again.
“We made zero dollars. It was a major loss,” she says.
She estimates that her business spent roughly $10,000 on rental trucks, vehicles, employees, insurance and supplies needed to prepare for the festival’s large crowds.
But the anticipated sales never materialized.
“I think we barely made a thousand dollars in sales,” she recalls, describing the outcome as dismal compared with her investment.
She says the business didn’t even generate enough revenue to cover its booth rental.
And as any small-business owner knows, a packed event doesn’t necessarily mean a packed cash register.
Big Crowds Don’t Always Mean Big Profits
Taste of Soul remains one of Los Angeles’ signature celebrations of Black culture, food, music and entrepreneurship.
As EURweb reported in its coverage of the October 17 festival, the annual gathering brought large crowds to Crenshaw Boulevard for live entertainment, food and shopping.
The 2026 event featured more than 200 vendors, giving local entrepreneurs an opportunity to showcase their products and connect with potential customers.
But the former vendor’s account raises a different question: How much of that exposure actually translates into profit?
For food businesses, participation can involve substantial upfront expenses, including ingredients, transportation, staffing, equipment and insurance.
A vendor can generate thousands of dollars in sales and still lose money once those expenses are deducted.
The woman’s reported financial figures have not been independently verified, and her experience does not establish whether other Taste of Soul vendors made or lost money.
Former Vendor Challenges 2026 Participants
Despite her disappointing experience, the woman says people continue encouraging her to return to Taste of Soul.
Her answer? Not happening.
“It was not beneficial for us as a business at all,” she says. “It was actually a waste of time.”
Rather than simply criticizing the festival, she’s inviting vendors who participated in 2026, or previous years, to share whether the experience was financially worthwhile.
Some businesses may consider the exposure, networking opportunities and potential future customers worth the investment. Others may find that the expenses outweigh the benefits.
And that’s the conversation this former vendor wants to have.
Because when the music stops, the crowds disappear and the tents come down, somebody still has to balance the books.
Watch the video above and if you’ve participated in Taste of Soul as a vendor, did you actually make a profit? Respond to https://www.facebook.com/reel/1421613816809955
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