Soul of the Southside - Juneteenth Festival
A nonprofit fundraiser supporting
Firehouse Performing Arts CenterInvest in a Black-led festival that fuels artists, healing and community wealth.
$400
raised by 6 people
$10,000 goal
Invest in a Black-Led Cultural Anchor on Give to the Max Day
Soul of the Southside (SOTS) Festival is a fiscally sponsored project of Firehouse Performing Arts Center (The Hook & Ladder Theater) and is 100% Black-founded, Black-led, and community powered.
Created and curated by Fancy Lanier-Duncan and Emmanuel Duncan, founders of The Legacy Building, Soul of the Southside is a free Juneteenth festival at East Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue that centers Black joy, creativity, healing, and economic power in South Minneapolis along one of the oldest and most historically significant Black cultural corridors in the state.
Why Soul of the Southside Exists:
Because Black joy is an economic strategy.
Because our stories deserve a stage.
Because South Minneapolis deserves investments that protect culture, not erase it.
Because when we fund Black artists, entrepreneurs, healers, and youth, we are building community wealth that lasts generations.
Our Impact, By the Numbers:
Over the past 4 years, Soul of the Southside has:
Supported Black Creative Labor
Paid 145+ Black musicians, DJs, dancers, poets, and performers
Featured 50+ visual and multidisciplinary artists
Created dignified work opportunities for Black creatives across genres
Live Music at The Hook and Ladder SOTS 2025
Art Market and community mural SOTS 2025
Strengthened the Black Creative Economy
Soul of the Southside has grown into a cultural and economic engine on East Lake Street.
Expanded from 8 Black-owned vendors in 2022 to 30+ in 2025
Partnered with Black-owned food trucks and culinary entrepreneurs
Hired Black-led production, media, wellness, and safety teams
Kept resources circulating locally and not extracted
This festival functions as a closed-loop economic ecosystem where money, culture, and opportunity stay in community.
Vendor Reflections and feedback from SOTS 2025
Yoga, Sound Bath, Free massage and Drum and Dance Cypher at SOTS 2025Expanded Black Healing & Wellness
Hired trained Black wellness practitioners in movement, meditation, bodywork, and mental health
Offered free healing experiences for all ages
Embedded wellness as a core part of Black cultural celebration
Powered by Community, Not Policing
Paid Black community safety teams
Centered care, presence, and harm reduction instead of over-policing
Prioritized a safe, joyful, community-led environment
Invest in a Black-led festival that fuels artists, healing, and community wealth.
A True Family Celebration
Youth art-making, reading circles, drumming, and creative play
A multigenerational space where grandparents, parents, and children gather
A celebration rooted in Black joy, love, and legacy
Always Free. Always Black-Led.
No tickets. No barriers. No dilution of culture.
What We Pour Back Into Community Each Year
Every dollar raised goes directly into:
Paying Black artists and performers dignified rates
Supporting Black-owned vendors and food businesses
Hiring Black media, production, and creative teams
Funding Black healing and wellness practitioners
Ensuring free access for families across South Minneapolis
This is circulation, not extraction. This is legacy, not a one-day event.
Your Gift Has Direct Impact
Your contribution helps us:
Empower more Black artists, healers, and cultural workers
Expand youth and family programming
Offer additional creative and wellness activations
Support more Black vendors and food trucks
Strengthen community-led safety efforts
Grow year-round Black arts programming through The Legacy Building
✨ Your gift fuels Black culture, healing, and community wealth. ✨
Soul of the Southside is more than a festival. It is a homecoming, a healing space, and a commitment to our ancestors and our future.
Donate today to keep Soul of the Southside free, Black-led, and community-owned. Thank you for investing in legacy.