Taste & Sounds of Soul adds job fair to this year’s event

The seventh annual Taste & Sounds of Soul festival will offer something in addition to the food, vendors, music and other entertainment that are its usual hallmarks.

This year, a job fair has been added as a way of connecting local workers with potential employers.

But aficionados of barbecue and funnel cakes, gifts and clothing, and music and live entertainment needn't worry. The three-day event at the Fremont Street Experience will offer all of the attractions that have made the festival a hit among both locals and tourists.

The Taste & Sounds of Soul & Job/Resource Fair, which runs from Friday through Sunday, is again a collaboration among CDA Culturally Diverse Advertising and Media Relations, Fitzgeralds and other corporate sponsors, and is planned to run in conjunction with the February observance of Black History Month.

This year's edition will feature "live entertainment by predominantly African-American artists, as well as vendors and small businesses selling goods and food," said CDA's Kimberly Bailey-Tureaud.

"It's a really big event," she added. "We've had up to 30,000 people on that mall."

CDA's Charles Tureaud -- he and wife Kimberly also are publishers of Las Vegas Black Image magazine, co-produced by the Review-Journal -- said that while the down economy has made these "trying times," the festival offers valley businesses a "great opportunity" to connect with a diverse group of both locals and tourists.

At least 30 vendors are expected to participate in the event, Tureaud said. "It's really great exposure for the businesses."

Vendors "know they may not make a million dollars, but they're there to have fun and connect with the community," he added. "And it's just great, with businesses to be able to connect with people they don't normally connect with."

This year's entertainment roster represents "a cross section of just about everything," Bailey-Tureaud said, including an appearance by vocalist Marlena Shaw.

The kickoff is the job fair, scheduled Friday from 1 to 6 p.m. Bailey-Tureaud said CityCenter is one of the companies that will be represented, and she hopes both large and small businesses will take part, too.

"We want to make sure if a company is small, but if it has two or three jobs, that's information people need to know," she said.

Bailey-Tureaud estimated that about 80 percent of Taste & Sounds of Soul attendees in previous years have been local residents. However, the festival's location on Fremont Street -- and the lack of an admission charge -- probably will make it a must-see for tourists this weekend, too.

"We've found some tourists (who) return," Tureaud said.

"They come back and say, 'We came down this time of year because every year they have this festival.' "

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.