Black Wall Street Festival
New Haven Green
Aug. 15, 2026
Vendors for the fifth annual Black Wall Street Festival came from as far as California.
The event, created by New Haven-born Grammy Award-winning producers Rashad “Snacks” Johnson and Aaron “Y.A.” Rogers of global entertainment and music production company The Breed Ent., has grown exponentially year after year.
Over 400 Black-owned businesses of all varieties (from window tinting to beauty and skincare) filled the New Haven Green on Saturday; about 100 vendors came from outside of Connecticut. Last year there were 350 vendors. The immense volume of vendors and shoppers and surrounding activities did not feel as overwhelming as I expected. Rather, the experience was invigorating.
Gleeful shrieks came from kids hopping around bright bouncy houses. Crowds milled around mouthwatering food trucks lined up on Temple Street, which ranged from BBQ to vegan soul food. Radio stations Hot 93.7 and 94.3 FM set tables out with representatives, as did New Haven institutions like Ely Center of Contemporary Art and Shubert Theatre. New Haven-based social services agencies like New Horizons and New Haven Hiring Initiative were out in spades, showcasing their offerings for the community.
DJs and performers on the Main Stage provided ambient entertainment that you could hear from any corner of the Green. You could also settle down with a blanket or chair to enjoy the shows up close and personal. Some attendees got really comfortable and brought whole tents and coolers to shelter under the sun.
I loved seeing the various displays of Black pride. It most often showed up in the T-shirts that attendees confidently wore: Juneteenth, Rosa Parks, “Love U Black,” “I Stand with Black Women,” and “Hire Black: were some of the messages on shirts. There were also Black-centric wares on sale, including African waist beads, a unique company selling sneakers for Black Greek organizations, products for textured natural hair, and several African clothing vendors.
On that note, I literally stopped in my tracks when I came across Apaade. Bernice Andah-Lovely, who just opened a boutique in New Jersey, came from the Garden State to sell her dramatic hats and bespoke clothing with bold West African prints. If I could have stolen the stunning multicolored pants she was wearing right off of her, I would have.
“I was here last year, and they were so supportive. So, it made me come back this year, just to appreciate them. They just pour so much love, and it’s very important to be here for each other,” said Andah-Lovely.
Speaking of love, some of the vendors poured it all into their booths. It was cool to see how differently they were decorated. One vendor had a set up covered in graffiti, a proper home for their streetwear. Some had more plain tables, letting their exotic wares do the attracting. I was navigating my way through the crowd when a delicately decorated pink booth caught my eye. There seemed to be a lot of action happening there, so I moseyed on over to investigate.
Bfly Styles, owned by hairstylist Nia Clemons, is a salon in New Haven (soon to be based in Hamden) that specializes in textured hair. Clemons was there selling luxury hair extensions that were even tempting for a natural haired girl like me, and promoting her latest venture, Capture, a line of satin-lined baseball caps that protect textured hair. The hats feature designs representing HBCUs and Yale. This was Clemons’ first time selling at Black Wall Street after attending for years as a consumer.
“The idea is bloom and be fly,” Clemons said of her flower-filled booth. “Bfly is short for butterfly. I love butterflies. My mom loves butterflies. She passed in 2020, so my business is just building on her legacy. She was also a hairstylist.”
Representing for Connecticut towns outside of New Haven was Kindred Thoughts, a bookstore out of Bridgeport. This was also owners Karin Smith and Derek Tompkins’ first time participating in New Haven’s Black Wall Street Festival, though they have taken part in Bridgeport’s Black Wall Street for years. Their table showcased a delectable display – can you tell I’m obsessed with books? – of books by authors of color, including the riveting debut novel Appetite by New Haven’s own P. Paramita.
Tompkins said, “I think [Black Wall Street] is a chance for us to celebrate our community. Everybody likes to tell what we ain’t. This is what we are. The opportunity [for Kindred] to come here was to broaden who we are [and] also to connect to the greater community.”
“Do y’all like jazz?” the host yelled from the Main Stage. A jazz head, I rushed over to watch bassist Ace Livingston do his thing. The Connecticut based musician has worked with a plethora of big artists like Jennifer Lopez and Pink. Livingston, along with a drummer, pianist and dazzling saxophonist, played jazz versions of contemporary Black classics like Frankie Beverly and Maze’s “Before I Let Go” and Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature.” It was the perfect set to soothe the spirit on a breezy summer afternoon.
In between musical performances, Connecticut notables graced the stage. “Black is human. Black is excellent,” intoned Kolton Harris of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development as he went up to speak.
I got chills.
“Black Wall Street is one of the cultural staples of our state, and we’re shining the light across the country and the world to say that entrepreneurs matter, the arts matter, [and] culture matters,” said Harris. “We want to encourage everybody to continue to invest in one another, encourage one another, [and] keep uplifting local creators.”
A few organizations present on Saturday were prime examples of “investing in one another.” I stopped by New Haven based nonprofit Winnings Ways’ booth to hear what they were all about. Creative Arts Director Wilford Charles shared the organization’s mission of providing therapeutic art programming – including painting, poetry, and DJ classes – for people in recovery and reentry programs to uplift and boost mental health. They also provide a financial literacy course and job readiness assistance.
This was Winning Ways’ third appearance at Black Wall Street Festival; the event has been really good for them, according to Charles. It has enabled them to meet other likeminded people and organizations to collaborate to bring resources to those in need. “Our mantra is ‘Together, we win.’”
When festival founders Rashad Johnson and Aaron Rogers got on stage to thank everyone present, they used the opportunity to spotlight the seven members of their inaugural Community Ambassador Initiative, six of whom joined them on stage to receive certificates. The program honors entrepreneurs who consistently give back to the New Haven community.
By the end of the festival, I felt so grateful for community and the abundance of art, culture and entrepreneurship all around me. The event served as a reminder that community is sustained by the people who keep choosing to pour into it.
I felt especially thankful for the talented people who commit every day to making something beautiful right here in New Haven.
To relive the joy of the festival, visit Black Wall Street Festival’s Instagram.
