Taste of Black Mansfield combines food trucks with Juneteenth

By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

Mansfield is cooking up a good time on Saturday, combining a food truck park and Juneteenth at the Taste of Black Mansfield.

“It’s an opportunity to promote and highlight Black-owned businesses in Mansfield,” said Kiffany Banks, president of the Alpha Beta Phi Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, which hosts the annual event.

Set for 11 a.m.-7 p.m. June 21, the free event will spread out across the parking lot at Vernon Newsom Stadium, 3700 E. Broad St., and feature live entertainment, including choirs, bands, dance troupes, a game truck and interactive activities.

For the first time, organizers have partnered with Visit Mansfield to combine the food truck park with Juneteenth, the celebration of June 19, 1865, the day that slaves in Texas learned that they had been freed.

“We will highlight information about Juneteenth, when it started, interactive activities and an art exhibit,” Banks said.

The event started in 2022 as a restaurant crawl of local minority-owned businesses. When the restaurants transitioned to food trucks, so did the event, Banks said.

“It turned into something bigger than we thought,” said Banks, who estimated that the event drew 5,000 last year.

While there will be a lot going on, the main attraction will be the 30 food trucks, featuring a wide variety of food, including barbecue, seafood, eggrolls, soul food, sno cones and more, she said.

Music will include rhythm & blues, pop, gospel and youths, plus the Lake Ridge step team will perform and local disc jockeys will keep the music going. There will be tables and chairs, but attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, Banks said.

“It’s a great family event,” she said. “Our sorority sees it as a way to highlight the minority-owned businesses and entrepreneurs. They don’t get a lot of recognition. They don’t have the same platform. As a Black sorority, we support women of any race and minorities because we are minorities.

“It’s an opportunity to taste test and try their food,” Banks said. “Hopefully, this will give them some attention so they can survive.”