When we reported last week on the Washington State Black Legacy Institute, which recently moved to the historic former church at 2656 42nd SW, we noted the first big public event coming up: the Business Festival During Kwanzaa.

WSBLI, which hopes to inspire by surfacing long-lost stories including those of successful Black entrepreneurs a century-plus ago, will host entrepreneurs Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. WSBLI describes the festival as a “vibrant manifestation of unity, self-determination, and cooperative economics” – three of Kwanzaa’s seven principles. Planned events include free workshops with business and financial experts as well as a homebuyer’s workshop and a vendor fair. WSBLI curator Roger Evans is producing promotional videos for the vendors – here’s the first one:

Other vendors, as listed on this flyer, are scheduled to include A Sista Thang Fashions, Clean Greens Farm, Common Scentz, Diana’s Beauty, Kimberly’s Gems, Merle the Art Lady, Nikky’s Niche Designs, and Tea Moss Shop. Business Festival hours will be 2-7 pm Friday (December 29), 11 am-7 pm Saturday (December 30), and 11 am-5 pm Sunday (December 31). The festival and workshops are free, but WSBLI requests RSVP through Eventbrite – here’s the Friday link; here’s the Saturday link; here’s the Sunday link. Each of those links also will show you the workshop lineup for that day.