SAVE the DATE!
Saturday, May 24, 2025, mark your calendar’s as we prepare to celebrate the third annual Melanin in May® Festival! A spring festival celebrating every shade of excellence for those who flaunt their melanin with no apology. A sprawling display of creativity in arts, entertainment, fashion, apparel, health & beauty, culinary and more! It all goes down on Saturday, May 24, 2025, from 11 am until 5 pm at the Community Alliance of the Far East Side (CAFE).
Last year's event was a historic showing of love and appreciation, like a family reunion on ten with live musical performances direct from the Black Onyx Management Sound Stage, featuring Maxie, Brandon Lott, Psywrn Simone, Kiella Squires, The Tony Bryant Project, Dead Silence and Shae Sparks! All overseen by our maestros of ceremonies, none other than MsEKlass Erica Pierce and Ronald A Craig Jr bka Mr. Tony Styxx, with DJ Boogie Bang on the 1s and 2s keeping the crowd moving!
We'll also crown a new Black Owned Food Truck Battle Royale champion and see if People’s Champion Good Vegan/Bad Vegan can defend their title!
Vendor Registration opens on Thursday, January 11, 2025 at 12 Noon! Click the link below for more information!
Annual Festivals
Naptown DONT SLEEP festivals are events designed to highlight Black Owned Businesses and give platforms to those who may not have the benefit of a brick-and-mortar establishment, website, or supply chain operation. Offering Black Business Owners a venue to network with other business owners and connect with the local community who will not only patronize, but support them beyond the day of the event.
Simultaneously, while galvanizing the Black Dollar, we utilize these spaces to offer resources and support such as mental health counseling, voter registration, health & wellness support (i.e. blood pressure checks, vaccinations, etc.), school supply giveaways and more.
We also use these spaces to highlight the arts through featured artists across mixed mediums as well as musical performers from throughout the state of Indiana. For more information on each of our annual festivals, click on the links below.
2024 Melanin in May Festival
-
The Melanin in May® Festival
“A spring festival celebrating every shade of excellence, for those who flaunt their melanin with no apology.” – Dominic Dorsey (founder)
The Melanin in May ® Festival is a curated environment designed to be and affirm those who are unapologetically Black, while providing platforms to Black owned vendors, Black culinarians, Black musicians, and Black visual artists. -
Tha Block Party
The original Black Owned Business Block Party was first created in 2016. Developed as an affordable platform for Black Business Owners to connect with consumers interested in strengthening the Black dollar while cultivating a family-friendly, authentic, and unapologetically Afrocentric community environment. Effectively the original festival for Black Owned Businesses impacting and celebrating Black Futures.
-
Daptoberfest®
The Adinkra symbol at the top of the Daptoberfest™ seal is Gye W’ani or “rich living”. It translates to “enjoy yourself, joy of living, happiness and laughter.” That’s what Daptoberfest is all about. “Black Joy. Unfiltered. An unapologetically Black beer garden featuring melanin illuminated by the amber glow of hanging bulb lights, the roar of fire pits and the discriminate luminous hue of neon signs. All punctuated by the support of Black commerce.”
-
The Black Business Bazaar
The first Black Business Bazaar was held in Indianapolis in 2016 and continues to be a popular avenue to bring together community members to celebrate the holiday season while giving back to others and supporting Black Owned Businesses. This event not only provides an opportunity to Encourage Black entrepreneurship and economic empowerment, but also health and wellness, and a celebration of all the melanated magic of the holiday season curating wonder in attendees young and old!
Interested in being a vendor for an upcoming festival?
Are you a Black Owned Business interested in being a vendor at a Naptown Dont Sleep Festival? We’re always looking for new #EbonyEntrepreneurs to add to our ranks! Please fill out the following form to subscribe to our listserve and get early alerts about all event registrations and happenings first! We hope to see you at a future event this year!
2024 Black Business Bazaar
Don’t Sleep! You’ll miss out on future events!
Upcoming events
-
2nd Annual Black Power Couples Brunch
2.15.25 Living in the Moment Events
An event centered on the preservation and celebration of Black Love. Taking a cohort of Black Power Couples to share a meal and affirm and edify one another in another effort to fortify something so powerful that so many conspire to tear apart.
-
2025 Melanin in May Festival®
5.24.25 11:00AM-5:00PM | CAFE
The fourth annual Melanin in May Festival ® will once again take place at the Community Alliance of the Far Eastside. Stay tuned as we announce performers and additional announcements regarding participants in the 2025 Black Owned Food Truck Battle Royale.
-
Tha Block Party Vol. 9
8.2.2025 11:00AM-5:00PM | Flanner House
The “Ninth Wonder of the World”, the original Black Owned Business Block Party is back at Flanner House in 2025 with the return of the DJ Skrill Memorial Heritage Cup Tournament and the Melanated Midway as we bring back our own Naptown Fair to the westside!