June 19th, 2025

Soul & Sangria

Celebrate Black joy, creativity and community at this luxe day party

Deidre Montague

Banner Food & Travel Sponsored by the The Boston Foundation

The biannual cultural event of the summer is on the way and community members are invited to “experience a world where Black joy, creativity and community are intentionally centered and celebrated.”

Now in its 11th edition, Soul & Sangria 2025 will feature live bands and DJs, signature cocktails and sangrias, a handpicked marketplace of some of the city’s best small businesses, delicious food by Boston’s up-and-coming and veteran chefs and floral installations and custom photo backdrops.

This event is known to have creatives, leaders, changemakers and community members come together for a night of fun and fashion — as all attendees come dressed to impress each year.

For this year’s dress code, founders and creators Paige Pasley and Valerie Francois request that community members come in their finest bold, vibrant and colorful statement pieces.

Pasley spoke about how she and Francois came together to create the event eight years ago via their full-service event planning and floral design company, The Social Butterflies.

“We have been doing this event for a while now. It started off as a $5 event, [with] just a live band and a DJ,” she said. “We have notoriously picked a different location each time, just to bring [the] community into a different location … showing that we belong in every area of Boston.”

Along with hosting Soul & Sangria through their company, The Social Butterflies have worked with the Museum of African American History, the Urban League and the City of Boston. They recently helped produce the Mayor’s Youth Job Summit at the Reggie Lewis Center.

Pasley said they make sure there is a purpose behind every pour for this event, as a portion of the proceeds goes to a local nonprofit. This year, they have chosen to support Beyond Nursing, Inc., an organization that works to empower nurses of color through advocacy, education and leadership development.

“We’re very intentional about the event … the goals of the event change as we think about it each year. So, we always do it in August, because it’s National Black Business Month. We want to be able to highlight us and show off our event planning and design skills in the hopes to get that future client, whether it’s a corporate client or maybe a future wedding or milestone,” she said. Pasley adds that The Social Butterflies primarily work with BIPOC vendors as well.

Francois encourages community members to attend Soul & Sangria, especially if this is their first time.

“It’s really a celebration of Boston’s creativity. It’s really a celebration of Boston’s small businesses. We are very intentional about who we’re showcasing and how we’re showcasing them,” she said. “We want to make sure that it’s not just our best foot forward, but with everyone that’s being part of (the event’s) best foot forward.”

Pasley added that the event is for community members to see the elegance of Boston.

It’s really for those people that are looking for that upscale, exclusive, not going to find it anywhere scene,” she said. “They feel like they have to go … the Hamptons, New York or D.C., to find that scene. You don’t have to go out of Boston to find it. It’s here and it’s at home.”