CBUS Soul Fest is back on the riverfront this weekend. The free festival returns to Bicentennial Park on Friday, September 4 and Saturday, September 5, with live music from 4 to 10 p.m. both days. Stokley and Lalah Hathaway will headline, and the food truck list runs from Nigerian to Filipino to barbecue.
Now in its fifth year, the festival started as a single day at Genoa Park and moved across the river to Bicentennial Park in 2025, when it grew to two days. The Scioto Mile setting means more room for spreading out a blanket along the river.
| CBUS Soul Fest at a Glance | |
| Dates | Friday, September 4 and Saturday, September 5 |
| Hours | 4 to 10 p.m. both days |
| Where | Bicentennial Park, 233 S. Civic Center Dr., on the Scioto Mile |
| Cost | Free, no tickets needed |
| Headliners | Stokley (Friday, 8 p.m.) and Lalah Hathaway (Saturday, 8 p.m.) |
| Food | 10 food trucks, cashless beverage booths |
The lineup is stacked.
Friday opens with Columbus singer-songwriter Cherimondis J at 4 p.m., followed by Detroit-born, Columbus-based R&B artist N’Shai Iman at 6 p.m. Stokley, the lead singer of Mint Condition, headlines at 8 p.m.
Saturday starts with Gabrielle Solange at 4 p.m., then Columbus neo-soul singer Ria Blaq at 6 p.m. Lalah Hathaway, a five-time Grammy winner and the daughter of Donny Hathaway, closes the festival at 8 p.m.
DJ BLCKUNICORN spins between sets on Friday and DJ IQ takes Saturday. Set times can shift, so check the festival’s lineup page before you head down.
Come for the music, stay for the food.
Ten food trucks are booked this year: Donna’s Delicious Dozen, Dos Hermanos, Family Affair Catering Company, Fat Boy Q, Flavor 91 Bistro, Fork in Nigeria, Ono Turo Turo, Soul Food Fix, Suge’s Smokehouse Barbecue, and Taesty’s. The festival’s beverage booths sell beer, canned cocktails, wine, and Pepsi products, and they’re cashless. Food trucks set their own payment rules, so bring a card and some cash. The Soul Shop marketplace rounds it out with local makers like Pecandy and The Krafted Kollection.
What to know before you go.
Blankets and lawn chairs are welcome. Coolers are allowed too, as long as there’s no carry-in alcohol or glass inside. Label yours with a name and phone number, since unlabeled coolers can be confiscated. Tents and oversized umbrellas are out, and so is anything staked into the ground. Pets can come on a leash, though the festival asks you to leave them home if you can. Bikes and scooters have to be walked through the grounds and parked on the perimeter.
Columbus Recreation and Parks presents the festival, which grew out of Experience Columbus’s CBUS Soul platform celebrating the city’s Black culture. Admission is free and no tickets are needed.
Parking and street closures.
Civic Center Drive between Main and Noble closed Wednesday morning. From 9 a.m. Thursday until 6 a.m. Sunday, the closures widen to Civic Center Drive from Broad to Mound, Rich and Main between Washington Boulevard and Ludlow, Second Street and Jewett between Main and Noble, Noble between Civic Center Drive and Jewett, and Washington Boulevard from Broad to Town. Downtown garages and surface lots are the play, and the festival points drivers to ParkColumbus to reserve a spot ahead of time. COTA buses run downtown, and the Central Ohio Greenways trails lead straight to the Scioto Mile if you’d rather ride. Streets reopen at 6 a.m. Sunday, September 6.
Event Details
- Location: Bicentennial Park, 233 S. Civic Center Dr.
- Dates: Friday, September 4 and Saturday, September 5
- Time: 4 to 10 p.m. both days
- Admission: Free
The full schedule and festival map are at cbussoulfest.com, and the music starts at 4 p.m. Friday.
