Beehive Block Party and beyond: SoLa and Live Nation train entertainment's next generation

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred In the hours before the fifth annual Beehive Block Party kicked off on Saturday, the venue was, appropriately, abuzz.Vendors landed on the Beehive’s 20,000-square-foot courtyard in South Los Angeles, filling it with food, art and secondhand clothing vendors.Young people fluttered about, wearing custom white T-shirts emblazoned with the festival’s retro cartoon-style poster art.

Jack McGrail and Aiyana Da’Briel, staff leaders for the SoLa Live Accelerator program behind the event, seemed to be everywhere at once, passing out wristbands and scribbling on clipboards.Entertainment & Arts The Beehive, a Black-owned space in South L.A.

is a hub for events like Black Market Flea and Everyday People, while nurturing youth through its tech center.Inside an adjacent building known as the SoLa Technology and Entrepreneurship Center, 21-year-old UCLA students and current SoLa Live participants Audrey Ohwobete and Gladis Verenice Ramírez Veliz were eager to chat about the event, which they worked for months to curate.“Even down to the coloring, the branding — like orange and blue, going into that sunset-type vibe,” Ohwobete said.“We’re a cohort of 19, bringing all of our ideas together to create this moment and now it’s just like boom, here we are.

You blinked and now you did all of it.”Every aspect of the 2026 Beehive Block Party — featuring soulful octet wst cmplx, jazz artist Veritus Miller and headliner Navy Blue — was planned by their SoLa Live Accelerator group, aspiring live entertainment professionals between the ages of 16 and 22 from South L.A.The program is a partnership between the SoLa Foundation, a nonprofit affiliate of the affordable housing and real estate investment company SoLa Impact, and entertainment behemoth Live Nation.SoLa runs a slate of youth-focused program...