{"id":2252649,"date":"2026-01-27T11:56:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T11:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2252649"},"modified":"2026-01-27T11:56:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T11:56:05","slug":"black-box-blackout-returns-with-art-music-food-and-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/black-box-blackout-returns-with-art-music-food-and-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Box Blackout returns with art, music, food and culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Maria Sonnenberg<\/span>
\n\u00a0|\u00a0 for Florida Today<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A secret supper, a porch party, freedom concerts and even a \u201cSoul Train\u201d experience: Welcome to Black Box Blackout 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

For the fifth year, Brevard jazz singer Kristen Warren is reaching into her seemingly endless supply of creativity to engineer a month-long series of programming that celebrates black creativity in a variety of mediums, from painting to food.<\/p>\n

Through the years, Warren, who has sung professionally in New York City, London and Nashville, has spent considerable time and effort in this labor of love she presents to local audiences during Black History Month, which also happens to be the month for Valentines.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSince our inaugural season in 2022, Black Box has featured over two hundred Black artists and has hosted over a thousand attendees,\u201d Warren said, who added that the 2026 iteration stresses quality over quantity.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cSeason One had 12 events, this season only has five, but these are five unique events, with local legends on the bill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The name is a nod to Warren\u2019s favorite type of stage, those highly flexible and intimate spaces known as black box theaters.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“‘Blackout’ basically means\u00a0we’re blacking out the calendar with as much Black programming as possible,\u201d Warren added.<\/p>\n

By focusing on immersive experiences scattered during Black History Month, Warren showcases a sampling of the immense pool of talent she feels remains underrepresented in the Space Coast. Warren is dedicating this year’s program to the memory of her grandfather, Samuel Ervin Warren, who passed away in December 2024.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cMy grandfather so loved the arts,\u201d she said. \u201cWe consider season five a milestone, so it\u2019s important for this season to be special.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Black Box Blackout launches with the opening of the \u201cBlack Girl Art Exhibit\u201d from 5 to 8 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 1, at Moonstruck Market, 329 N. Babcock St., Melbourne.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cMoonstruck Market hosts our very special visual art show featuring a lineup of Black female painters from Brevard,\u201d Warren said.<\/p>\n

Guests will enjoy music, live art and bubbly beverages. The exhibit will remain at Moonstruck through the end of February. Admission to the opening reception is $10.<\/p>\n\n

Black Box Blackout continues with a \u201cPorch Party\u201d from 1 to 4 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 7, at the historic William H. Gleason House, 1736 Pineapple Ave., Melbourne. This party for the entire family turns the porch of the 140-year-old home into a stage for live music. Guests will enjoy barbecue, vendors, live art and a vinyl store. Admission is free.<\/p>\n

Come aboard the \u201cSoul Train Experience\u201d from 8 to 11 p.m., Friday, Feb. 20, at Pineapples, 1434 Pineapple Ave. in the Eau Gallie Arts District.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCome cut a rug with us, 1970s style,\u201d Warren said.<\/p>\n

The experience includes soulful sounds by the Blackout Band and beats by SHARP. Dress groovy if you want the prize for the best dressed. Tickets are $10 online and $15 at the door.<\/p>\n

Supper is a delicious secret during the \u201cSecret Supper Club\u201d from 6 to 9 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 21, when a mystery local chef (Hint: this person runs three restaurants) prepares a one-of-a-kind menu to be experienced in a beautiful but secret location in Brevard. Details will be revealed one week before the event. Tickets are $80 for the tasting menu and $140 for the menu with wine pairings. Admission is limited to 40 participants.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe Bridge: Songs of Freedom\u201d ends the series with performances at 7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 27, and 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28, at Funky Dog Improv, 587 W. Eau Gallie Blvd., #101, Melbourne.<\/p>\n

This two-act presentation is a musical journey of the Black experience from the Civil Rights Movement to the present. Enjoy a playlist of jazz, soul, gospel and anthems of freedom.\u00a0The show features some of Brevard\u2019s best musical talent. Tickets are $25 online.<\/p>\n

To purchase all tickets, visit blackboxblackout.com<\/a>. More information can also be found on facebook.com\/BlackBoxBlackout<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Whether you’re interested in music, theater, festivals or other local entertainment, FLORIDA TODAY has got you covered. Support local journalism by subscribing at\u00a0floridatoday.com\/subscribe<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.floridatoday.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maria Sonnenberg \u00a0|\u00a0 for Florida Today A secret supper, a porch party, freedom concerts and even a \u201cSoul Train\u201d experience: Welcome to Black Box Blackout 2026. For the fifth year, Brevard jazz singer Kristen Warren is reaching into her seemingly endless supply of creativity to engineer a month-long series of programming that celebrates black creativity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2252650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[39915,30218,22092,22220,309616,387654,436216,27885,22005,239661,340693,436217,349305,346104,6297,284334,21741,22034,239348,22783,239372,239374,51971,349110,24982,244448,24392,21739,298114,309617,21800,239343,239347,21750,239393,23759,147314,24557,23152,284335,239344,34197,349308],"class_list":["post-2252649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-affiliate","tag-ai","tag-art","tag-arts","tag-black","tag-black-history","tag-black-history-month","tag-blues","tag-concerts","tag-concerts-u0026-music-festivals","tag-cultural","tag-cultural-diversity","tag-design","tag-diversity","tag-eamotion","tag-enabled","tag-entertainment","tag-events","tag-events-u0026-listings","tag-festivals","tag-geographic","tag-geographic-reference","tag-highlights","tag-history","tag-jazz","tag-jazz-u0026-blues","tag-listings","tag-local","tag-local-affiliate-arts-u0026-entertainment","tag-month","tag-music","tag-overall","tag-overall-positive","tag-people","tag-people-u0026-society","tag-positive","tag-reference","tag-society","tag-story","tag-story-highlights-ai-enabled","tag-u0026","tag-visual","tag-visual-art-u0026-design"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Black-Box-Blackout-returns-with-art-music-food-and-culture.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2252649"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2252651,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252649\/revisions\/2252651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2252650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2252649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2252649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2252649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}