About this Event
Presented by Hip Hop Healing, DiversityTalk, Sundè Social, Poetic Therapy & Time For Us Wellness Hub
What does it mean to celebrate Black love beyond romance?
This Friendsgiving, Brown Sugar invites you to pull up, eat good food, and celebrate the people who help us feel seen, supported, understood, and loved.
Brown Sugar: Friendsgiving is an intimate dinner and dialogue experience exploring the power of friendship, chosen family, familial love, and community care and how these relationships shape our mental health and emotional well-being.
Building on our previous Brown Sugar gatherings, this edition shifts the spotlight toward the people we call friends, family, day ones, chosen family, and community.
Because sometimes the love that gets us through isn't romantic.
Sometimes it's the friend who checks in.
The sibling who holds you down.
The cousin who feels like a best friend.
The homie who reminds you who you are.
The community that makes you feel like you belong.
What to Expect
Come ready to eat, connect, laugh, reflect, and have some real conversations.
Your evening will include:
A curated Friendsgiving dinner
Live panel conversations exploring Black love, friendship, relationships, and mental health
Honest conversations about mental health, support, boundaries, and healing
Music and community-building experiences
Rather than simply sitting and watching a panel, guests will have opportunities to engage with the people at their table, share experiences, and build new connections.
Conversations We'll Explore
Friendship as a Healing Practice How can friendship become a source of emotional support, accountability, joy, and healing?
Chosen Family & Belonging What makes someone family and why are chosen relationships so important to our well-being?
Supporting Friends Through Mental Health Challenges How do we show up for the people we love when they're struggling? And how do we support others without losing ourselves?
Boundaries, Accountability & Healthy Relationships How do we create relationships where love, honesty, respect, and accountability can coexist?
Who Is This For?
Brown Sugar: Friendsgiving is for Black adults who want to celebrate connection and have meaningful conversations about love, relationships, friendship, and wellness.
Come with your:
- Best friend
- Partner
- Sibling
- Cousin
- Chosen family
- Day ones
- Or come solo and meet some new people
You don't have to arrive with a crew to experience community.
Pull Up
Brown Sugar: Friendsgiving is more than a dinner.
It's a reminder that love has many languages and many forms.
It's the people who celebrate your wins. The people who sit with you through your losses. The people who challenge you to grow. The people who make you laugh until your stomach hurts. The people who remind you that you don't have to navigate life alone.
This October, we're creating space to celebrate friendship as love, community as care, and connection as wellness.
Pull up. Bring your people. Come meet some new ones.
Let's eat. Let's talk. Let's laugh. Let's reflect. Let's celebrate Black love in all its forms.
Event venue & nearby stays
155 Rowntree Dairy Rd unit 5a, 155 Rowntree Dairy Road, Vaughan, Canada
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.