New Orleans festivals are incredibly diverse and many of them are known throughout the world as being well worth it to attend. From Jazz Fest to French Quarter Fest to Satchmo Summerfest to Voodoo Fest, and every one before, after, and in between, these celebrations highlight the many wonderful aspects of our culture that continue to set us apart as a city and as a destination. Recently, another one of our New Orleans festivals found itself included atop a “best of” list of festivals. The Culture Trip named ESSENCE© Festival one of the Top 10 Music Festivals in the USA for Summer 2014.
ESSENCE© Festival is one of the country’s hottest music festivals. (photo via louisianatravel.com)
ESSENCE© Festival in New Orleans is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and it’s no wonder this wildly successful fest made it into The Culture Trip’s list of top musical festivals, as year after year, the ESSENCE© Festival lineup touts some of the top performers in the music world. This year, ESSENCE© Festival headliners include Prince, Mary J. Blige, Lionel Ritchie, Nas, and The Roots, among so many other wonderful acts, including performances from local bands like The Original Pinettes Brass Band, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, and more. Beyond the live music, local food and lineup of parties, ESSENCE© Festival also creates and supports an atmosphere for learning and empowerment for the African-American community with their various workshops and lectures on a wide range of topics in their ESSENCE© Empowerment Series and Empower U series, with speakers like Alicia Keyes, Steve Harvey, and more.
People travel to New Orleans from all over to attend ESSENCE© Festival, and its success has a wonderful impact on New Orleans. Each of the hundreds of thousands of visitors that comes here for the festival spends valuable dollars that are utilized within our local economy several times over before leaving. The significant draw to New Orleans that festivals like ESSENCE© Festival help to create brings big business to our city, further fueling our city’s most successful industry of tourism.