Essence Fest 2020 Lineup

Janet Jackson & Bruno Mars Announced As Headliners For Essence Fest 2020

ESSENCE is preparing to celebrate 50 years with a star-studded lineup for their annual New Orleans fest. The 2020 ESSENCE festival has been announced and it features Janet Jackson and Bruno Mars as headliners. Janet’s performance will take place as part of her recently announced Black Diamond World Tour and will be the first-ever ESSENCE Festival appearance and the only 2020 U.S. festival performance for Bruno.

Other acts slated to rock the Superdome include Summer Walker, Ari Lennox, Janelle Monae, and Patti LaBelle.

Loni Love will return as host for the concerts and artists like Smino, Rapsody and Sir will rock the ESSENCE super lounges.

This year the festival has been extended to five days to commemorate ESSENCE’s five decades of excellence and will take place July 1-5 with a theme of “Own Our Power.”

“This is a milestone year for ESSENCE and our community as we celebrate 50 years of creating opportunities for our culture to shine and the role of Black women in making it possible for us to do what no other brand has done,” said Michelle Ebanks, CEO of ESSENCE Communications, Inc. “To be able to say that at 50 years, we are Black-owned, diversified across media, technology, commerce and live events, and impacting our culture in new and even deeper ways than ever before is a blessing – and one that comes with a tremendous responsibility to our community to continue to evolve, innovate and transform. That remains our focus and commitment as we work to ensure that we are here serving Black women deeply and advancing Black culture, economic ownership and inclusion globally for the next 50 years.”

See ESSENCE’s full 2020 lineup below.

Mainstage:

Bruno Mars, Janet Jackson (headliners); Ari Lennox; Janelle Monae; Patti LaBelle; Raphael Saadiq (Performing songs across his entire career from Tony! Toni! Tone! through his solo albums, including Jimmy Lee); Estelle Presents Reggae & Afrobeats Link Up featuring Afro B, Chronnix, Elephant Man, Kranium, Max Glazer, Maxi Priest, Shenseea and more; Summer Walker; Swizz Beatz Presents In the Zone featuring guest artists; and more. Hosted by Loni Love. Music by D-Nice. In addition, the Mainstage will feature rousing tributes to music icons each night, including a special anniversary celebration on July 4th.

Superlounges:

Casmé, D Smoke; Demi Grace; Doug E. Fresh Presents The Real Hip-Hop and R&B Party; Elah Hale; Goldlink; Jac Ross; Jamesdavis; Jidenna; June’s Diary; Kiana Lede; Kitty Cash; Leikeli47; Masego; Mr Eazi; Oswin Benjamin; Rapsody; Saweetie; SiR; Smino; Stokley; Tamia; Tank and the Bangas; Teamarrr; The New Respects; Umi.

Weekend ticket packages are on sale now with prices starting at $180. For information about ticket sales, accommodations, recently launched exhibitor applications and VIP travel packages, and the latest news about the ESSENCE Festival of Culture, visit Essence.com/festival. Join the festival community: Follow us on Twitter @essencefest #EssenceFest and become a fan of Festival on Facebook.

For more information click HERE.