Essence Festival 2022 Is Back & Better Than Ever!

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Essence Festival of Culture presented by Coca-Cola is back and the lineup is crazy!

Source: Paras Griffin / Getty Images for ESSENCE

Here’s your ultimate guide to one of the best events of the summer that’s currently heating up New Orleans!

Source: Paras Griffin / Getty Images for ESSENCE

Essence Festival began in 1995 as a one-time event to celebrate Essence Magazine’s 25th anniversary and grew to be what it is today after much success for 27 years. Hundreds of thousands of guests flock to the city of New Orleans every July to enjoy an experience of a lifetime.

Source: Paras Griffin / Getty Images for ESSENCE

The Essence Festival of Culture presented by Coca-Cola promotes, celebrates, and explores health & wellness, spirituality, beauty & style, food, community & culture, entertainment, entrepreneurship, and much more within the African American community.

Festival attendees can engage in panel discussions, shopping, meet and greets, comedy shows, activities, and last but not least live music concerts. If you love just about any genre of music, Essence Fest has you covered as they feature some of the best in R&B, soul, funk, gospel, and hip-hop each and every year.

Source: Paras Griffin / Getty Images for ESSENCE

Source: Bennett Raglin / Getty Images for ESSENCE

This years’s lineup features the following artists:

– Janet Jackson

– Nicki Minaj

– Kevin Hart

– Lauryn Hill

– Jazmine Sullivan

– Lucky Daye

– New Edition

– The Isely Brothers

– The Roots & Friends

– Summer Walker

– City Girls

– D-Nice & Friends

and more!

Because health is wealth, Essence Fest 2022 is requiring proof of Covid vaccination OR a negative Covid test for entry to all venues. Covid tests must be from a testing facility–at-home test results will not be accepted.

Source: Paras Griffin / Getty Images for ESSENCE

Once you’re covid free it’s time to have some fun! The daytime experience at Essence Festival is free and open to all. There is no admission price to enter or participate in any of the activities held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Additionally, there are several sponsor lounges, events, pop-ups, and more throughout downtown New Orleans that are free and open to the public.

Source: Paras Griffin / Getty Images for ESSENCE

The Activations

This year Essence incorporated a Men’s Experience, “In His Zone”, designed for men of all ages. The space offers panels touching on money, fatherhood, relationships, love, health, travel, fashion and sports! “In His Zone” is a brotherly atmosphere promoting fun, freedom, and fellowship so if your man is coming down to the N.O. with you make sure he registers to attend.

Source: Paras Griffin / Getty Images for ESSENCE

While people usually put on their best outfits and bring fashion to the festival you still want to keep it comfortable as there is a lot of walking involved. There are plenty of picture opportunities for you to build content with or to just keep as memories. From interactive activations, celebrity guests, to black own vendors there is definitely something available for all.

Source: Paras Griffin / Getty Images for ESSENCE

The Concerts

If you’d like to partake in the concerts, tickets can be purchased as single-day tickets or weekend passes.

Source: Bennett Raglin / Getty Images for ESSENCE

The purchase of an Essence Fest ticket grants access to all mainstage and super-lounge performances for that evening. Purchasing tickets in advance is highly recommended as tickets do typically sell out depending on the artist.

Source: Bennett Raglin / Getty Images for ESSENCE

Once the fun is done during the day, the nighttime festivities commence and the Superdome comes alive! Opening daily at 6:00 p.m., the all-star Essence Fest line-up commences with some of the best in R&B, hip-hop, funk, gospel, and soul. Shows can be seen on the mainstage or superlounge, as performances and concerts take place in the Dome throughout the evening. It is highly recommended to arrive early for all superlounge performances as they do have capacity restrictions.

Source: Bennett Raglin / Getty Images for ESSENCE

So what exactly is the difference between a Mainstage and superlounge? The mainstage performances embody the full concert experience featuring legendary performers whose music transcends generations. The superlounge performances are held throughout the Superdome in a more intimate and casual setting. General admission style, these concerts have no reserved seating and are available on a first-come first-serve basis. Up-and-coming and popular new artists usually take the stages of superlounges.