The New Orleans City Council voted to allow a “Clean Zone,” around events related to Essence Fest, prohibiting certain street vending and alcohol sales.

The Superdome stage at this year’s ESSENCE Festival of Culture was more than a place for unforgettable performances. It was a runway of iconic looks that reflected each artist’s vibe and legacy. From ...

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JULY 04: GloRilla performs onstage during Day 1 of the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture presented by Coca-Cola at Caesars Superdome on July 04, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Fans at ESSENCE Festival got exclusive previews of Tyler Perry’s next chapter with Netflix—including drama, romance, and of course, Madea in the Bahamas. NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JULY 04: (L-R) Tyler ...

Rum lovers represent! If you’ve been to New Orleans, you know Hurricanes – the cocktail – are ubiquitous. Frozen, on the rocks, with fruit, or with extra rum floaters, there are infinite varieties of ...

In case you missed it, H&M was one of the esteemed partners of the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture. They teamed up with us to be part of their festival style destination hub, as the fashion brand ...

The stage became a sanctuary for truth-telling and storytelling during the “Songs in the Key of Life: Navigating Identity and Dreams in Modern Fiction” panel at the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture in ...

New Orleans is one of the country’s most food-centric cities, that’s why a panel featuring social media’s preeminent food critic Keith Lee, 28, made perfect sense. The former MMA fighter loves New ...

As the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture comes to a close, the third and final day of Beautycon is a test on all the beauty lessons we’ve learned so far. First, Delina Medhin’s It Takes A Village ...

“Titles are rented. The thing that will be my love letter to life will be the impact I had,” said Laysha Ward, author of Lead Like You Mean It and a distinguished C-suite executive. During Destined ...

On the first day of the ESSENCE Film Festival, the lights dimmed and the stories lit up—each one a reminder of the beauty, complexity, and brilliance of Black life on screen. From emotionally gripping ...