Essence Festival Celebrates 30th Birthday as Announcing Usher Headliner

This is long overdue for Essence! They have announced that Usher will be headlining the show as a celebration to Essence’s 30th celebration and Confessions 20th anniversary. As a three-decade legacy dedicated to honoring the creativity, blackness and passion of black culture. Essence will be celebrating this year’s festival from July 4 through 7 in the vibrant heart of New Orleans, Louisiana. The four-day extravaganza will be bigger and better this year that will feature a lineup of daytime and evening activities, concerts and more that will ignite the black culture celebration.

Alongside this amazing news, there will be legends, icons and highly-anticipated reunions such as Global icon, Janet Jackson, 3-time Grammy-award winner, Victoria Monet, 8-time Essence Festival vet, Charlie Wilson, a milestone celebration with Birdman & Friends Presents 30 Years of Cash Money Millionaires and more.

The four-day event will close with the return of the all-white party and a Special Tribute to Frankie Beverly & Maze and passing of the torch moment, curated by Grammy-Award winning producer & songwriter, Bryan-Michael Cox.Attendees, fans and festival goers, are invited to join the festivities as we look at the past, present and future of the festival, originally birthed as a one-time-only event to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ESSENCE Magazine. The 2024 ESSENCE Festival of Culture™ presented by Coca-Cola® Evening Concert Series will be hosted by Keke Palmer, Pretty Vee, Big Tigger, Punkie Johnson and Kenny Burns with special DJ sets from Raj Smoove, DJ Clark Kent and DJ Beverly Bond.

“For three decades, the ESSENCE Festival of Culture™ has blossomed into a pillar of our culture. It spans generations and echoes life stages, growing at the vibrant intersection of art, culture, freedom, and justice. As the festival approaches its 30-year milestone, we are excited to welcome and celebrate with all our closest family and friends around the world—whether it’s your 30th, 11th (like me), 2nd, or even first time. It promises to be an enriching four days of daytime and evening experiences,” said Hakeem Holmes, Vice President of the ESSENCE Festival of Culture™. “New Orleans is our home, my hometown, and we look forward to embracing this community once again. Last year, we proudly generated $316 million for New Orleans and Louisiana, and we look forward to another year of new memories. This is your formal invitation to join us—bring your family, friends, and cousins too— for a celebration of unparalleled Black joy. Don’t forget to download the app for all the latest updates.”