Essence Fest (July 5-7)
While Jazz Fest provides an amazing spectrum of Louisiana-inspired music and culture, the annual Essence Festival zeroes in on African-American-oriented forms of music while also providing highly attended "empowerment seminars" that help educate and inform the African-American community. Musically speaking, it would be difficult to find a better blend of contemporary and classic rhythm & blues, funk, and soul music. One minute, the Main Stage of the Louisiana Superdome is heated up by emerging superstar Lauryn Hill; the next, grande dame Patti LaBelle is providing a 30-year career retrospective. Meanwhile, in the cozier "Superlounges" that ring the upstairs area, up-and-coming performers such as Eric Benét share time with nostalgia acts such as Nile Rogers’ Chic. New Orleans always provides its own spicy flavor to the proceedings, with a diverse range of music from favorites such as reggae act Sista Teedy & Cool Riddums to the funky ReBirth Brass Band to the soulful zydeco of Rosie Ledet. Essence Fest is quickly becoming one of the country’s premiere music events.
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