United States, 07/13/2025 - Essence Festival - The festival of culture with more than 10 years of experience celebrating the brilliance of black music, art, wellness, fashion, education, food and commerce. What better way to elevate the black community than in the notorious streets of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Friday, July 4th, it’s 12:30 am where I and hundreds of Essence Festival attendees land at MSY airport and walk out into the hot summer air of New Orleans. It was such a happy feeling to be surrounded by many different shades of black skin excited for the days to come. It just made me think “Wow. The black community is so incredibly diverse, supportive, and blessed”. 

Even though it was so chaotic because of the eagerness to get transportation out of the airport I somehow felt calm and wealthy because a majority of the Ubers and Lyfts were big, black SUVs. 

A few hours later, I headed down to New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. My goodness, it was huge. Inside were amazing DJ’s, booths hosting different educational and film panels, celebrity performances, giveaways from retailers such as Target with free beats headphones, Amazon Prime, Febreeze, Coca Cola and even fast food chains such as McDonald’s. But what took over the 3-day event was the BeautyCon section. Their lines were never ending and their booths were visually on the next level. 

The production design of some booths were actual hair salons (i.e., Juvias Place, Mielle, L’Oréal) with personnel actually styling the hair of actual buyers of their products while others were handing out free products. Other booths (i.e., Pedilicous) were giving away free back massages, and there were even licensed doctors (i.e., Beauty Below) giving away free consultations. The gratitude expressed from many black women was eye-opening because it made me realize that black women just want to feel beautiful. There was so much more I wanted to do but sadly not enough time. However, I had the upcoming days to take in the full experience.

Three hours later, I attended a private event hosted by American Civil Rights leader Rashad Robinson where the talented Kendrick Sampson spoke about the importance of black wealth, education and entrepreneurship. Most importantly, now is the time to move with purpose and swiftness to provide for our future generations.

The next day, I head to another private event at Addis Nola hosted by the fitness apparel brand Enda, which served some of the best African cuisine I’ve tasted outside of my mother’s infamous Cameroonian home cooking. Then dessert, at Cafe Beignet Canal, for New Orleans world-renowned beignets. Lastly, I was off to the Ceasar’s Superdome to enjoy an eventful night full of celebrity performances by Davido, Jill Scott, and Lauren Hill to conclude my first Essence experience.

Written by Gia Foretia

Edited by Dr. Edna Frenchwood

CEO Chichimovies Inc.

www.chichimovies.com

424 599-8111