Essence Fest 25

Essence Fest 2019 lineup (Missy Elliott, Mary J Blige, Nas, Pharrell, City Girls, more)

The 25th annual Essence Festival goes down Fourth of July Weekend (July 4-7) at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, and the lineup is out now. The headliners are Missy Elliott and Mary J Blige (celebrating the 25th anniversary of My Life), and there will also be main stage performances by Nas (celebrating the 25th anniversary of Illmatic), H.E.R., Jermaine Dupri, Pharrell Williams, RBRM (aka New Edition‘s Ronny, Bobby, Ricky & Mike), Teddy Riley, Teyana Taylor, Timbaland, MC Lyte, Sheila E, Morris Day, Ledisi, Doug E Fresh, Musiq Soulchild, Anthony Hamilton, Big Freedia, and Frankie Beverly, who will also be honored at the festival. D-Nice is DJing the main stage and Loni Love is your host.

There’s also the Superlounge with performances by AlunaGeorge, Tweet, City Girls, Scarface, Rakim, Queen Naija, Normani, Mase, Jacquees, Ginuwine, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Nao, and more. The Superlounge will also feature a live album recording by PJ Morton with JoJo, Luke James, Mia X, Pell, and The Hamiltones.

Tickets (three-day passes and single-day passes) are on sale now. ESSENCE Communications CEO Michelle Ebanks said:

When the ESSENCE Festival was founded 25 years ago, it marked a pivotal moment of vision and reverence – a critical acknowledgement of and investment in the power of our culture. In the years since, it has set a standard that many other festivals have aspired to, and today, the ESSENCE Festival has grown to represent an annual homecoming for Black artists from across the globe. In honor of our 25th anniversary, nearly 30 artists per night over 3 epic nights will come together to mount the world’s largest and most extraordinary cultural celebration. To one and all, we say, ‘Welcome to ESSENCE. Welcome home.’

More info at the festival’s website.