By most accounts, this year’s Essence Festival of Culture was expected to fall short.
Ticket sales lagged. Access to the Super Lounges, the event’s intimate performance spaces, was limited. The familiar sprawl of Black-owned vendors inside the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in downtown New Orleans had visibly thinned. And for the first time since the festival’s founding in 1995, the weekend closed without a performance from Frankie Beverly, the crooner long synonymous with Essence Sundays, who died in September 2024.
Essence organizers said a delayed programming rollout and broader economic anxieties had contributed to the slowed momentum. A representative for Essence attributed the drop to a post-election lull after last year’s 30th anniversary celebration, which featured record-breaking crowds and an appearance from former Vice President Kamala Harris.
“This year does seem to be a little less packed,” said Tamyia Pearson, 27, a Texas native who has attended Essence Fest for the last four years. “The streets are a little slower than they usually are.”
“It could be because it’s 2025 and we had to choose between Beyoncé and Essence Festival,” she added, in reference to the Cowboy Carter Tour, which will be in Atlanta this month.
Despite the lowered expectations, and the controversy around corporate sponsors like Target, whose presence amid calls for a boycott because of its rollback of D.E.I. policies drew criticism from some festivalgoers, the spirit of the event, which took place over the Fourth of July weekend, endured throughout the city.
On Canal Street, music pulsed from open car windows. Inside the Caesars Superdome, fans rose to their feet for sets by Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and GloRilla. In lines for po’boys and barbecue, sequins mingled with sundresses. On the convention floor, “Boots on the Ground” reliably summoned line dancers. Conversations around Black politics and pop culture flowed freely.
Style was also front and center. Many festivalgoers seemed to treat getting dressed as part of the main event — a chance to show up, stand out and celebrate themselves. From pageant tiaras and maximalist drop earrings to cowboy hats and coordinated group looks, fashion became its own joyful form of expression.
David Cyril Brown
Radio Executive, Houston
Mr. Brown was hoping his watermelon-print button-up, which he purchased in New Orleans nine years ago, would catch the eye of other attendees. “Every time I wear it, it’s always a centerpiece,” he said. He paired the shirt with tube socks and Birkenstock sandals for comfort. A Houston Rockets cap was a nod to hometown pride, “especially since they just got Kevin Durant,” he added.
Deja Young
Nurse, New Orleans
Ms. Young, who has attended Essence Fest for the past decade, said her theme this year was “balling on a budget,” as she’s still paying off her nursing school loans. She skipped the concerts but treated the convention center as her moment to dazzle. After a 12-hour shift, she arrived in a look that featured a leather pageboy cap, a necktie resembling braids and a tartan skirt layered over ripped jeans. “I’m always tired, so I love when I can do stuff like this and actually dress up,” she said.
Luanne and Kevin Lewis
Emergency room nurse and information technology specialist, Johns Creek, Ga.
The Lewises came to Essence Fest in support of small Black-owned businesses. Ms. Lewis wore jewelry she had purchased from vendors at the convention, paired with a crochet-and-silk dress and a linen cardigan. Mr. Lewis chose shorts and a linen shirt to keep cool in the heat, but added a pork pie hat to jazz it up.
Tianna Sherman-Kesselly
Entrepreneur, New Jersey
Ms. Sherman-Kesselly, who runs a clothing label that fuses West African prints with Western silhouettes, proudly wore her Liberian heritage to the convention. Her look combined a patterned skirt meant to feel “bohemian and breezy” with a more structured, fitted denim top. She also got fresh braids for the festival to complete the airy vibe.
Brian Moore
Retiree, St. Louis
Mr. Moore, above left, spent his birthday at Essence Fest after his military buddies decided he needed to branch out and travel in his newfound free time. His look — plaid shorts and a graphic T-shirt — was thrifted from a Goodwill in St. Louis. He accessorized with bold sneakers and a collection of chains. “We’re just people watching,” he said, taking a break in the convention hall.
Mallory Foxx, Natassija Jordan and Ezimma Nnyagu
Project manager, Charlotte, N.C.; civics educator, Oakland, Calif.; pharmacist, Houston
Winners of the Miss Black International Ambassador pageant in 2024, Ms. Foxx, Ms. Jordan and Ms. Nnyagu were on what they jokingly called a “royal tour” — and they looked the part. With tiaras perched on their heads and sashes across their fronts, the group turned heads at the festival. It was their first time at Essence, where they came to talk about health care and civic education.
Kevin Henderson
FedEx driver, Oklahoma City
Mr. Henderson, who wore a colorful short-sleeve button-up shirt in a bold floral print and green shorts, admitted that his wife, Tamara, helped choose his outfit. Mr. Henderson is colorblind and the greens appear to him as browns, so he did not immediately know how bright his ensemble was. The bucket hat, however, was all him. “I just fell in love with the hat when I was out in Cabo,” he said.
Tamyia Pearson
Education success coach, Dallas
Ms. Pearson’s ensemble was inspired by a picture from the 1990s of the pop star Aaliyah with the TV broadcaster Ananda Lewis in which they were both sporting minimalist looks. “It’s a simple ’90s look, not doing too much, not a lot of makeup, not a lot of things going on with the hair,” she said. Ms. Pearson also paid homage to her Texas roots with cowboy boots.
Earlin Moore
Entrepreneur, Virginia Beach
Mr. Moore said his Essence Fest look was a casual take on his usual style, as he wears tailored suits year-round. “God told me to always dress up and I took that literally,” he said. Mr. Moore got his suit from a tailor he has been working with for more than 25 years. Coincidentally, that’s also how long he’s worn his hair in locs, now hip-length, which he tied into a top bun for the weekend.
Robert Hartwell
Executive producer and TV host, New York
For Mr. Hartwell, Essence Fest was all about the “exchange of joy” and he modeled this through his clothing, which caught the attention of other attendees. He wore a chartreuse and green “breathable” set and accessorized with a few chains and necklaces. “That’s, I think, what fashion should do,” he said. “It should magnetize us.”
Zandrina Townsend and Tonda Wilkerson
Retirees from Boston and Woodbridge, Va.
Ms. Townsend and Ms. Wilkerson, who are first cousins, shared a lot in common. They were both 55, retired and loved the 2017 film “Girls Trip,” which is set in New Orleans during Essence Fest. They decided to attend this year to tick it off their bucket list. They wore matching yellow shirts with a “Girls Trip” graphic and styled them with denim shorts and jewels.
Yola Mzizi is a reporter for the Styles section and a member of the 2025-2026 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
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