The 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture® presented by Coca-Cola® is set to light up New Orleans once again from Friday, July 4 through Sunday, July 6 — and this year’s message is personal: We Are Made Like This.
Anthony Anderson and Kenny Burns will host the three-day celebration, which returns to honor the 55th anniversary of ESSENCE Magazine with a lineup that’s equal parts nostalgia, cultural legacy, and new-school heat.
And right at the heart of it all? Master P — the hometown icon, No Limit Records founder, and blueprint for independent hustle — is returning to the ESSENCE stage in New Orleans for a full-circle performance that pays homage to the city that raised him and the sound he helped globalize.
This Year’s Lineup? Stacked.
Headliners include:
- Maxwell, the Grammy-winning R&B legend and ESSENCE cover star
- Davido, the Afrobeats global phenom
- Summer Walker, whose moody R&B continues to chart the soul of a generation
- Boyz II Men, whose harmonies defined an era
- The Isley Brothers, Rock & Roll Hall of Famers who are still going strong
- Nas, lyrical icon and cultural mainstay
- Donell Jones, Muni Long, and GloRilla, who’s making her ESSENCE Fest debut
- Buju Banton, bringing Grammy-winning reggae to the dome for the first time
And in one of the most anticipated moments of the weekend, Jermaine Dupri will present ESSENCE Flowers — a curated tribute to the incomparable Quincy Jones, featuring artists who’ve sampled, studied, or shared space with the music titan.
A Cultural Experience — Day and Night
ESSENCE Festival isn’t just about the stage — it’s an all-day, immersive celebration of Black culture, community, and creativity.
This year brings back beloved programs and introduces fresh experiences, including:
- ESSENCE Food & Wine Festival™
- BEAUTYCON™: @ESSENCEFEST Edition
- AFROPUNK BLKTOPIA™
- ESSENCE Film Festival® by ESSENCE STUDIOS™
- SOKO MRKT™ by ESSENCE®
- ESSENCE Authors™
- ESSENCE® GU® Kickback
- GBEF® HQ
- ESSENCE Stage™ for live conversations, moments, and surprises
Legacy Meets Now
This year’s theme, Made Like This, isn’t just a tagline — it’s an affirmation. It reflects five-plus decades of shaping, building, and elevating Black culture, and the generations of artists, thinkers, and entrepreneurs who’ve helped push it forward.
GloRilla and Buju Banton’s first-time appearances speak to the Festival’s intentional embrace of every generation. Meanwhile, Master P’s return anchors this year’s celebration in legacy — New Orleans legacy, Southern hip hop legacy, and Black entrepreneurial legacy.
For over 30 years, the ESSENCE Festival of Culture has held space for Black joy, excellence, and community — and 2025 is no different. With nearly $1 billion in economic impact, it remains the largest celebration of Black culture and music in the U.S., and a rallying point for what’s next.