Essence Festival 2025 delivers mixed results for New Orleans hotels

Hotel performance in New Orleans during the 2025 Essence Festival weekend, considered a premier summer event in the city and held this year from July 3 to 6, was down compared to the same period in 2024. The Essence Festival, a major celebration of Black culture and music held annually in New Orleans since 1995, typically draws hundreds of thousands of attendees for concerts, panels and community events centered around the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and the Superdome.