Lala Anthony, Tamron Hall, Ava Duvernay Discuss New Projects During the 2019 Essence Festival of Culture

*The 2019 Essence Festival has expanded to so much more outside of music. A four-day extravaganza that has expanded to include beauty, fashion, entrepreneurship, Politics and food now feels more in line with the likes of the SXSW Conference – an annual conglomerate of film, interactive media, and music conference and festival – except solely dedicated to an influential audience of Black women.

The official sponsors of the festival include Ford, McDonald’s, Disney, AT&T and Coca Cola. But that doesn’t mean that others haven’t taken notice of the audience of over 500,000, that hit New Orleans for the event. Brands outside of the title sponsors hosted several pop-up houses across the city featuring curated events. Spotify, HBO, BET, Netflix, and African Pride were some of the brands spotlighting the magic of Black women.

Spotify celebrated Black voices, female creators and thought leaders at the Spotify House of Are & Be. Live performances, a podcast recording for Jemele Hill’s “Unbothered” featuring potential 2019 Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris, DJ sets, and a curated art gallery.

Raphael Saadiq was the headlining act for an after-hours event that featured a live band. In addition to dropping a bunch of his classics. The show also featured surprise performances from BJ The Chicago Kid, Elle Varner, Wale and Mario.

2019 ESSENCE FESTIVAL CONCERT SERIES RECAP FEATURING MICHELLE OBAMA, MISSY ELLIOT, PHARELL, PATTI LABELLE & MORE

OWN TV presented the “SUMMER OF OWN afternoon conversation and cocktail party in partnership with Dove. Talent from the network’s hit shows  GREENLEAF, QUEEN SUGAR, AMBITIONS, DAVID MAKES MAN, IYANLA: FIX MY LIFE and director Ava DuVernay were in attendance.

EURweb’s Jill Munroe attended the newly branded Essence Festival of Culture as part of the Essence Festival Press junket, speaking with La La Anthony, Tamron Hall about their upcoming projects including the final season of Lala’s hit Starz show “Power,” actor Aldis Hodge who stars in the true story of Brian Banks – an all-American high school football star who finds his life upended when he’s wrongly convicted of a crime he didn’t commit – Director extraordinaire Ava Duvernay, Iyanla Vazant and Alana Arenas of “David Makes Man.”

Following the interviews, members of the junket were treated to authentic New Orleans cuisine courtesy of the New Orleans Board of Tourism at Arnaud’s French 75 Bar.

 

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