Essence Festival 2020: Janet Jackson and Bruno Mars to headline the week-long celebration in New Orleans
Pop music fans will be thrilled to hear that two of the genre's biggest artists will be performing at The Big Easy this summer. Janet Jackson and Bruno Mars were announced as the headline acts for this year's Essence Festival, on February 11. Both pop stars will take to the stage on July 1 in New Orleans for the week-long festival now monikered 'Essence Festival of Culture' in celebration of music, culture and pure entertainment.
Jackson will mark her third performance at the festival this year and it will be in tandem with her newly-announced 'Black Diamond World Tour'. On the other hand, 11-time Grammy Award-winning Bruno Mars will make his first appearance at the festival.
The 'Essence Festival of Culture' will be hosted by Emmy-winning comedian Loni Love and the theme for the festival for 2020 is deemed 'Own Our Power'. The theme will be the main focus of all conversations and performances, which will encompass beauty, fashion, technology, film, food, wellness, advocacy, entrepreneurship and advancing black culture, according to the New York Daily News.
Each night will pay tribute to various musical icons and will include an exclusive celebration part at the Superdome in New Orleans on July 4.
Other performers set to take the stage at the festival include Janelle Monae, Patti LaBelle and Ari Lennox, as well as a 'Reggae X Afrobeats Link Up' presented by Estelle that features Kranium, Elephant Man, Afro B, Shenseea, Max Glazer and others.
Essence communications CEO Michelle Ebanks said, "This is a milestone year for Essence and our community as we celebrate 50 years of creating opportunities for our culture to shine and the role of Black women in making it possible for us to do what no other brand has done."
She added, "To be able to say that at 50 years, we are Black-owned, diversified across media, technology, commerce and live events, and impacting our culture in new and even deeper ways than ever before is a blessing — and one that comes with a tremendous responsibility to our community to continue to evolve, innovate and transform. That remains our focus and commitment as we work to ensure that we are here serving Black women deeply and advancing Black culture, economic ownership and inclusion globally for the next 50 years."
Read more on Janet Jackson's 'Black Diamond World Tour' here.
