New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said Friday the Essence Music Festival 'may be the most important event the people of this city are involved in.'
'What started off as a small music festival,' Landrieu told TIME, 'has now turned into a huge economic engine for this city over a weekend that otherwise wouldn't have filled up the city.'
Over the past 20 years, big names from Beyoncé to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have drawn massive crowds to the 'party with a purpose,' which has become the largest African American music festival in the U.S. But the event not only empowers the people of the city through speeches and music, as each year it also creates an economic boon for its host city.
At a press conference on Friday, Landrieu said the financial impact of the 400,000 people expected to pass through New Orleans over the weekend is 'in some instances, incalculable.' Last year, the event brought over a half-million people to the city, generating about $200 million during a weekend that was at one time 'dead,' says National Urban League president Marc Morial, who was the city's mayor when the event first came to town.
'Essence not only gave us something over the Fourth of July weekend, but it gave us something every year,' Morial says. 'There's a lot of local businesses that take advantage of the opportunity to enhance their sales by way of Essence.'
After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, Essence moved the festival to Houston, Texas. The festival's absence meant the city was left without the people and the money it typically brings in.
'When Essence wasn't here there was nobody working,' says Murphy Christina, the general manager of Mulate's Restaurant, a family-owned Cajun restaurant near the festival's headquarters. The town was so empty that Fourth of July weekend that Christina closed the restaurant. But today, it's open for business - and business is booming.
'Today, everybody is working,' Christina says. 'We've got a full house three days in a row.'
Another beneficiary of Essence Festival is Joe Blancheck, general manager of the Marriott hotel across the street from where the event is held. Blancheck says his rooms booked up quickly this year, but that didn't come as a surprise - they sell out every year.
'All of our hotels sell out pretty far in advance,' Blancheck says. 'We have a lot of repeat customers every year.'
Though the hosting contract between Essence and the state of Louisiana technically ends after this years' event, Mayor Landrieu says he expects the partnership between the city, state and the festival to continue growing.
'We've now become not just a place where people come to have fun over the weekend,' Landrieu says. 'I think we're at the beginning stages of just how big Essence can grow. And as long as it serves a unique purpose, which it clearly does, it'll only get bigger from here.'
Entities 0 Name: Landrieu Count: 4 1 Name: New Orleans Count: 3 2 Name: Christina Count: 2 3 Name: Blancheck Count: 2 4 Name: Beyoncé Count: 1 5 Name: Houston Count: 1 6 Name: Cajun Count: 1 7 Name: Murphy Christina Count: 1 8 Name: Morial Count: 1 9 Name: U.S. Count: 1 10 Name: Marc Morial Count: 1 11 Name: Hillary Clinton Count: 1 12 Name: Mulate 's Restaurant Count: 1 13 Name: National Urban League Count: 1 14 Name: African American Count: 1 15 Name: Joe Blancheck Count: 1 16 Name: Louisiana Count: 1 17 Name: Marriott Count: 1 18 Name: Texas Count: 1 19 Name: Mitch Landrieu Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1xtQWDk Title: 2014 ESSENCE Festival Livestream Schedule Description: If you can't make it to the 20th anniversary ESSENCE Festival in New Orleans this weekend, don't fret! We're bringing the experience right to you here on ESSENCE.com. From the concerts to the ESSENCE Empowerment Experience seminars, we are livestreaming the best content for your Fourth of July weekend.
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