ESSENCE Festival Of Culture can be considered a Black women’s pilgrimage to the mecca of the South, New Orleans, every summer, and for good reason. This year is the festival’s 30th anniversary and is expected to boast hot performances, engaging programming including insightful panels, and delicious, mouthwatering food and spirits. However, the opportunity to connect, bond, and fortify relationships with their best friends excites girlfriend groups across the United States. Similar to Will Packer’s 2017 movie, Girls Trip, the ESSENCE Festival Of Culture is a breeding ground of fun-filled adventures, mischievous shenanigans outside of the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center (of course), and loving once-in-a-lifetime memories shared with your closest confidants, your girlfriends.
We’ve included several tips below to help you prepare for your upcoming girls’ trip. See you in NOLA!
Budget: Although ESSENCE Fest programming is free, the flights, hotels, concerts, food, and drinks aren’t! Connect with your besties to devise a financial wellness plan to limit stress and any future resentment. You all should be contributing to and planning the budget.
Lock down a fun hotel: While there are plenty of fun, attractive, and exciting boutique hotels to stay at in New Orleans, like the Ace Hotel and The Pontchartrain, we’ve got the hook up on equally fabulous hotels, as our 2024 FESTIVAL Block is open! Check out our featured hotel list here. Reach out to the hotel of choice to take advantage of our unique festival weekend rate.
Make a list of NOLA sights: Although we have everything you think of or dream of at ESSENCE Fest, NOLA is full of beautiful sites to visit and fun attractions, like steamboat tours, bar crawls on Bourbon Street, walks in City Park, and distillery and cocktail tours. Chat with your girlfriends to see what piques your group’s interest, and create a sightseeing itinerary.
Download the EFOC app to curate your itinerary: A great way to streamline your ESSENCE Fest experience is to download our EFOC app ahead of time! The app lets you plan each festival day, starting with panels, performances, and free giveaways. You can share your itinerary with your friends to see if they want to attend programming alongside you. Learn about the official EFOC app here.
Set an intention for your trip: A real successful girls’ trip always includes a positive intention at the start of it to guide your adventures throughout your time with your girls. Brainstorm how you’d like to feel at the festival with your girlfriends, and then make it happen!
Be flexible with your plans: As much as some of us love to plan and have a budget and itinerary, sometimes things just don’t work out or can go in a different direction, and that’s okay! Try to be flexible throughout your girls’ trip. Even if plans go awry, remember you’re there to have fun with your girls!
Schedule some solo time: I love a good spa day, solo brunch, or museum date alone during girls’ trips. It’s essential to recharge yourself by taking a necessary day or even a few hours.
The ESSENCE Festival of Culture™ presented by Coca-Cola® will take place July 4-7. For more information and updates on the festival, visit our website and follow us on social media @ESSENCEFest on X, Facebook, and Instagram.