If the 2018 ESSENCE Festival hasn't made your festival schedule yet, maybe things will change with their latest announcement. They just released their night-by-night performance schedule, with the addition of acts like Ledisi, Jussie Smollett and SWV (as part of Teddy Riley's New Jack Swing Experience) and while we're beyond here for all of these performers, there are even more! The annual festival taking place from July 6th through July 8th in New Orleans, Louisiana promises 40 live acts across the festival's Mainstage and in the intimate Superlounges at the Superdome. This year's headliners already included the cream of the A-list crop, including Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, and now with the full schedule, the ESSENCE team has upped the ante even more, making the three-day extravaganza one not to miss.
The detailed lineup gives you options for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with each day getting better and better. After perusing the detailed schedule, we found our girl KeKe Wyatt, legendary femcees Lady of Rage and YoYo and violinist Damien Escobar holding down the first night. Songstress Ella Mai and crooner Lloyd take on Saturday and group Louis York help usher in the Sunday night festivities. Also, for the first time ever, Sunday includes a special night of celebrating New Orleans Bounce headlined by Big Freedia.
Don't forget there's a special curation by The Roots on opening night and comedian Roy Wood Jr. returns this year as the Mainstage host, with additional surprise guest performances to be announced. This year's ESSENCE Fest is looking like the move this July. Scroll down to map out your 2018 ESSENCE Festival game plan when you check our their night-by-night lineup on the flyer below. Single night tickets are available to purchase now on the ESSENCE Festival website.
