We Fixed It, You're Welcome - Essence Fest: Fixing a Cultural Icon

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

In this episode of "We Fixed It. You're Welcome," the hosts tackle the challenges faced by Essence Fest, an iconic African American culture and music festival in New Orleans. They explore the festival's recent struggles, including operational issues, declining attendance, and sponsor pullback. The team proposes solutions such as regionalizing the event, creating pop-up experiences in different cities, and focusing on local vendors and artists. They emphasize the importance of reconnecting with the festival's core mission, addressing the economic challenges faced by its target demographic, and improving communication with attendees. The hosts suggest innovative ideas like career-building events and modular sponsorships to revitalize the festival while maintaining its heart and soul in New Orleans. https://wefixeditpod.com/ A quick disclaimer. We are going into this somewhat cold and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice or anything that would get us in trouble. These are our views and opinions. We're here to ask the kinds of questions everyone's thinking. Have an engaging conversation and maybe come to some conclusions that we feel are worth exploring. By the end, if we fixed it, you're welcome. All trademarks, IP and brand elements discussed are property of their respective owners. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to We Fixed It. You're welcome. The show where we take over companies, you come along for the ride, and we try to put them back better than we found them. All right. Today we're talking to you about Essence Fest. This is an annual live event in New Orleans. It's intended to be an epicenter of culture and community for the whole country, really. It's featured liminaries like Prince, Beyonce, Snoop Dog, Janet Jackson.

I mean, Lauren Hill. I'm sure we'll get to because this event was pretty controversial. The crowds were a little smaller. were mixed. Corporate sponsors were far less generous or sat this year out. A lot of things that could go wrong with a festival did. There's a lot to unpack here. Of course, we're going to fix all of it. But I'm getting way ahead of myself before we do that. Kedira, please tell us more about what we're here to talk about. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, Aaron, exactly as you said, essence fest is the largest African American culture and music fest in the United States. As you said,

it takes place in New Orleans every Fourth of July weekend. And it actually started as a, one-time birthday celebration of the 25th anniversary of Essence magazine. So this was way back in 1995. But based on the response, it grew rapidly to this multi-day event. And it includes dozens of performances, you know, showcases, all the things. So picture during the day they have sponsored free for the public activities, panels, workshops at the convention center. And then at night, there's like this big party, like this party.

like this party-like atmosphere. It's ticketed. There's performances at the Superdome. And this year was really special because it marked two anniversaries. So one was the 55th year anniversary of Essence Magazine and the other, the 20th year since Hurricane Katrina, which I cannot believe, mind-blowing. Wow. Now, I mentioned Essence Magazine a couple of times, which, as I said, created Essence Fest. Essence Magazine is iconic.

It is the premier lifestyle fashion and beauty magazine for black women, African-American women, and was first published in 1970s. So the magazine was originally started to specifically serve the needs and interests of black women, a demographic that was largely overlooked by mainstream media at the time, right? Again, back in 1970, everything that was going on. And before this magazine existed, black women, if they were featured, and I'm, you know, emphasizing if they were featured in the media, media were often marginalized in stereotype. They were not seen even as a target demographic for

advertisements and their stories and experiences weren't being shared. So again, that's really why this magazine was born. So you can imagine with the start of this magazine, black women finally saw themselves on the pages of a magazine. So to say that this magazine has shaped the lives of black American women as an understatement. So then fast forward, right? The magazine is thinking about new ways to reach their target demographic. They're looking to celebrate milestones. And as we said, back in 1995, they decide to host the celebration in New Orleans of all places, which is known for a culture, you know, rich culture, community, good food. Oh my goodness, the food. And it grows from there. Like I said, I mean, folks can't get enough of the event year after year. And it's worth pointing

out, New Orleans has been the home of Essence Fest since the inception with a couple of exceptions. 2006, of course, following Katrina. And so they moved it to Houston temporarily. And then due to COVID in 2020 and 2021, the event was held virtually for those two years. But again, ever since, it's been in New Orleans. So folks are all buzzing. But again, this year, it was different. Usually there's excitement around the panels, people even, I mean, for weeks on social media afterwards, people are talking about everything from, you know, the entertainers to what people were wearing. But the criticism really overshadowed a lot of that this year. And I mean, there was a couple of things that folks pointed out. One was just operational challenges. There was logistical and

technical issues. Everything from the temperature inside the Superdome came up a lot to scheduling and time management performances running behind schedule. some performances not starting until after midnight, and then the celebrities were there performing to a nearly empty stadium. There was also, or has been, this evolution and focus. So Essence Festival has undergone a rebrand. It's evolved from the Essence Music Festival, or known as a music festival, to the Essence Festival of Culture. And the aim there is to broaden its scope, but there's been quite a bit of criticism around these shifts with some feeling like they're getting away from their original demographic and purpose of the festival.

Also because of the evolution, and look, change happens. It's fine. It's great. It's a beautiful thing. But there were some changes at the fest, which included some popular spaces that they usually have. They weren't there. So smaller performances that they usually have had, some of the local vendor opportunities that also contributed to some negative feedback. Of course, it's a tough year all around. Companies are cutting back, so there were less sponsors this year.

year. Again, less vendors, which of course impacted the local community. And then finally, we've had this conversation before just around tourism in general. And the fest saw that impact as well. So there was just this feeling that things felt different this year in terms of the turnout. And, you know, some of the numbers have come through hotel bookings were down compared to last year ticket sales. So, you know, they also felt that tourism declined. So those are just some of the challenges that were called out this year to, again, this, this beloved festival. That's a lot. That's a lot. That's a lot.

Well, one right off the bat is, you know, the, if you take away the local pulse, you know, of New Orleans, the reason you have a festival in New Orleans is because New Orleans, you know, it's like nowhere else in the country, if the world. And if you're removing some of those, the local vendors and artisans and craft people and and local music and side stages and you have local such you know incredibly talented local music and abundance if you're saying you're not welcome here or we're no spotlight on you this time you kind of lose it off the bat right you lose that inherent support that's right in front of you or should be i think maybe that was the first from what i'm hearing when i understand

maybe that was the first misstep is saying you're your sideline this year yeah and i mean i think you know they definitely had you know that the essence dot com there was a great write-up kind of as a recap about the festival. And they talked about, which I thought was great, some of the numbers, right? So they talked about how, for example, we know it takes a lot of resources to put together a festival like this. And so they did highlight their local involvement, everything from their community involvement, how they serve the community to the folks that they hire locally to help make the festival happen. And there was some of that local vendor participation. But again, there was some criticism that just in terms of engaging the local community

there was just some things left to be desired. And, you know, when you think about exactly to your point, a city like New Orleans, it's so rich, it's so unique. Yeah. You know, just thinking out some of the opportunities to really, I think, listen going forward to that community to understand whether it's from attendees who might have a unique perspective, whether it is the vendors, whether it is even folks from the tourism department. On going forward, how can we really make sure that we are. serving you in your city in this unique place to bring an amazing festival to, we say the United States, but there's folks that travel from all over the world to come to Essence Fest. So I think that's, you know, from a local engagement perspective, that's really where I think they could beef up a

little bit. Yeah. One of the things we've seen with these festivals and the declining attendance and then festivals that are kind of having a rebirth is really focusing on what the fans and I'll call them customers because that's my thing. But what the fans really want, the customers, what the audience, what the demographic is. And so I wonder if Essence Fest because of it's just, it's just foundationally been there for so long and for so many years. If they kind of got lost and like, well, we've always done it this way kind of attitude or, you know, we can always count on people showing up. And you know what? It's different now. Right. And there's, you know, there's an, you know, Essence magazine has a more aging population of people that really understand the historical value of essence. And so have you kind of curated that experience towards what the fans really want? So, you know, one of the things might be is really, to your point, I know there's like operationally there needs to be an overhaul. And, you know, you have, you have.

the data points. You have all of the complaints and all of the, you know, all of what happened this past year. So really, you know, how you got to fix, you know, fix the glaring up issues. So the technical issues, the scheduling issues, the even the venue issues with, you know, is the Superdome really the right place to have like a concert like that? You know, it's Fourth of July, New Orleans, hot, 100 degrees outside, 100% humidity. Like, can we figure out how to, you know, make it something that's, you know, something that's really focused on the fans as well as the artists, make ensuring that, you know, I know Stephanie Mills was one of the artists and she complained that there were no sound checks.

Like that is just not professional, right? Like, this is, come on, you know, there should be, all of that should be technically taken care of and should definitely have, I'm sure they did, have a festival manager, but you have to have from all different aspects, because if you're having culturally relevant, you're having food demos in the convention center, you're having panels discussing hot topics and, you know, activism and things like that. Those are different types of things that need to be set up, right? You need to make sure that technically the microphones are there. Do you have microphones for the audience to ask questions. Do you have the kitchen setup? You know, the pop-up kitchen set up. Do you have

the ability for people to come and taste the food, whatever, whatever. So I think that there were many things that led to this, but there's just as many ways to fix it and kind of bring that new life to it and new energy. And I love New Orleans. Trust me, it's one of my favorite cities. And you got it. You know, the music, the food. It's just the vibe is just. so special, but is it gotten to the point where it just feels routine? And so is that mean that maybe, I mean, you know how people want to be part of something that's special? Like, what about not having it every year? Right. You know what I mean? And so kind of creating this like, oh, did you get the special invite? The VIP access is going to be off the hook this year and da-da-da-da-da-da. And then creating

Something that, like, I know when I went to ACL, I know, like, Coachella, like all of these bigger festivals do is like after our small intimate shows and different experiences at local venues. So part of what I used to love about going to ACL in Austin was I definitely don't like going and standing in 100 degree weather with 28,000 people to date five songs by a band of love, right? but love getting, you know, two months prior to the festival, the list of all the late night shows, right? So, and there are, you know, pop-ups at these restaurants and bars that only has like 200 people, right? Yeah. So you're trying, you know, so like my husband and I would try to pick the days that we wanted to go to the festival because those were the pop-up, you know, we were going to go from midnight to two over to another bar and see. artists intimately playing. And then sometimes, you know, what was fun is they'd bring somebody else from another band

that was at the festival too, right? So it would be a really fun, like kind of, it seems like, you know, it's just a, it's just a gathering of friends, right? And so how do you kind of create this feeling so that the fans are feeling like there's this intimacy and that they're really, you know, because I think festivals are great. but like even the biggest festivals out there, you know, like Comic-Con and all of those things, have had to kind of rethink how they're addressing their fan base. And I think that this is something that, you know, Essence isn't the only festival that's having to do this.

But it's super important because it has a very strong base to your point. And how do you kind of bring in all, you know, a whole bunch of like local black women-owned. business and have, you know, a hall full of that where people can go and network and meet and, you know, all those kinds of things. I mean, I think that that's the thing that, you know, kind of finding what's the core, what, sorry for the pun, but what's the core essence of this whole festival, right? What the core mission and what's the core purpose and then kind of building around that? Because I honestly think the technical issues, the operational issues, you got to get some smart people in there to fix those things those are fixable those yeah that's

that's organizational things but it's really the core mission of what it wants to be when it grows up right and it's already grown up it's been around for 55 years you know what does it really want to be you know yeah yeah i have missed opportunity with katrina and all the things you know like you know yeah that's an important aspect of it absolutely I was just going to say if we look elsewhere, is it just a tough year for festivals? A hidden miss year for festivals. We have Bonarue getting canceled. We have South by Southwest rethinking and scaling down.

Do we want to over-calculate and say change everything? Or is it just an outlier kind of a year? And then crowds will come back next year. And, you know, sound checks will be smoother. Do we rethink everything right now? Yeah, I think it is. I mean, I think we've talked about that before. We've talked about some design.

disasters like Firefest. That's a whole different thing. Yeah. But I think that there are festivals and they've had to pivot. So, for example, South by Southwest, you just brought this up, Aaron, almost, you know, post-2020 bankruptcy scare, right? COVID, all the things. They created different sponsorships. So, Kadira, this is one of those things where it's not like the full-blown sponsorship of the festival, but more modular sponsorships. So they had brands that would only sponsor a certain stage, let's say, or a certain day, right? You know, not sponsor the entirety of the whole thing.

And I remember they really were really leaning in to social media as well, right? So again, that feeling of competition, kind of that auction feeling, secret feeling of you're one of those people that gets to know. I remember because, again, I was living in Texas at the time that I was going to South by Southwest and you would get a text message and it would say, the pop up, I'm making this up, but the pop up for Coca-Cola has moved. It is now on this street and they're giving out a free new flavor that nobody's had before, like, you know, cherry vanilla, whatever it was, right? And so then all of a sudden people's phones are dinging and they're all like going to this place. So they want to be part of it.

But I wonder if, you know, and then online, you know, online experiences. I'm not sure that that's great. I mean, I don't really love an online experience, but there are people that can't get to New Orleans, for example. So how do you have an interactive online experience? And can you sell a different type of ticket for that audience? You're taping all the panels, you know, you get a cookbook sent to you from the food, you know, whatever, something like that. And then anything that's really relative to the magazine, right? So like, do you get a discount with, I'm sure you do?

I'm sure they already do this, but with an essence subscription, right? You know, like what kind, you know, and like maybe they do secret bingo or something within the magazine. And so like if you found it, then you get, you know, a free ticket or a VIP experience. Yeah. You get to choose a VIP experience. And, you know, more and more the fans are choosing these VIP experiences, whether it's, you know, meeting the actual artist or it's getting merch that's not sold, you know, in the venue, that kind of thing. And I think that that would be something for them to think about in terms of that.

But, you know, festival tickets, the price is just so high these days that I think it's really hard for people. And then to your point, because you're like, you got to book a hotel room. You got to think about food. You got to, you know. And so is there a way to package it? so that it is attractive and immersive and affordable, but obviously Essence is still, and the vendors are still going to make some money, right? So like you can, you know, the premier New Orleans experience might be going to Commander's Palace for dinner one night

with a group getting to stay in a fancy hotel and, you know, down near Bourbon Street, you know, and then also getting to go see Preservation Jazz Hall, getting to go to a concert one night. all the things. I mean, I think people would be willing to pay for that, you know. Yeah, absolutely. I think that's all really good points. And yeah, this is an opportunity for the team that puts the festival together to show their power to pivot. You know, one, just responding to current economic times, the climate, all the things. And it's okay,

you know, to bring in outside help. And also it's okay to take. And also it's okay to take a page out of the playbook of some of these other festivals or conferences or what have you that have evolved, maybe change the name, evolved their focus, whatever, and been able to do it successfully. I think this is absolutely the time based on some of the feedback that they've received to engage some of that outside help or if they're going to overhaul, you know, some of their folks on, you know, the team or whatever to do just that. Because I think there's grace here, for sure, right? Again, this festival has been around for so long. Folks wanted to succeed, celebrities wanted to succeed that come back year after years. So there is that. And I would say,

you know, the other thing that I was thinking about is, as I mentioned, you know, they changed the name again because they are evolving, which is great. I would be curious to know how much kind of testing and learning and listening and learning they did before. They did the name change. Just to understand, you know, what was, what type of impact that might have had on the festival and attendance and reception this year. Maybe, you know, they did that and it was, you know, fine and well received. But I wonder how much that might have played into it. I think the other thing is, you know, I, you know, if I were on that team, I would be thinking

about this very layered communications plan. That was one of the other things that came out is that, you know, folks felt like some of the announcements about who was going to be at the fest and vendors and all that stuff kind of came out late. Given this type of feedback, I would be planning about six to nine months. months. You've already got the magazine. You've already got the website. It belongs to you. I would start peppering. This is what we heard last year. This is what we've learned since then. Here's what we've been up to you. Here's what to expect this year. Here's how you can help us. I don't think

it's wrong to assign your audience or those attendees or potential attendees a role. Even if it is, you know, Melissa, I love that idea of like upgrades your subscription or buy a subscription and we'll give you a discount. Like you said, they're probably already doing that. But those types of things like leverage all your different products and start engaging folks sooner. Absolutely. Yeah. I think you're right. Communication is key.

And, you know, somebody I know, so one of the other festivals that I was looking at in terms of how they were able to pivot was Afropunk. And they had some movies as well. And they also went through a rebrand in 2016. But what they did is they just hit all of the feedback loops immediately. Right. Like they said, you know what? attendees were complaining about inclusivity, right?

So they created a stage that was call out culture, right? And that's what they did, you know? And so if you can show that you're listening, because I think that's one of the things you were just saying, Kadira, if you can show that you're listening, that will engage people to want to come back because they'll be like, okay, it's not going to be 125 degrees in the venue. And a 3 a.m. Lauren Hill showed, like, no one wants that, right? you know, maybe Warren Hill does. That can be a last because she's known for like, right. She performs like Haley's comment. If she's going to be on stage, you're going to want to be there, right?

Yeah, exactly. Oh, yeah. Well, and I've gone to, yeah, she's great. I also think that like that your point around like social media is is a way to communicate now. And so like if they would have had also, I'm assuming they had somebody, but maybe it was only an intern. Maybe you really need like a vibe check coordinator, right? We're instantly looking at what's being posted and they're like, oh my God, we need to get, you know, waters or something over to this stage or to this venue or this venue is like obviously way too small for the number of people that have showed up. So we need to get over there because all these people are on the street and not going to be able to get in, right?

So I think that like again, showing that you care about the fans and what they're going through and then trying to address that in the next year and saying like we just didn't realize that you all wanted food pop up or you wanted a hometown hero stage, right? Where because it was like, you know, they could have like done a great job of like really focusing on what has transpired since Katrina. Right. And so when we talked about hometown heroes, you could you could have had all of these amazing people from New Orleans kind of show up and show out and show what they've done, right?

So, again, like, kind of figuring out what's the right thing and what are the right topics, because just to have a festival, to have a festival to celebrate, you know, 55 years is great. But, like, it gets kind of stale. And that's what I'm saying is what's the transformation going to be to make it so relevant to the fans. And I think I think that when you think about essence, there's also this lifestyle component and the aspect, the activism, all of those things together. So really making sure that you're bringing all of this, you know, and what about partnering and like hearing from people? Like I said, like maybe you can say, hey, you know, keep an eye out on our social media account because we're going to tell you where the next pop-up festival is going to be. and it's going to be someplace different,

and it might be Chicago, right? And it might only be two days in Chicago, and it's going to be a blast. Or it could be New York Fashion Week, and we're going to be working with, you know, public school and all these, you know, black fashion designers and, you know, or whatever it might be.

That would be kind of a cool thing, too, to kind of test the water to see if, like, they can expand it to be like an all year type of energy. I love that. I love that. I was thinking about that as well. I mean, in my mind, I had called it.

I don't know if I had it as fancy a way as you're thinking about it, Melissa, but I was like, what about these regional like activations or curated experiences, right, bringing the festival to people versus having always for folks to travel? Because there's also been this conversation, you know,

is their location fatigue? And look, again, Orleans love New Orleans. And, you know, it's, I think they're, you know, they've thrown out the term that like New Orleans is the forever home of the festival. And that is great and that is fine. And to your point, if they were to create these, you know, kind of smaller regional curated, curated, pop up special type events in other major cities, that could be pretty cool. And I love this idea of you're celebrating actually year round. It may not be kind of this full blown Essence Fest experience. that you're going to have in New Orleans, but it keeps that excitement and that momentum going, right, year round. So I, yeah, I love that. I like that. Definitely in the summer. And so, like, what about having a winter essence fest, right? You know, what I mean? And doing it in a place

that, like, is different. The other thing is to keep the hype up around New Orleans is, like, to me, it's like, maybe you don't do it there every year, right? You know, and I'm not saying that, like, you would, you know, maybe it's the, it only happens every two or every three in actual New Orleans. And it kind of pings off of other places on those off years and smaller, right? Like so that you can kind of like you're trying, what you're trying to do is really like grow the fan base. And so what you're doing is you're kind of pulling in people that can't afford to go to

New Orleans or can't afford the whole weekend package, right? And so you're you're kind of getting them interested and then you can kind of see how it might evolve or being focused on just a certain topic. So like Essence Fest is like we were talking lifestyle, music, food, everything. But what about like, you know, essence Fest partnering with New York Fashion Week, right? Yes. Right. And going in and you're getting wonderful black models. You're getting black designers. You're getting dinner in Harlem. You know what? All the things. and you know and that could be like one of these experiences that is like it kind of branches out what the bigger thing is.

And then you're also kind of allowing exposure to these New York artists who may be like, I don't have time to go to New Orleans. Yeah. Now they see like, oh my God, that was so much fun. It was a whole different kind of vibe there. I loved it. And I am happy to be featured in the now. next Essence Fest in New Orleans.

And I'm bringing all my buddies, right? You know, that kind of thing. So love. I think there's a way to do that. Well, yeah, I like that idea of being, you know, every two years, every three years, where you keep your heart in your home in New Orleans. But it's not even a question of a Ford. It's, you know, when you factor in tourist time, hotel rates and everything that goes

around that and travel, a free festival adds up pretty quick, right? Yeah. So just the cost of being there might be in every two to three year type of venture or type of thinking. But I do think with the, if we're grounding it in New Orleans and you're going to make major changes, I do, I wonder if some of these were done with all good intentions, but some were done by closed door committee or to appease corporate sponsors and say we're going to make this different for you. But then, you know, my impression of New Orleans whenever I'm there is that there's something like 100, I'll just say 100, unofficial mayors, right? People are really, really influential and are the, you know, representative of the community. You see a woman walking down the street dressed impeccably and she's flanked by an entourage and you say, who is that?

And I say, oh, she, you know, she's a big deal here. If you don't have the 50 to 100 people that actually are representative of New Orleans culture, if they're not behind it or they find out after the fact that something changed, you probably not set up to succeed. Oh, yeah, that's a really good point. I absolutely. And again, you know, sure that, you know, Essence is on this and has been. But yeah, I would, you know, from the start, have kind of regular conversations and communication planning meetings, feedback meetings, insight meetings, listening tours, all the things, Aaron, to your point with those influential folks, boots on the ground, really making sure that we're locked step. You know, I know that the Essence Fest team works closely with the city, of course. You know, again, they give back. The city is deeply invested, of course. They want the festival to remain.

It brings tons of money into the city. But exactly to your point, like, I would be asking all the questions and I would have very specific questions that I would be asking that particular group, you know, just to understand what we need to do to make sure that we are staying true to that kind of New Orleans field. Because, again, it's there for a reason. But I think you also raise a really good point about, you know, having to also kind of satisfy corporate sponsors. And we know sponsorships across the board for events, it's tight right now. And then you throw on this additional layer around DEI and some of the cuts. And, you know, I know nothing about, you know, what budgets and things like that that sponsorship dollars have come out of for Essence Fest.

But, you know, I'm willing to bet some of it probably came out of DEI pots. And we know that, you know, those things have been kind of cut or pulled back. And so I think it absolutely is going to require getting very creative. It absolutely is going to require, you know, building. that trust or rebuilding some of that trust, especially on the local stage with folks. And, you know, just really thinking about, you know, again, I really love some of the points Melissa made about like, hey, they have talked about evolving and changing. Change is uncomfortable, but change is good, especially if we want to be around for another 50 to 100 years doing this festival.

It's going to look a little bit different. And that's okay. You need to test and learn, though, and not just kind of throw it on people all at once. But yeah, again, I, I think they've got the grace there to make it happen. They just, we just need to be thinking about a little bit differently. Yeah. Yeah. Today, in today's world, too, there's just so, you're being flooded with images and media and marketing and brands and all of the things.

And so, you know, to pare it down, right, again, like, what's at the heart of Essence Fest? And, like, can we get back to the heart of that? And maybe that's what, you know, you're transforming it to. and really saying, you know, what the heart is is our subscribers and all of you, our network, right? You know, you're at the heart of this. And so really focusing on that and then saying, you know, the heart of New Orleans are these black-owned businesses. And so we then be our sponsors. Like, I mean, I'm not going to say screw poker cola, but like, you know, whatever.

But like, you know, make it feel like it's intimate. it make it feel like connected to the to the user and I mean I think that then you might get more sponsors locally from New Orleans because they probably are like you know we don't we get the corner part of the you know convention center and you're giving Coca-Cola right when they walk in the door who cares co-co-Cola is everywhere nobody you know what I mean it doesn't seem fair but like you know creating and curating these experiences like having an ethical tour, right, like a certain neighborhood or, you know, like, you know, my kids are all into the voodoo and ghosts and things like that. So like, you know, having like a late night ghost

tour and then you end up at a restaurant and you're, you get all the things. I mean, just fun things like that, but where you're really kind of focused on the culture of New Orleans, you're really focused on those small business owners, I think could really help you because I think that one of the things about backlash that the cancel culture, I know like my family very actively, I'm very aware of things that, you know, don't go to Target, go in all the things they say, but is really focusing on the small business owner because they're bringing life to the neighborhood. They're bringing life to the cities. And so that might be something too that like kind of that grassroots type of thing.

And then the idea of like planning, you know, like, you know, I'm, shouldn't dismiss that operationally this was a nightmare and it's really hard but you know festivals have been happening forever yep and as somebody that understands like the music industry a little bit i know that for like example for acl those acts are being booked five years out yeah yep yep yep you hear to say we didn't know who the acts were going to be okay that's not great that's not good yeah you know what i get that like oh you know, like, you know, one of the things, like, I remember going to ACL and we saw Lizzo. And she was booked way before she became, like, huge.

Yeah. Like, they put her on, like, booked her, and they put her on, like, a kind of not the main stage and on, kind of, like, at a weird time. And I just remember, like, everybody was there. And you couldn't be, like, she took a picture. It was so great. Like, you couldn't even see. And, like, whoever the.

main stage person was, you know, was like, I guess everybody wants to go see Louza, right? You know, but it was like, you know, you have to kind of guess who's going to be really good and hot at the time. But at the same time, part of what makes Essence Fest what it is is just it's tradition, right? Yeah. And getting like, you know, and so like, you know, I am old. I don't want to have to stand in a hundred degree weather and have, you know, port-a-potties and I don't know. Yeah.

I would like a drink. You know, and I wouldn't, I don't want to have to wait like, yeah, hour and a half for a drink so I missed the whole set. You know, all those kinds of things. And so I think that like knowing, again, knowing your audience, you know, you can make these like after hour pop-ups in New Orleans. I mean, New Orleans never sleeps. So like, yeah. Yeah.

You know, I kind of laugh about that complaint that Lauren Hill went on at three in the morning or whatever because like in New Orleans, that's like, oh, okay. Right. That's a prime time, right? Isn't that prime? The African-American community in New Orleans is just so strong and vibrant and beautiful. I would just hate to know that something like Essence Fest just can't work there anymore, you know? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. The plan that, you know, my understanding, the plan is, of course, to keep it there. But, you know, I think to Melissa's point, you know, wow, would it be cool to start looking at doing some of these other smaller type of kind of special events in other cities? And we got to do something, right? And not just for Essence Fest, but as we think of it. about all festivals, it's going to require being really creative and really strategic. I will say for Essence Fest, especially when they think about their target demographic or a core

demographic as black women. I think, you know, it's imperative to point out in the last three months, 300,000 black women have left the workforce, laid off, lost their jobs, etc. Yeah. That absolutely is going to play a part and likely played a part, right? In, you know, being able, you know, their target being able to travel or attend this festival. If you're in survival mode, you're probably not thinking about celebrating as much. It'll be interesting to see if they prepare for and anticipate any further impact for next year and how they're going to fix that.

Again, right? Like they're operating within, you know, the economy and all the things that the rest of us are and all these other festivals. But again, knowing your target demographic, knowing what they're facing, how are you going to think about how you're going to adjust some of the things with your festival differently to make sure that you can still engage them because, you know, eventually we'll be back. They'll be back. And you want to make sure that you have continued to nurture that relationship when they

have been in a slump along with you. Yeah. That's just, I mean, that's just a perfect example of a really hot, relevant topic that they could have capitalized on that. Like, that's data. That is data. That is their fan base. Yep.

They should have had a networking event. Right. And it should be, because to your point, people can't afford to go, but it should, there should be, they should have an SSFS network. Yeah. It'd be like online pop-ups and we're going to do, you know, meet, meet all these business owners. We're going to do resume review. We're going to talk about, you know, first responders or whatever, you know, different areas you're in where you might need employment. Yeah.

I think that in career building, I think that that is just a great example of like reading the room and knowing where you could lean in and you could bring in like people to just motivational speakers to help you feel better about like. Yeah. It's a crazy time right now, right? And so there are a lot of things going on. And I think that, you know, we have to be sensitive and aware that people don't want to pay $250. Yeah. Yeah. When you go to your grocery.

Right. That's right. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. I mean, that is something to be aware of. Yeah. Well, we are getting our ding to put our fixes into motion.

If we do a, if we go to regionalize and different cities and pop-ups and maybe integrated experiences, bring the essence fest to the Met Gala and bring it to other occasions throughout the year and have a winter fest somewhere else. But keep the heart and soul in New Orleans and. make sure that we involve local vendors, craftspeople, and see our audience members or participants as full formed, you know, all sides of the equation, not just, you know, there to buy, there to listen, there to engage, but maybe build in career opportunities or other things that speak to what's happening in their lives. Are we setting up for a better Essence Fest 2026? Cadir all good at you last because you brought us the topic. Melissa, what do you say? I think it's very fixable. I mean, Jazz Fest group came back stronger after Katrina. We've talked about South by Southwest survived near bankruptcy.

Essus's legacy is too big to fail. It's just too big to fail. And we need to act like underdogs or Essence does. And they need to really kick it into gear. You know, the operational, technical things, to me, those are things that are easily fixed. It's understanding what your fan base wants. that's going to be a little bit harder and show that you're listening and let's just not fix it. Let's reignite it. Let's just make it like what it was when it first started, right? Which is just the place to be. So, and I want to go. I love that. Yeah. I'll be sitting in the Cafe Dumont tent eating. Kadira, 26 Essence Fest.

Is it better? Is it brighter? Do we fix it? Absolutely. Like I said, I'm going to say it again. I said it before, I'm going to say it again. There's grace, right? The festival, folks that attend this fest want it to succeed. And so I think that's, you know, half, three quarters of the battle. With some of these, you know, fixes that show, again, what's in the short term, but what's in

the long term, how are they addressing what they heard? Very specific feedback that's been given and it's been consistent, whether it's been from attendees, whether it's from the vendors, whether it's been from celebrities who performed, it's been consistent. Address it. The other thing is communicate earlier and frequently to let folks know what you were doing, right? I so love that they made this, you know, kind of a letter or recap on social media and on their website to talk about like, hey, yeah, we heard you.

I love that. Don't go silent, though, again, until, you know, June of next year when you pop up with the agenda for the next conference. Like, again, a couple months from now, here's what we heard, just want to check in, let you know what we've been working on. There's so much love here. And, you know, I think to the point we've made earlier is just reading the room, I would even keep a little bit of room on the agenda. And this is going to cause some anxiety. But if you're used to planning events, you're used to it. Keep a little bit of room on the agenda for these types of issues, for these types of challenges that face your target demographic in the event that you need to make a quick pivot or introduce something new to address something very timely that might be going on in that community, i.e., 300,000 black women are not working. Could we have added a career fit? You know, so I'll just leave that let that there.

But yes, I'm excited to see them fix this for next year. Kedar, that gave me idea. So besides being in the booth for the bignets, the fearless fixers, we should have our own booth and we could do the hot topics of, we could be a hot topics panel. That's what. Pitch it. And then we can let them bring them up and we can talk.

I love it. All right. We have phone calls to make. Let's do it. Well, that does it for this episode. if We Fixed It, you're welcome. New Orleans, you are one of my favorite cities in the world. We are happy to be your fearless fixers. I hope we did some good here. Anything else you need, we'll call you, you call us. Thank you so much, Kadira, for bringing us this great topic.

And thank you, Melissa. Everyone, you can catch up on past episodes from our current season two, all the way back to our humble beginnings in season one at we fixeditpod.com. We are going to go cook up another episode, and we'll see you next time. We hope you enjoyed this episode of We Fixed It, you're welcome. We go into every episode somewhat cold and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice, or anything that would get us in trouble. All trademarks, IP, and brand elements remain property of their respective owners.