Cardi B To Headline 2026 Essence Fest
Cardi B, Brandy & Monica, Patti Labelle, Kehlani And Latto To Headline Essence Fest
In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Essence Festival of Culture announced the first wave of performers for their 2026 Evening Concert Series and Cardi B, Patti LaBelle, Kehlani, Latto, Kehlani and Brandy & Monica will hit the stage at the Superdome July 3-5.
The annual festival draws thousands of Black women (and men) to the Big Easy for weeklong events throughout the city. This year’s daytime programming footprint includes: ESSENCE Food & Wine Festival™ BEAUTYCON™: @ESSENCEFEST Edition, ESSENCE Film Festival® by ESSENCE STUDIOS, ESSENCE Stage™, SOKO MRKT™ by ESSENCE®, ESSENCE Authors™, AFROPUNK BLKTOPIA™
Monica shared an image on social media of her and Brandy, the duo headlined a super successful tour earlier this year, with the caption “@brandy and I are SO happy to announce that WE #Bronica, are headlining @essence Festival 2026….on Saturday, July 4th” and urging fans to get their tickets now.”
The 2025 Essence Festival of the Culture recently made headlines for reportedly not paying its vendors from last year. According to Nola.com,”The Essence Festival of Culture said it has agreements in place to pay all contractors for work on last year’s festival.”
Despite the negative reports that came out of last year’s event, fans seem eager for this year’s lineup. We’re looking forward to the next wave of performers because you know the concert series is jam packed every year. Tickets for the 2026 Essence Festival of Culture are currently on sale, here.
