Essence Music Festival Hits New Orleans

George Rainey has been cooking soul food for the Essence Music Festival since its inception 12 years ago, missing last year only because the event moved to Texas due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Rainey can hardly wait for Thursday, when Essence returns to the Louisiana Superdome and Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

"We are ready to do what we know how to do — take care of people," said Rainey, who operates Rainey's Restaurant and Catering.

Rainey's business is one of many that will benefit from the festival, which runs through Saturday and is expected to draw about 200,000 attendees and infuse some $150 million into the local economy.

This year's lineup includes the contemporary sounds of Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown and Ludacris interwoven with the old school tunes of the Isley Brothers, the O'Jays, Lionel Richie, and Maze, featuring Frankie Beverly — the act that has closed the festival each year since it launched in 1995 to mark the 25th anniversary of Essence magazine.

While the hip-hop, R&B and gospel music will fill the Superdome, the convention center will play host to free, daily "empowerment" seminars with top voices in the black community tackling social issues.

In addition, artists and other vendors will sell their wares at a marketplace in the convention center where celebrity meet-and-greets and author book signings also will be held.

The backdrops are significant.

Both buildings sheltered masses after Katrina flooded 80 percent of New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2005. Storm damage left the buildings incapable of hosting the 2006 music festival, which was moved to Houston's Reliant Park.

The Superdome reopened in September 2006 after a $185 million renovation and conventions and meetings have returned to the Morial Center.

For the city's tourism industry, still rebounding from Katrina, Essence is a needed summertime tonic.

"This is the last really big, major event in the city before the fall," said Wayne Baquet, who owns Li'l Dizzy's Cafe and will have two food booths in the Superdome, where Essence has created superlounges for acts not on the main stage. "August gets really slow and if it wasn't for Essence, businesses like mine would struggle in the summer."

Jewelry designer Chester Allen, whose home in New Orleans' Broadmoor neighborhood took on six feet of water, said when he sets up his festival booth it will be his first time back in the convention center since Katrina.

"Everything that happens, happens for a reason," Allen said. "The memories that are there, inside those buildings, won't just go away. At the same time we, as a community, need to move forward and establish new memories."

Frank Lewis, an artist who works mostly with oils and acrylics and whose clients include singers Erykah Badu and India.arie, said the festival will provide a much-needed spark for the city.

"Essence coming back is just beautiful," said Lewis, who also will be set up in the convention center. "It's a big help for the city and really gives a chance for New Orleans artists to show what they can do on the big stage."

Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence Communications Inc., which owns the event, said it was "important for the festival to participate in the rebirth of New Orleans."

A portion of all concert ticket proceeds will benefit the Children's Defense Fund Freedom Schools of New Orleans, which teach reading enrichment, art and music, she said.

Essence recently agreed to a deal to keep it in the city through 2009.

"We offer a product here that's not offered anywhere else," said Rainey. "It's a different thing when New Orleans hosts it. We thank Houston for doing so last year, but we know how to do it better than any other place in the world."