Essence Music Festival 2010

Essence Music Festival 2010 Headlined with Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige and Alicia Keys
Louisiana Superdome - New Orleans, LA, USA – July 2-4, 2010
by Tamara Jenkins, photography by Dan Locke

2010 marked the 16th year of the Essence Music Festival that celebrates the best and brightest in entertainment and it did not disappoint.

Described as the UltimatePartyWeekend, this year's festival was held July 2-4 in New Orleans, Louisiana and included free daily empowerment seminars with some of the nation's most influential speakers, authors and leaders, and, of course music, with a triple dose of female power with Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige and Alicia Keys as the musical headliners.

For those who have yet to experience the festival, it is a combination of free, themed seminars during the day and concerts in the evening held this year in the Louisiana Superdome. Performances are a broken up between the main stage where opening acts and headliners perform and in super lounges around the main stage where mini-concerts are performed.

Seminars topics included Love and relationships, education in the black community and an all star gospel salute to Kirk Franklin, Pastor Shirley Caesar and Bishop Paul and Pastor Debra Morton. Seminar highlights included Q&A's with actor/comedian Steve Harvey and actress Jada Pinkett Smith, Bill Cosby delivering an Educational Keynote, Getting Your Life Back by Dr. Juanita Bynum, Where Do We Go From Here? by Reverend Al Sharpton and Reclaiming Our Youth: Purpose, Principles and Power Mentoring by Bishop TD Jakes.

Read the full review at UnRatedMagazine.com