Time Inc’s Essence Festival Attracts Half a Million Fans

Advertising Age: This past Fourth of July weekend, an estimated 450,000 people blanketed New Orleans’ French Quarter, filling hotels and packing restaurants. They came from all over—Florida, Delaware, Texas, Georgia, New York. Busloads of women, ages 20s to 80s, made the trip. In its 22nd year, the Essence Festival has surpassed anything its creators ever imagined.