The Essence Music Festival is an annual three-day concert held in the United States over the Fourth of July weekend. It is regularly held in New Orleans, Louisiana and features performances from famous R&B and Soul musicians. In 2010, the concert was held on July 2 through July 4. Among the artists on the lineup were: Alicia Keys, LL Cool J, Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq and Jill Scott. Comedian Steve Harvey also appeared.http://www.essencemusicfestival.com/artists.php

One of the newsworthy events at the most recent Essence Music Festival involved Alicia Keys. Keys, who is pregnant with her first child with fiance' Swizz Beatz, was performing on the second night of the festival when she took a fall on stage. Despite the scare, she and her unborn baby were said to be doing fine afterward. According to E Online, the performance was one of Keys' last before she takes an unofficial maternity leave from touring.http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2010/07/06/2010-07-06_pregnant_alicia_keys_falls_onstage_at_essence_music_festival_but_baby_is_doing_f.html

The first Essence Music Festival was held in 1995. It was originally organized as a "one-time celebration" of the 25th anniversary of Essence Magazine. The event was so successful that it has been held every year since that and continues to make its home in New Orleans. Past performers at the festival have included: Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Beyonce, Kanye West, Maxwell and Lionel Richie.http://www.essencemusicfestival.com/pr/emf2010_EWF.pdf The festival attracts around 270,000 attendees yearly.http://www.neworleans.com/festivals/essence-festival.html

The Essence Music Festival is organized by Essence Communications Inc (ECI), which also publishes Essence Magazine. ECI was founded in 1968 and has headquarters in New York with offices in Los Angeles, California, Chicago, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan.http://www.essence.com/about/