49 Thoughts We Had At EssenceFest This Year

    This year marked the 20th anniversary of EssenceFest, a weekend-long festival thrown by Essence Magazine featuring music, food and more. Here are some thoughts that everybody probably had at the Superdome this year.

    1.The Superdome is huge!

    2.There are so many cat daddies here.

    3.Is that my auntie over there?

    4.I have never seen this many men in sandals in the same place at the same time before.

    5.Or Kangol hats.

    6.I wonder if Maze and Frankie Beverly will ever get tired of coming here.

    7.So much linen.

    8.Black folks sure do love wearing all white.

    9.They look amazing in all white.

    10.It's time for the wobble!

    11.Everybody here is sooooo fresh.

    12.The only thing prettier than the people is the city of New Orleans.

    13.I wish I lived here.

    14.Maybe I should live here?

    15.It's hot though.

    16.It's hot as balls.

    17.Why is this bathroom line longer than the line to get in to the festival?!

    18.And why does the sink in the Superdome bathroom look like the underground railroad?

    19.This is the first time I've seen a black person wearing those toe shoe things!

    20.There are people of all ages here; I'm partying with someone's grandmother and I don't even mind.

    21.Is that someone's weave on the ground? Don't they miss it?

    22.It's time for the wobble again!

    23.There is sooo much beautiful natural hair here.

    24.And there is food everywhere!

    25.And ALL of it is delicious!

    26.Seriously, everybody is fly.

    27.This festival line-up is amazing.

    28.Where else could I see Kendrick Lamar and Charlie Wilson in the same weekend?!

    29.There's going to be so many Steve Harvey suits in the audience when Maze and Frankie Beverly perform.

    30.Wait, how am I supposed to decide which shows to go see? I want to see them all!

    31.I want Erykah Badu to be my aunt and/or best friend or both.

    32.How is Mary J. Blige working this hard in heels that high?!

    33.Kendrick Lamar has a stadium full of black people yelling "I love myself" and "we gon' be alright" and it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

    34.Everybody out here has a hustle.

    35.This man is selling t-shirts that just have pictures of random black celebrities on it; they weren't even here this year.

    36.There really is a spirit of resilience here.

    37.And everybody is so nice and warm and friendly.

    38.The New Orleans accent is officially my favorite accent on the planet.

    39.The happy hour prices in this city are phenomenal!

    40.Wait, we can walk down the street drinking liquor and not get arrested?

    41.Do all these daiquiris have 151 in them?

    42.Are these jell-o shots legal?!

    43.TIME FOR THE WOBBLE AGAIN, LET'S GET IT!

    44.This is beautiful.

    45.This is really, really beautiful.

    46.I will be very sad to leave.

    47.I am exhausted but this was so worth it.

    48.I love my people!

    49.See you next year, New Orleans!

    For more about our time in New Orleans at the Essence Festival, check out this bonus episode of our podcast, "Another Round with Heben and Tracy!"

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