State funding cuts hurt New Orleans Essence Festival, according to councilwoman

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — According to Kelly Shultz, Vice President of Communications with New Orleans & Co., there are 26,000 hotel rooms within a 2-mile radius of the Convention Center.

On Saturday, these rooms were filled up at an 86% occupancy rate, a drop from its normal rates for essence festival.

“It’s a little bit lower than what it was in 2024 at 91 percent,” Shultz said.

According to Councilwoman Helena Moreno, this dip in attendance can be attributed to drop in state funding.

In an Instagram post, she writes that Essence received almost $2 million less than usual from the state of Louisiana.

This dip in funding may be significant as next year will be the festival’s final year on its current contract, and without the regular attendance, the festival may be on the verge of leaving New Orleans.

Shultz says the festival is too significant to let go.

“Essence did an economic impact study last year with Dillard university and so Dillard university found that for 2024 fest alone, the fest had an economic impact of over $340 million,” Shultz said.

Shultz says funding is key to keep festivals like essence going and keep that economic impact alive.

“Without tourism, without events like essence fest, our city would not be as strong as it is today,” Shultz said.

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