OK people, so festival season is officially here. This weekend saw the mighty Glastonbury, which was fun fun fun! And it was sunny for once too – how amazing? You had the likes of Florence & The Machine, Muse, Dizzee Rascal and Gorillaz taking care of business, as well as a host of other great musicians.
The one thing that really excited me about Glasto this year was the introduction of soul music to the line-up. In 2008 Jay-z broke down the barriers. Glasto is usually reserved for rock bands, so when H.O.V was announced as a headliner that year, there was a lot of controversy. Noel Gallagher famously said, “I’m not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. It’s wrong.” A comment he now regrets as Jay-Z’s performance was a big hit with audiences and now hip-hop acts are no longer seen as a taboo. Snoop Dogg performed this year.
Soul legend Stevie Wonder headlined Glasto on Sunday, and oh how I wish I was there. They really need more soulful acts next year, because it was amazing.
If you love your soul music and love festivals, then Essence Music Festival 2010 is for you. It’s the biggest festival of its kind that caters to great urban, soulful music. The 3 day music extravaganza takes place at the New Orleans SupeDome, with headliners Mary J Blige, Alicia Keys and Janet Jackson. This year’s multi-generational list of performers also features some of today’s greatest African-American artists (including Trey Songz, John Legend, Melanie Fiona & Estelle) and also honours the local music of New Orleans.
I love love love festivals, we’ve got Wireless next week – woo hoo, can’t wait. I highly recommend Essence festival. It’s a great alternative to the usual indie band dominated festivals. It begins on 2nd July and runs until the 4th. Tickets are available at www.essencemusicfestival.com you can also find out which acts are performing on which dates.
For a chance to win some free Essence Music Festival goodies, follow them on twitter here –> @ESSENCEmusic
I’ll keep you updated with all the Essence Music Festival news, line-ups, and any competitions: We all love some freebies 🙂
Vanessa Laker 
This year i will definitely make it to the festival, i look forward to seeing Mary j Blige, Alicia, John Legend and Janet Jackson.
The Essence music festival is a big hit with most of my friends because of the variety of artists. I love forward to seeing the talented and beautiful Alicia keys.
Can’t wait to see Janet Jackson and Mary J Blige. Thank god it’s soon.
I think the Essence Music Festival should be advertised and promoted globally, am sure not many people know about it. Reading about it on this blog is a good move as this is a popular blog for many people. These days the internet info is more widely read than magazines. thanks vanessa.
Am looking forward to the Essence Music festival, thanks for the info.
i went to the essence festival and i absolutely LOVED it!!! everyone’s performance was so good and i cant wait until the dvd comes out so that i cant watch everyone all over again. i bought last yrs dvd at the festival this year and i absolutely love beyonces single ladies performance and neyos sexy singing!!