Essence Festival

2012-Present
Since 2012, Solomon Group has worked closely with ESSENCE to produce its annual ESSENCE Festival, which draws over half a million attendees to New Orleans each year.

As one of the largest annual events in North America, ESSENCE Festival requires nearly a year of planning. During the day, the ESSENCE Empowerment Experience and Exhibitor Floor unfold at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, captivating audiences with brand activations, speakers, meet & greets, art markets, food vendors, and programs celebrating Black culture. As night falls, the enchantment shifts to Caesars Superdome, where some of the biggest names in entertainment have performed on our stages, including Prince, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Diana Ross, Mary J. Blige, Lil Wayne, Lionel Richie, and more.

In addition to providing the live production, Solomon Group is responsible for executing many aspects of ESSENCE Festival including: creative, design, planning + production management, technology design + implementation, fabrication, sponsorship activation, venue management, and logistics.

In order to accommodate the registration and annual flow of over 500,000 attendees and VIPs through a single weekend, Solomon Group's technical engineers and event professionals joined forces to develop an innovative approach to credentialing and ticketing. Solomon Group has since spun off their RFID wristband technology, which manages access, point of sale, ID verifications, and provides a lasting, branded memento, into a flagship service offered by our sought-after sister company, WRSTBND.