Headline acts for the 2022 Essence Festival of Culture will include Nicki Minaj, Janet Jackson, Kevin Hart and New Edition. Organizers also announced that the The Isley Brothers, The Roots & Friends, Summer Walker, Jazmine Sullivan and D-Nice & Friends will perform at the in-person festival in New Orleans that will take place from June 30 to July 3.

Hart will perform at the Smoothie King Center on Thursday, June 30, as part of his Reality Check Tour. The Caesars Superdome will host three consecutive nights of concerts, beginning with Minaj on Friday, July 1, Jackson on Saturday, July 2, and New Edition on Sunday, July 3.

After pivoting to a virtual experience in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, the Essence Festival of Culture announced in December 2021 that it would host a fully live gathering for the first time in two years in 2022. The four-day event will celebrate the culture and resilience of the Black community with the theme “It’s the Black Joy for Me!”

Based upon the success of its livestreams and digital outreach, the Essence Festival will also continue its virtual programming.

“We are excited to welcome the family back live to New Orleans and thrilled to connect with more of our diasporic family through new digital experiences,” said Essence CEO Caroline Wanga in a press release. “Whether it be those that have three years of outfits reflective of the Festival tradition that was disrupted by the pandemic, or those who will have their inaugural Festival experience in 2022, all are invited.”

The return of the live experience will include almost one million square feet of space for empowerment programming (networking, finance, career, wellness, fashion, beauty and more) at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, nightly concerts at Caesars Superdome and other entertaining and inspirational activations in venues across the city. The festival’s digital programming will include livestreaming of select on-the-ground activities in New Orleans, as well as new and exclusive digital content and experiences.

Known as “the party with a purpose,” the Essence Festival of Culture is an annual music festival which started in 1995 as a one-time event to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Essence, a magazine aimed primarily toward Black women. It has since become the largest African American culture and music event in the United States and the largest summertime event in New Orleans.

Additional acts are expected to be announced and more information can be found at the event’s site.