The first time Gracie Word traveled to New Orleans for the Essence Festival of Culture, it was 1998. The festival was just five years old, and Word was a college freshman at Texas Woman's University.
Growing up in San Antonio where Black residents make up about 6% of the population, Word immediately fell in love.
"I had never been around that many Black people at once," Word said.
Now, as she makes plans to return nearly every year, her friends say she is the "glue" that keeps everyone coming back.
"It's the culture, the spirit, the aura, the vibes, the people," said Word, who arrived in town from Texas on Wednesday with her sister and two friends. "There's a chemistry here."
Word and her friends were among the thousands of people — mostly Black women, many traveling on girls' trips — who packed into the Ernest M. Morial Convention Center on Friday morning to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Essence Festival. The festival started in 1994 and has been a permanent fixture of New Orleans' summer and the July 4 weekend ever since.
By Friday, attendees from across the country had already begun to pack local hotels, making with plans to stop by the convention center each day to shop, eat, listen to panel discussions and potentially run into celebrities. Others made plans to see the evening concerts in the Caesar's Superdome, headlined by acts such as Janet Jackson, SWV and Frankie Beverly.
The festival runs Friday through Sunday. Last year, Essence and related events pumped $316 million into New Orleans' economy, according to festival organizers.
On Friday, thousands of visitors braved the summer heat and humidity to take part of the experience. Sharmon Thompson, who met Word through work, is attending Essence for the first time, she said.
Thompson said she is most looking forward to R&B icon Usher's Saturday night performance, especially after having seen him in Las Vegas during his recent 100-show residency there.
"I just want to breathe his air," she laughed as she, Word and the rest of their group stood outside the convention center waiting to take photos next to a large Essence logo near its Julia Street entrance.
As they waited to get into the convention center Friday morning, sisters-in-law Dorena and Kim Weston and their friend Beverly McMullen, who traveled from Oklahoma City and Chicago, said they make a point of taking a girls' trip every year. But this year marks their first trip to Essence.
"We had talked about it, but we finally made it happen," Kim Weston said, adding that they most look forward to seeing Frankie Beverly and Maze and Charlie Wilson during the evening concerts, and listening to Vice President Kamala Harris' discussion on Saturday at the convention center.
The free events at the convention center also regularly draw New Orleans residents. On Friday, three generations of Beverly Hayes' family visited Essence for the first time, inspired by the organization's 30th anniversary celebration.
Hayes said she would normally be working the weekend but after 37 years as a civil servant working for the city, she retired this year and decided to attend with her daughter Breonnie Dumas and her granddaughter 19-month-old Dru Dumas.
Breonnie Dumas said she was most excited to take Dru to the Target and Disney booths. She was also glad to attend the festival for her birthday, she said.
"Essence made 30 and so did I," she said.