Coca-Cola® and ESSENCE Mark 30-Year Anniversary of “Shining Together” for Annual ESSENCE Festival of Culture® in New Orleans by Bringing the Culture’s Most Influential Voices Together to Celebrate the Richness of Black Community, Creativity & Commerce
ATLANTA, July 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — This Fourth of July weekend, Coca-Cola® will celebrate the brand’s 30-year commitment to partnering with Essence for the annual ESSENCE Festival of Culture®, the largest African American music and empowerment event in the country. ESSENCE Festival of Culture® is the vibrant homecoming and cultural pilgrimage designed to bring together the most iconic and influential voices from the culture to celebrate the richness of Black community, creativity, culture and commerce throughout the holiday weekend in the vibrant city of New Orleans. For 30 years, Coca-Cola® has been “Shining Together” with ESSENCE as the official presenting sponsor of the ESSENCE Festival of Culture® – highlighting Coca-Cola®‘s long-standing tradition of giving back to the brand’s communities.
Coca-Cola® Celebrates 30 Years as Presenting Sponsor of The Essence Festival Of Culture®
Since 1995, Coca-Cola® has helped power the ESSENCE Festival of Culture® as the presenting sponsor with immersive panels, engagements, and performances as a way to authentically connect with reflect, uplift and highlight the community. In the past three years, the Essence Festival of Culture presented by Coca-Cola® has generated nearly $1 billion in economic impact for the city of New Orleans. In 2024 alone, The ESSENCE Festival of Culture® presented by Coca-Cola® infused more than $346.3 million into the local economy creating 2,642 jobs and generating $113.7 million in income for local workers.
“At Coca-Cola®, our mission is to bring happiness, optimism and refreshment into people’s lives. We are proud to have been doing that through our sponsorship of Essence Festival of Culture for 30 years by uplifting Black women and their community – from young people to moms and friends and family,” said Stephanie Eaddy, Cultural Marketing Lead for North America at The Coca-Cola Company. “It is a one-of-a-kind experience where Black women can revel in their shared light – illuminating and uplifting one another’s spirit, generation after generation!”
For 2025, Coca-Cola® will continue to make an impact with the brand’s theme of “Shining Together”, upholding the brand’s rituals of togetherness & uplifting by honoring 30 years of partnership with ESSENCE through three dynamic activations from Coca-Cola®, smartwater®, and Simply® – each honoring sisterhood, joy, and shared cultural pride. The immersive activations will come to life through star-studded performances, panel discussions, and refreshments from the Total Beverage Company – Coca-Cola®. This includes mainstage moments from some of music’s biggest stars including Lay Banks, Mariah the Scientist, and Lloyd.
“We’re so excited to celebrate the milestone of 30 years of partnership with Coca-Cola® bringing our highly impactful Essence Festival of Culture to our community nationwide,” said Michele Ghee, Chief Content Officer at ESSENCE Ventures. From the bringing together the biggest names in music and entertainment, to uplifting women through insightful panels and infusing billions of dollars into the local economy of New Orleans, Coca-Cola® has been with us every step of the way through the past three decades, helping to grow Essence Festival into the cultural cornerstone it is today.”
Inside the booth on the convention center floor, Coca-Cola® presents the Summer of Uplift Block Party, an intergenerational celebration inspired by classic neighborhood gatherings hosted by Charles Kuykendoll and Jamila Mustafa with DJ sets by Sky Jetta and DJ Mars all weekend long. Some of the activations will include:
- Open Streets daily programming will bring the fun and refreshing vibes of a summer block party to every moment, with bold visuals and on-the-ground entertainment from Jump DC Superstars and GameOva Skip that spark connection, celebration, and nonstop fun with her and her girlfriends.
- If Not For My Girls™ is the annual ESSENCE and Coca-Cola® platform dedicated to celebrating the persistent love, stories, and unbreakable bonds between Black women. For year seven of the hit digital series, the cast features: Zonnique Pullins, Reginae Carter, Bahja Rodriguez, and Breaunna Womack.
- Who’s On The Block? is an evolution of the traditional panel – an uplifting, on-stage experience spotlighting the people, programs, and products shaping culture today. The series features meaningful conversations with partners The Walt Disney Company and McDonald’s Corporation. It will also highlight student creators from Historically Black Colleges and Universities like Southern University and A&M College through Coca-Cola’s The World Is My Yard™ platform, and showcase Black-owned businesses from SOKO Market – including Undefined Beauty and Butter’d – through storytelling moments, product giveaways, and community engagement.
smartwater® alkaline with antioxidant will invite guests to its extension “under the shade” – just steps away from the Coca-Cola® experience – to recharge and hydrate without missing a beat of the summer vibe. It’s where wellness meets the rhythm of the festival, under the glow of the NOLA sun.
Simply® brings flavor and fun with a vibrant game-show-meets-day-party experience in partnership with Urban Trivia. Hosted by Brandon Romas and Kita Renee, and soundtracked by DJ Almost Famous and DJ She Real, the activation invites guests to sip, play, and celebrate with Simply’s signature lemonades, premium giveaways, and lively challenges rooted in joy and community.
Together, these experiences honor three decades of Black excellence, celebration, and sisterhood — raising a glass to the legacy of ESSENCE and the vibrant future ahead.
For more information and full programming for the ESSENCE Festival of Culture® presented by Coca-Cola®, visit www.essence.com/essencefestival2025/. For more information about Coca-Cola®, visit Coca-Cola.com and follow along on social media @CocaCola.
ABOUT THE COCA-COLA COMPANY®
The Coca-Cola® Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories. Our company’s purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. We sell multiple billion-dollar brands across several beverage categories worldwide. Our portfolio of sparkling soft drink brands includes Coca-Cola®, Sprite and Fanta. Our water, sports, coffee and tea brands include Dasani, smartwater, vitaminwater, Topo Chico, BODYARMOR, Powerade, Costa, Georgia, Fuze Tea, Gold Peak and Ayataka. Our juice, value-added dairy and plant-based beverage brands include Minute Maid, Simply, innocent, Del Valle, fairlife and AdeS. We’re constantly transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to bringing innovative new products to market. We seek to positively impact people’s lives, communities and the planet through water replenishment, packaging recycling, sustainable sourcing practices and carbon emissions reductions across our value chain. Together with our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide. Learn more at www.Coca-Cola®company.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
ABOUT ESSENCE COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA GROUP INC.
ESSENCE Communications is the number one—and only 100% Black-owned—media, technology and commerce company at scale dedicated to Black women and communities. With a community of more than 31 million Black women, ESSENCE inspires a global audience through diverse storytelling and immersive original content rooted in Culture, Equity and Celebration. The brand’s multi-platform presence in/ publishing, experiential and online encompasses its namesake magazine; digital, video and social platforms; television specials; books; and signature live events, including Black Women in Music, Black Women in Hollywood, ESSENCE Black Women in Sports, Fashion House, Street Style and the ESSENCE Festival of Culture®.
SOURCE The Coca-Cola Company
