Seven months after the 2025 Essence Festival wrapped in the Crescent City, its organizers are facing mounting pressure over unpaid bills that could jeopardize state support for this summer’s event.
Public records released to NOLA.com show that Sundial Media Group owed the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center $456,000 as of early last week for the three-day July 4 weekend programming that took place inside the facility. The balance accounted for the majority of charges related to hosting panels, workshops, and other non-concert activities. Convention center officials confirmed that a $50,000 payment arrived shortly after the records became public, leaving roughly $406,000 still outstanding.
The late payments come as Essence prepares to request additional funding from Louisiana lawmakers for the 2026 festival. In 2025, the Legislature allocated $1.2 million for the event, down from $3 million the previous year. State Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, did not mince words: “Any event that doesn’t pay its bills after we give it funding, that’s a problem,” he told reporters. “I don’t care which event it is.”
Essence Festival has been a cornerstone of New Orleans’ summer calendar for more than 30 years, drawing tens of thousands of visitors and generating hundreds of millions in economic activity. Yet repeated reports of delayed vendor payments, including this latest episode, have raised questions about the festival’s financial management under its current ownership.
As planning for the 2026 event accelerates and the city’s contract with Essence expires at the end of 2025, the unpaid 2025 balances have become more than an accounting issue; they are now a political one that could determine whether the festival continues to receive public dollars in the future.