Essence Festival Throwback: 4 Downtown FabWorks Projects That Turned Heads

It’s no secret that in New Orleans, we have a festival for every weekend day of the year—130 and counting! We’re a city who love to celebrate life’s many pleasures; whether you’re into music, culture, or just want to try every mac n’ cheese the city has to offer, there’s probably a fest for that. 

However much we want to throw a party, though, our hot, humid summers make it tough. As a result, many of our best festivals happen during the fall and spring, when New Orleans’ weather is at its best. That means that after the first weekend of May (also known as the second weekend of the world-famous New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival), the partying slows to a crawl.

Luckily, just as we start to get bored to tears at staying indoors, July arrives, bringing with it The Essence Festival of Culture. For over 30 years, New Orleans has proudly played host to the foremost celebration of Black culture in the United States, and this year’s Essence Fest is promising to reach all new heights, with over 500,000 expected attendees. The four-day festival is a feast for the senses, with so much to experience in venues around the city that the city’s tourism board, New Orleans & Company, has even created a free planning guide to help guests make the most out of their trip.

Of course, here in the fabrication shop, we’re always most excited about the wealth of awesome brand activations and immersive experiences that Essence has to offer. It’s well-known that the festival expects guests to be given an elevated experience, and brands definitely understand the assignment. We’re looking forward to working on some amazing new projects to delight and inspire event attendees this year, but of course what we’re working on has to stay top secret (for now).

In the meantime, keep reading for a retrospective of our Top 4 Essence Fest brand activations from years past—in no specific order, because it was just too hard to choose!

#1 - AT&T Dream In Black Activation

At the 2022 Essence Festival, we teamed up with Solomon Group to help bring AT&T’s vibrant Dream in Black experience to life. Our role focused on the physical build: a custom stage with bold steps, a DJ booth that pulsed with energy, and thoughtful infrastructure designed to support a dynamic, immersive space. Overhead and in the green room, lush greenery by local floral designer B Lucid added texture and depth to the experience.

#2 - 50 Years of Hip Hop Activation

We teamed up with Gold Sky Productions in 2023 to create four immersive experiences that celebrated the rhythm and roots of hip hop culture. At the heart of it all was a replica NYC subway car bearing graffiti on the front and a timeline tracing hip hop’s iconic journey on the back. Nearby, guests struck a pose with a giant gold record, left heartfelt notes on a Love Letter Wall filled with affirmations, and let loose at Dance Off, an interactive setup where anyone could step in, learn some moves, and show them off. The activation was full of friends taking selfies, clowning around together, and dancing their hearts out. It perfectly captured the vibrant spirit of hip hop and really embodied #BlackJoy.

#3 - Sephora Beauty Beyond the Surface Activation

This 2023 project, created in partnership with CCI, was pure joy from start to finish. We brought a vibrant, monochromatic space to life inside Sephora—complete with custom signage, a glowing mirror wall, product displays, and a selfie-friendly setup that invited guests to engage, explore, and feel seen. The activation was part of Beauty Beyond the Surface, a collaboration between Sephora and Complex that creates space for BIPOC voices in beauty and skincare. This particular setup rolled out the summer after the initiative launched, and hosted powerful conversations with experts and creators in the field. 

#4 - Revlon Creme of Nature Activation

In 2023, we teamed up with the team at Luminous Events to bring Revlon's Creme of Nature brand to life in a bold, immersive way. We custom fabricated two standout logos for the space: the crisp white True Nature mark nestled into a lush greenery column, and the vibrant Creme of Nature logo glowing against a wall bursting with real, fresh blooms. The space exuded a peaceful calm, paired with effortless beauty, welcoming Essence guests to explore a new side of a long-beloved haircare brand.

The tagline for this year’s Essence Festival is “Made Like This,” which hints that we have four days of bespoke experiences and next-level inspiration in our future two months from now. What does your brand have planned? We’d love to hear what you’re working on and offer some solid solutions for truly standing out at this summer’s biggest event.

Call our sales team at (504) 799-0066 or email us at [email protected] to set up a discovery call.