Council reins in ‘clean zone’ for Essence Fest this year
10th June 2024 · 0 Comments
By Katie Jane Fernelius
Contributing Writer
(Veritenews.org) — At this year’s Essence Festival, street vendors and other downtown merchants will again be limited in how they do business following a vote by the New Orleans City Council to establish a temporary, so-called “clean zone” surrounding the festival.
But councilmembers agreed in a 5-0 vote Thursday (June 6) to make the clean zone smaller than in prior years and clarified that the city, not Essence Fest organizers, has the ultimate authority to approve permits in that zone.
This year, Essence Festival runs July 4-7, with events held across downtown New Orleans, including at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and Caesar’s Superdome. During that time, the clean zone approved by the council will encompass the French Quarter, the Central Business District and Riverwalk areas, all the way up to the intersection of Tchoupitoulas and Orange streets.
Clean zones restrict certain commercial and permitted activities within a specific area during the duration of a festival or major event. This typically restricts some street vendors in that area from doing business and prohibits local businesses from hosting other festivals or events that might increase traffic to that area.
“We have had the Clean Zone for many years – the Super Bowl, Jazz Fest, French Quarter Fest – this is not a novel concept,” said Jade Brown Russell, a consultant representing Essence Fest, in a presentation before the council vote. “Our goal has been and remains to ensure that Essence Festival and its partners and its sponsors and the public enjoy the very best experience.”
Russell declined to comment on the council vote. Essence Fest organizers did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.
The council has been stricter in its issuance of clean zone permits in recent months, said Andrew Tuozzolo, chief of staff for Councilmember Helena Moreno. This year, the council did not issue one for the Sugar Bowl and significantly limited the French Quarter Fest clean zone.
In public comments ahead of the vote, community members, many representing local businesses, remained skeptical of the proposed clean zone.
“This is a matter of restricting and banning operations and business operations that occur every single day within our city,” DJ Johnson, owner of Baldwin & Co., told councilmembers. “Essence has said that it has no intention of shutting down businesses, but it actually did,” Johnson added, referencing what happened to his business last year.
Last year, Essence Fest was criticized when it issued a cease-and-desist against the Black-owned bookstore Baldwin & Co. and Lit Diaries LLC for allegedly violating the clean zone by attempting to host a block party featuring Black authors.
“It was never the intent of the council for any ordinance, much less the Clean Zone Ordinance, to impact private businesses hosting private events that happened to coincide with the timing of Essence Fest,” council vice president JP Morrell said at the time.
Within days, the festival dropped Baldwin & Co. from the lawsuit and issued a joint statement with Lit Diaries: “We have reached a resolution that we believe serves our collective interests, primarily among them, supporting and serving Black people and Black businesses… Lit Diaries understands Essence’s commitment to safeguarding its assets, not only for itself but the community at large.”
Clean zones have previously come under fire in New Orleans, beginning with Super Bowl XLVII in 2013 when a judge limited the boundaries of the clean zone to the immediate vicinity of the Superdome, ruling that the city’s restrictions impeded free speech.
Councilmember Eugene Green was absent from the vote, and Councilmember Lesli Harris recused herself since she has previously worked as a lawyer for Essence Festival.
This article originally published in the June 10, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
