Going to Essence Fest, you need to be Vaxed - negative COVID test not accepted

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The city of New Orleans dropped its mask and vaccine mandates for bars, restaurants and other public spaces in March. While they were still in place, concert-goers had the option of showing a negative COVID test result instead of a vaccination card.

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But Essence won’t accept a negative test result for admission – only proof of vaccination. Essence also won't exempt anyone with religious or medical objections to the vaccine.

The policy, which appears in the “frequently asked questions” section of the Essence web site, applies to comedian Kevin Hart’s Thursday show at the Smoothie King Center and the three subsequent nights of concerts at the Caesars Superdome.

“Vaccination is for everyone’s protection,” Essence spokesperson Tavia Mapp-Deterville said via email, “and what is on the site is the policy for attendance.”

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“The print is so small when you go to the website, you can easily miss that. And then you go to the New Orleans city website and see that COVID mandates have been dropped.”

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Zane Collings, general manager for ASM New Orleans, the company that manages the Superdome, said via email that staffers “will ask all guests to present proof of vaccination and their matching ID at screening locations throughout the property's perimeter. This will occur prior to patrons entering the walk-through metal detectors and the building.”

Dunn noted that the front of her Ticketmaster-printed Essence tickets clearly states, “City COVID rules apply.”

“The city doesn’t have a mask or vaccine mandate,” she said. “So which is it?”

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