Essence Music Festival organizers have announced some of the acts that will take part in the 2008 festival in July. Kanye West, Chris Rock, Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige, Jill Scott, Morris Day and The Time, and Maze featuring Frankie Beverly are the acts announced in a news release Thursday. Essence is billed as “the nation’s largest annual African-American event celebrating Black music and culture.” An estimated 200,000 people attended the festival last year when it returned to New Orleans. The event has become an annual summer celebration in New Orleans, although it was held in Houston in 2006 because the city was still early in its recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

more information: http://www.essence.com/essence/emf/

Will you be there?