NEW ORLEANS — While Essence Festival brought hundreds of thousands of people to New Orleans, one local event grabbed the attention of locals and city leaders.
The event was supposed to showcase Black authors and artists at a local bookstore, Baldwin & Co.
Essence Festival shut down the event with a cease-and-desist letter on Friday.
Author Aaron Follins was en route to New Orleans Friday when he learned the event was abruptly canceled. Follins was supposed to be a panelist.
Follins said he did not pay to participate in the event named "Lit House at Essence," but he did order copies of his book to sell at the event.
“There were costs incurred to come down and participate in this event and so to find out hours before that it’s canceled you know we’re out of money but still able to make some things happen," Follins said. “We planned, we promoted so there was definitely disappointment.”
The cease-and-desist letter named Tamkia Newhouse, Delphine Legacy Media Co., Lit Diaries, LLC and Baldwin & Co as defendants.
WWL-TV learned Baldwin & Co. was dropped from the lawsuit on Sunday night.
“Although relieved that the lawsuit has now been dismissed, Baldwin & Co. remains committed to pursuing necessary changes in the City’s adoption of the unconstitutional “clean zone” ordinance," Baldwin's attorney said.
The other defendants still named in the suit are also ordered to return any money to authors, artists and guests.
“For many years, Essence has conducted—at no charge to guests or participant authors—book signings and other events to promote Black authors," the cease-and-desist letter said.
The attorneys for Essence argue the Lit House event was illegal under the City's "Clean Zone" ordinance.
"Essence is dedicated to protecting festival attendees, the public and our consumers and will take all necessary action to ensure the integrity of Essence Festival of Culture," Williams said.
The City's "Clean Zone" ordinance was expanded to cover more area this year, but some councilmembers said the intention to prohibit vendors from certain areas during festivals has backfired.
Council President JP Morrell said they will look into how this occurred, so it won't happen again.
“It is completely inappropriate for any large-scale event visiting the city of New Orleans to negatively impact our local businesses with something akin to a non-compete clause," Morrell said.
Meanwhile, Follins said his weekend didn't go as planned, but it won't keep him from coming back.
“I’ll be back every single year," Follins said.
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