Inside Disney’s Power of Joy Street Jam at Essence Fest 2025
The 2025 Essence Festival of Culture is in full swing down in New Orleans, and Disney has once again brought their own brand of magic to the experience. Join us for a photo tour of this joyful celebration, featuring activations from Disney theme parks, streaming services, and more. Welcome to The Power of Joy Summer Street Jam!
The Summer Street Jam is hosted by a rotation of Disney representatives, including Princeton Parker. The energy is constantly buzzing with upbeat tunes from DJs, keeping music at the heart of the experience.
The Disney reps also take to the central dance floor, leading attendees in joyful line dances to the groovy tunes.
Disneyland Ambassador Jada Young is part of the team bringing the magic of Disney to Essence Fest this year.
The stage also hosts presentations. Walt Disney World Ambassador Shannon Smith-Conrad joined Jada to talk about the history of Disney’s connection to New Orleans. From Walt Disney’s love of the city and its homage at Disneyland, to the legacy of The Princess and the Frog, the event’s host city is deeply rooted in the company’s heritage.
Other onstage events included rounds of trivia and Princeton Parker sharing his own experience with the Disney Dreamers Academy.
The dance space was sometimes taken over by a performance troupe. Dressed in the colors of the Inside Out emotions, one of their routines was set to “Joyful Joyful" from Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.
A call back to Burbank’s corporate headquarters, a street sign points Guests towards the other brands featured within the berm of Disney’s show floor space.
Going clockwise around the booth, the experience begins with the Disneyland Resort. Attendees can have their photo taken in front of the resort’s icons, including Sleeping Beauty Castle and Pixar Pier. And just days away from the original park’s 70th birthday, Essence Fest got to “Celebrate Happy" with a Disneyland 70 photo op.
Disneyland’s section of the booth also included a display of souvenir merchandise for the milestone anniversary.
Between the two Disney Parks sections was a photo opportunity for the recently announced Tiana’s Joyful Celebration. This traveling exhibit will bring a taste of NOLA to children across the country. At Essence Fest, attendees could enter an enchanted gazebo surrounded by characters from Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
The Walt Disney World Resort brought the icons from its four theme parks, allowing attendees to be the star of their own postcard from “The Most Magical Place on Earth."
The Walt Disney World section also promoted a few coming attractions, including Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away at Magic Kingdom.
Disney Cruise Line sent some Junkanoo fun to Essence Fest with the Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck backdrops from Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, the fleet’s newest exclusive island destination.
They also took some time to celebrate the destination on stage with Walt Disney World and Disneyland ambassadors (past and present) before Mickey and Minnie in their Lookout Cay outfits appeared. Take a look at that special moment below.
ESPN set up a basketball hoop and a hopscotch court for attendees to play at their activation.
Hulu promoted its Black Stories Always collection of shows and movies with an eye-popping photo experience. Posters on the side included established hits Abbott Elementary and Reasonable Doubt in addition to upcoming shows - Hulu’s Washington Black (streaming July 23rd) and National Geographic’s Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time (premiering July 27th).
Last, but not least, Disney+ brought a piece of their Throwback experience to the event, with stacked tube TVs highlighting some of the streamer’s most nostalgic content.
Another fun detail was the name tags Cast Members wore just for the event.
Disney also sent their two biggest icons to the event - Mickey and Minnie Mouse! Does this count as a Hidden Mickey?
Disney also had a giveaway for visiting their showcase - a Hulu Black Stories Always reusable tote bag with a special surprise inside…
… Minnie Mouse ears!!!
The 2025 Essence Festival of Culture continues through this weekend. We’ll be on-site bringing you all the Disney coverage from this event through Sunday, July 6th. Until then, see ya real soon!
