NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The City of New Orleans on Thursday officially welcomed thousands of people descending on the Big Easy for the Essence Festival of Culture.

The celebration has been around for three decades — no easy feat, Essence CEO Caroline Wanga said Thursday during a news conference at Gallier Hall to kick off the event, which runs through the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

“Part of why that happens is because of where we are — the cultural mecca called New Orleans," Wanga said.

The magazine unveiled four new covers for its July and August issue, which commemorates the festival and its relationship with the city. Its cover story, “Dear New Orleans,” is a love letter to the people, places and spaces of New Orleans, company executives said.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell thanked Essence for the longstanding partnership, which has had a more than $300 million economic impact on the city and state and given the New Orleans global recognition.

“This is our moment to love one another," she said. “Our time to come together to ensure and understand that we are unapologetically Black and we deserve to be loved on and supported.”

Wanga said New Orleans is the true “headliner” for the festival, which offers free daily workshops in the convention center and ticketed nightly concerts with big-name artists at the Superdome.

The event’s contract with the city runs through 2026, with no plans to end the relationship with the magazine, Wanga and Cantrell said.