AthFest Educates announced the headliners for this year’s 22nd annual AthFest Music & Arts Festival, which will take place June 22nd - 24th with affiliated events, including the Flagpole Music Awards on June 21st. This year’s outdoor stage headliners include Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Linqua Franqa, Family & Friends, Elf Power and The Connells.
Local hip hop rising star Linqua Franqa will grace the main stage as co-headliner Friday night for her first AthFest headliner spot. She’ll bring with her other artists and performers for a full stage sound and what will surely be a high-energy performance. That will be followed by the legendary New Orleans-based Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a seven-piece horn ensemble now in its 40th year. The band has put out 12 studio albums and collaborated with artists from Widespread Panic to Norah Jones.
Saturday night’s headliner is local favorite Family & Friends, bringing their tight harmonies and myriad string instruments back to AthFest after hugely successful Club Crawl and main stage appearances in the past. The band will be celebrating the release of their debut independent full-length "Felix Culpa," which comes out on June 8.
Local band Elf Power plays Sunday night with what will likely be a nostalgic performance for followers of the Athens music scene. The long-running indie rock band features five of Athens’ most talented artists. Closing the festival are The Connells, the indie-pop band formed in the 80s hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina. The Connells haven’t played in Athens since 2000.
Thanks in part to a National Endowment for the Arts grant, festival organizers say the production value of this year’s festival will be improved with upgraded equipment, including a tent covering almost the entire Hull Street stage area. The beer garden will be extended there, and a new beer garden will be added to the KidsFest area of the festival. In addition to the many music venues hosting Club Crawl shows after the free outdoor stages wrap-up Friday and Saturday nights, this year breweries Creature Comforts and Terrapin Beer will also have official AthFest performances.
Tickets and the full line-up will be coming soon to AthFest.com. AthFest Music & Arts Festival is a fundraiser for AthFest Educates, a non-profit supporting high-quality music and arts education and experiences for youth in the Athens area. More at AthFestEducates.org
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Rachel Allen
706.490.7188
AthFest Educates
AthFest Music & Arts Festival
AthHalf Half Marathon
