AthFest Music and Arts Festival

 The AthFest Music and Arts Festival takes place in historic downtown Athens, GA, showcasing more than 100 bands on three free outdoors stages and a Club Crawl Friday and Saturday nights spanning 14 Athens music venues. The festival includes an artist market, KidsFest, and food and drink vendors.  The annual festival is a fundraiser for AthFest Educates, which supports local music and arts education for youth in the Athens area. NAMED A TOP 20 EVENT BY THE SOUTHEAST TOURISM SOCIETY, and one of the Top 10 Summer Music Festivals by Livability.com!

 

Affiliate events start June 20th, including the Flagpole Music Awards.

All performances on the outdoor stages are open to all ages and many are FREE of charge to the public. Indoor performances and Club Crawl Tickets are available for purchase.  The festival showcases the best talent in our area, and generates huge awareness for the nonprofit, AthFest Educates, and its mission to provide much needed funding to support music and arts education for youth.

Stage headliners include: Walden, AFTM, The Orange Constant, Dreams So Real, and The Producers. outdoor stages wrap up, the AthFest Club Crawl begins, with music at over a dozen Athens music venues. Club Crawl headliners will be announced May 1st. The festival is enhanced by Georgia Council for the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts grant funding, as well as an Athens Downtown Development Association grant.

The Saturday night AthFest shows are bound to be a lively dance party in the streets of Athens. DJ RX will spin in the beer garden after the shows as well. The lineup Sunday night will feature legendary Athens bands The Producers and Dreams So Real. The 1980s power-pop trio Dreams So Real will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of their Arista Records album “Rough Night in Jericho” by reuniting to play the festival. The album received heavy airplay on the radio and MTV in 1989 and the band toured the world promoting it. The Producers will also take the stage Sunday night. They also formed in Athens in the 1980s and became a regional favorite. They headlined the MTV New Year’s Eve show in 1982. Their performance at AthFest will be their first live show since 2012. The night also includes longtime Athens rockers Pylon Reenactment Society and Daisy, making it a throwback experience to remember.

Troy Aubrey, Music Chair for AthFest said, “AthFest has always been about putting together a great
representation of the Athens music scene. This year we have headliners that include young bands who are really coming on strong and are part of the current wave of what’s next in Athens music. We’ve got a nice mix of classic Athens music and the current sound of Athens music. I’m excited about this year’s festival and the
crowd these bands will bring out, and for older folks to come out and see what this generation of musician are
producing, and for younger folks to come experience the music and artists who shaped the music scene and
made Athens what it is today.”