13th Annual Grant Park Summer Shade Festival This Weekend

For more than a decade, Atlantans have flocked to the Grant Park Summer Shade Festival at the end of each August. The two-day outdoor event offers a fun-filled way to bid adieu to summer with a celebration of music and art. Kicking off with a 5K Run for the Park, then delivering plenty to eat and drink, the Summer Shade Festival welcomes thousands to the city’s oldest park.

WHAT This festival has earned a reputation as the place to see some of the hottest up-and-coming bands as well as a plethora of local talent. With two stages and a music line-up that only gets better with each year. For 2015, the Summer Shade Festival welcome performers like Jason & The Scorchers, Adron, Ruby Velle & the Soulphonics, Chuck Prophet, Kick the Robot and many more.

Boasting two Artist Markets – juried and non-juried – the festival offers everything from statement jewelry to sculpture to wall art. Hundreds of artists will be onsite throughout the weekend, so that unique piece is just around the corner.

It wouldn’t be a festival without something for the young folks, and Summer Shade features the Carla Smith Kids Zone each year. Here, crafts, entertainment and interactive activities please even the most finicky child.

Pair it all with the Adams Realtors 5K Run for the Park on Saturday, the award-winning Grant Park Farmers Market on Sunday, food vendors and beverage tents, and it’s basically a party with ten thousand close friends. The Grant Park Summer Shade Festival benefits the Grant Park Conservancy, the organization responsible for maintaining this historic city park.

Bike valet parking is available courtesy of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. Dogs and other pets are not allowed in the park during the festival as per a City of Atlanta ordinance.

WHEN Summer Shade Festival

Saturday, August 29: 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Sunday, August 30: 11 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Adams Realtors 5K Run for the Park

Saturday, August 29: Registration at 7 a.m., Race begins at 8 a.m.

Grant Park Farmers Market

Sunday, August 30: 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

WHERE Historic Grant Park

800 Cherokee Avenue, Atlanta 30312

or

Park Avenue/Berne Street intersection and the Boulevard parking lot

Parking lots are located on Boulevard and Cherokee Avenue. Street parking is also available throughout the neighborhood.

www.summershadefestival.org

404-521-0938

TICKETS The Summer Shade Festival is a free event. Some aspects may require the purchase of a ticket.

WHO The Grant Park Summer Shade Festival supports the work of the Grant Park Conservancy. Grant Park – the city’s oldest public park – was initially established by a gift of 100 acres from the estate of railroad magnate Lemuel Pratt Grant in 1883. Grant Park was once referred to as a resort area due to its natural flowing springs, carriage trails, shaded walking paths and big beautiful trees. Today, Grant Park welcomes more than 2 million visitors each year who still enjoy it as a place of respite in a now busy city.

The Grant Park Conservancy is a non-profit organization committed to the preservation, restoration and maintenance of historic L.P. Grant Park. www.gpconservancy.org