In addition to music and art, Athens is home to a variety of creative performance-based communities and sports groups with regular monthly and seasonal events. There are opportunities for the curious to participate or entertainment seekers to simply watch. Check Flagpole’s weekly calendar for an updated roundup of things to do or get involved in.
Catch Some Laughs
Comedy offerings in Athens continue to grow with an expanding local scene that puts on weekly shows featuring regional artists and the occasional nationally-touring comedian passing through The Classic Center and Akins Ford Arena (classiccenter.com), 40 Watt Club (40watt.com) or Georgia Theatre (georgiatheatre.com).
Flying Squid Comedy is home to Athens’ only dedicated comedy theater, hosting improv and clowning classes, nontraditional theater productions and other public events. Every Wednesday its Gorgeous George’s Improv League performs at Buvez. Flying Squid also hosts an annual Athens Improv Fest featuring three days of performances by improvisers around the Southeast, with this year’s event being held Aug. 21–23. Find a full list of events and details on workshops at flyingsquidcomedy.com.
Athens Comedy hosts featured shows and weekly events, like the recurring Off the Clock Comedy held upstairs at The Globe on Sunday evenings. It also maintains a calendar of other shows and open mics happening in the comedy community at athenscomedy.com. One of the longest running comedy open mics in Athens is OpenToad Comedy at Flicker Theatre and Bar every second Tuesday. On the third Wednesday of every month, Noell Appling hosts a lineup of comics from Athens and Atlanta at Hendershot’s. Specialty shows like Queer Comedy and Funny Femmes can be found hopping around venues.
Be Fierce and Fabulous
Drag shows pop up around Athens year-round at various venues and breweries; however, there are also plenty of consistent and reliable staples on the calendar. Boybutante AIDS Foundation hosts two of the biggest drag events of the year at the 40 Watt Club. The Boybutante Ball each spring and Halloween-themed Boobutante each fall raise money for the nonprofit. The organization also hosts Drag Bingo nights throughout the year. More info can be found at boybutante.org.
The Athens Showgirl Cabaret performs twice a month at Hendershot’s. Drag for All is held most first Saturdays, with some movement accounting for holidays and out-of-town shows, welcoming all ages for an open drag night with sign-ups. Fabulous Fridays is held the last Friday of every month with a lineup of entertainment suitable for ages 18 and up. Keep up with the Cabaret’s events at athensshowgirlcabaret.com. The Kourtesans regularly perform at Sister Louisa’s Church downtown. This troupe hosts a variety of themed shows and drag competitions featuring performers from Athens and Atlanta. Keep up with their events at facebook.com/kourtesans.
Set the Stage
Theater stages across Athens stay busy between the University of Georgia’s theater program, active local troupes and touring productions. The Classic Center hosts a Broadway Entertainment Series drawing non-local productions throughout the year.
UGA Theatre (ugatheatre.com) announces a full schedule of student productions every fall and spring season held at the Fine Arts Building on the UGA campus. Its official theater club is the Thalian-Blackfriars (ugatheatre.com/thalians), the second-oldest collegiate drama club in the U.S., that produces student performances. The college’s student-run musical theater group Next Act (uganextact.weebly.com) also performs one full-length musical each year and several cabarets. The community theater Town & Gown Players (townandgownplayers.org) produce plays year-round from classic dramas and musicals to more experimental theater productions at its location. Athens Creative Theatre (accgov.com/act) also performs a diverse variety of plays that are either held at Morton Theatre or Quinn Hall at Memorial Park.
Just outside of Athens in Watkinsville the Oconee Youth Playhouse (oconeeyouthplayhouse.com) features casts drawn from the youth of Athens, Oconee and surrounding counties performing plays suitable for an all-ages audience. In neighboring Winterville the recently restored and renovated Marigold Auditorium also hosts theatrical productions. A little further out in neighboring Monroe is the On Stage Playhouse Walton (onstagewalton.org), and Elberton is home to The Elbert Theatre (elberttheatre.org).
Calls for upcoming production auditions are listed in Flagpole’s Bulletin Board.
Express Yourself
Interested in dance and movement-based performances? The Studio Athens (thestudioath.com) offers classes for all ages but also is the home of dance companies Boulevard Burlesque Company, The Modern Pin-Ups, Speakeasy, Athena Rhythm, Normaltown Tap Company, Athens Swing Central and Classic City Bellydance. The Studio presents group shows and themed events for the individual troupes. Dancefx (dancefx.org) also offers classes and is home to the varied-genre performance companies Concert Dance Company, Contact Dance Company, Revolution Salsa Company, Sweet Dreams, The Vixens, Classic City Tap Collective and The Bombshells. Canopy Studio (canopystudio.org) offers classes and workshops in flying dance trapeze, silks, lyra, pole and more. Showcases are open to the public and diverse in styles of aerial performance, sometimes incorporating narrative, art or music.
Several groups and venues around Athens host more casual, drop-in dance events on a regular basis. Ecstatic Dance Athens (instagram.com/ecstatic_dance_athens_ga) is a communal group that hosts sober-space events emphasizing free form dance with added experiences like sound baths. Learn how to line dance or get some practice in at monthly events held at Athentic Brewing Co. and Ciné, or visit Duke’s & Dottie’s for more frequent line dancing. Sabacha Athens, TIMBAthens and UGA’s SALSAthens all host regular Latin dance nights that begin with a dance class before the floor opens for social fun.
Poetry and storytelling more your speed? Athens Word of Mouth (facebook.com/athenswordofmouth) is the city’s longest-running poetry open mic, taking place the first Wednesday of every month at The Globe. Come prepared to sign-up and read a piece, or enjoy the night’s featured poet. Athens-Clarke County started a Poet Laureate program (accgov.com/9713/Poet-Laureate) in 2020, and the current Poet Laureate, Mikhayla Robinson Smith, hosts special pop-up workshops, readings and events. Rabbit Box (rabbitbox.org) is a monthly event held at the VFW Post 2872 where people from the community tell stories from their lives based on a theme. Organizers put out calls for themes ahead of time to help people interested workshop their stories.
Cheer On
Since the opening of the Akins Ford Arena, Athens is now a hockey town. Established in 2024, the Athens Rock Lobsters (rocklobstershockey.com) are a professional ice hockey team competing in the Federal Prospects Hockey League. The hockey season hosts special themed nights, meet and greets, live bands and more—there’s something for everyone in the Crustacean Nation. If you enjoy full-contact sports, then you should also check out the Classic City Roller Derby (classiccityrollerderby.com). Local bouts are held at Fun Galaxy Athens.
The University of Georgia’s sports program is known nationwide thanks to the national championship-winning Bulldogs football team, but there’s also basketball, soccer, gymnastics, equestrian competitions and more. The Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall houses a sports museum open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.–5 p.m. While you’re there, you can visit the adjacent Dooley Sculpture Garden containing 11 distinct garden areas.
If you’re interested in getting active, there are local facilities for disc golf, pétanque, pickleball, soccer, tennis and more. There are also clubs and groups that meet regularly if you’re looking for people to meet up with. For more information on what’s available and active groups, visit accgov.com/sports.
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