Dirty Dozen Brass Band
AthFest Educates, the parent organization of the annual AthFest Music and Arts Festival, has announced the headliners for this year’s fest, which will take place June 22–24.
On Friday, June 22, acclaimed Athens hip-hop artist Linqua Franqa—aka Athens-Clarke County Commission District 2 candidate Mariah Parker—will co-headline the main stage, bringing her potent, lyrically driven live show to the masses. She’ll be followed by horn collective Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a 40-year-old group based in New Orleans and known for collaborating with Widespread Panic and many others.
Saturday’s lone headliner is a familiar name: folk-rock crew Family and Friends, which returns to AthFest after a short hiatus. The show doubles as a release party for the band’s long-awaited debut full-length, Felix Culpa, out June 8.
Finally, on Sunday, attendees can expect another double-bill of co-headliners, featuring long-running local rockers Elf Power and North Carolina jangle-pop icons The Connells. The onetime R.E.M. contemporaries reportedly haven’t played Athens since 2000.
After receiving a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, AthFest officials say this year’s event will feature improved production values and new features, including a larger tent covering most of the Hull Street Stage area. In addition, the Terrapin brewery will host an official AthFest Club Crawl showcase for the first time.
This year’s AthFest is the 22nd edition. The full lineup is yet to be announced, as is information on ticket prices and purchasing. As always, the fest will kick off with the Flagpole Athens Music Awards, set to return to the Morton Theatre on Thursday, June 21. Stay tuned for more details.
UPDATE: An earlier version of this post referenced Creature Comforts’ participation in this year’s Club Crawl. The brewery will not host any official AthFest events.
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