Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the AthFest Music & Arts Festival is back in full force with over 100 performers across three outdoor stages and 10 downtown venues.
In addition to the long-awaited return of the beloved Club Crawl, the three-day festival—held Friday, June 23 through Sunday, June 25—features an artist market, vendors, food trucks, kids activities and plenty of other surprises. The free outdoor festival includes performances at the Wicked Weed Main Stage (intersection of Pulaski and Washington streets), the Paloma Park Hull Street Stage (Hull Street at Hancock Avenue) and the Clarke County School District KidsFest Stage (Washington at Lumpkin Street).
Not sure who to check out? AthFest has created playlists organized by each venue on youtube.com/@AthFestEducates. Get up to speed with all things AthFest below, and keep Flagpole’s handy schedule and descriptions with you to make the most of each day.
AthFest Artist Market
While live music may take center stage, the annual AthFest Artist Market is an integral part of the festival and an exciting opportunity to discover artists and makers from across the region. This year’s bustling open-air market will feature over 70 booths lining Washington Street between Hull and Lumpkin streets. Ranging from fine art to crafts, original works will vary among paintings, drawings, prints, photography, mixed media, ceramics, jewelry, clothing, accessories, home goods, glass, woodwork, sculpture and more. As a juried market, awards and cash prizes will be distributed to Best in Show, second place and five honorable mentions. The artist market will be open Friday from 5–10 p.m., Saturday from 12–10 p.m., and Sunday from 12:30–8 p.m. A full list of participating vendors can be found online.

KidsFest
As a family-friendly festival, AthFest hosts KidsFest, a block-long area full of arts and crafts, demonstrations, ticketed bounce houses and inflatables, and other kid-centric activities. Located on Washington Street between Lumpkin and College avenues, the KidsFest Stage will host performances that are fun for all ages. The first day kicks off with an UpNext Showcase spotlighting middle and high school musicians from the Full Moon School of Music, and a variety of music and dance acts—either geared towards young audiences or featuring young entertainers themselves—will follow throughout the weekend. KidsFest will run Friday from 6–9 p.m., Saturday from 10:30 a.m.–6:15 p.m. and Sunday from 12:30–5 p.m. In addition to entertainment on the outdoor stage, a free KidsFest Dance Party with DJ Mahogany will be held at Ciné on Saturday from 2–4 p.m.

Club Crawl
2023 marks the official return of AthFest’s popular Club Crawl following a three-year pandemic-induced hiatus. As headliners close out on the outdoor stages, 10 different venues will get into gear to keep the night going. The easiest way to get the full experience of show-hopping is to purchase a club crawl wristband. For $25 in advance or $30 day of, wristbands grant access (subject to capacity and age restrictions) to shows at the Georgia Theatre, 40 Watt Club, Live Wire Athens, Hendershot’s, The Foundry, Ciné, The Globe, Flicker Theatre & Bar, Nowhere Bar and Paloma Park. A VIP Weekend Pass ($140) includes access to Club Crawl venues, a commemorative AthFest cup, and a VIP-only area of the outdoor festival with Main Stage viewing, a beverage service area and shaded seating. Wristbands and VIP passes can be purchased in advance at athfest.com or in person at the festival merch tent.

Beer Gardens & Festival Zone Wristbands
Though the city requires that the consumption of alcoholic beverages be limited to designated areas, multiple beer gardens will be set up throughout the area in close proximity to the action. New this year, a $5 Festival Zone Wristband allows attendees to freely walk around the festival area with an alcoholic beverage in hand. Drinks purchased at bars can be carried out, but must be beer or wine and in plastic cups. Beer garden bars, wristband sales and merchandise will be cashless this year, so make sure to bring a card.

AthFest Theme Artist
Every year, a different local artist is selected to create the festival’s artwork that appears all over town from merchandise, banners, posters, advertisements, billboards and even the cover of Flagpole. This year’s theme artist is Gunnar Tarsa, aka Scribble Warlock, whose imaginative style is instantly recognizable by its generative, black-and-white illustrations accented with details in cyan, magenta and yellow. In recognition of this honor, tiny ATH gallery presented a solo exhibition earlier this month, “Scribble Warlock’s Toy Depot,” which consisted of 100 illustrations inspired by superheroes, trading cards and nostalgia. Tarsa plans to set up shop at the AthFest Artist Market.
“My work typically revolves around a blend of cosmic high fantasy and imaginary realms,” says Tarsa. “The work I made for AthFest falls right in line with my core motifs by using an astronaut and starship. For me, these themes have a lot to do with dream chasing and the adventurous journey it takes to be a living artist. Hoping a lot of fellow creatives and musicians feel inspired by the designs and are on their own rocket toward their dream artistic careers.”

Welcome, Mary Joyce!
Last fall, AthFest Educates announced the hiring of a new executive director, Mary-Eleanor Joyce, after longtime executive director Jill Helme moved out of state. A proud Athenian since moving here to pursue a master’s degree in Nonprofit Organizations at UGA in the mid-2000s, Joyce has a strong track record of not only serving the community but engaging with the local music and arts scene. Most recently, she has worked at the nonprofit Children First, Inc., serving as Associate Director and SafeCare Home Visiting Program Coordinator for 15 years. She has also worked with We Rock Athens (formerly known as Girls Rock Athens) as a grants committee member and volunteer, and is a recent graduate of the LEAD Athens program through the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce. A lifelong musician, Joyce has performed with Incendiaries, Maximum Busy Muscle and Shitty Candy and the Circus Peanuts. To see her live in action, catch Ghost & Goat on Friday at 5:10 p.m. on the Hull Street Stage.
“As someone who has been profoundly impacted by the mission of AthFest Educates and the AthFest festival, I am honored and humbled to be a part of both this year as the new Executive Director of AthFest Educates,” says Joyce. “Without a generous donation that allowed me to start playing the drums in elementary school, I never would have become a musician. Without wandering into the AthFest Festival back in 2005, I never would have moved to Athens and gotten to live in this vibrant music and arts community. I’m thankful for the opportunity to pay it forward to the next generation.”
AthFest Educates Grants
The AthFest Music & Arts Festival is one of two flagship fundraising events—the other being the AthHalf Half Marathon & 5K, scheduled for Oct. 21–22 this fall—that supports the nonprofit AthFest Educates in its mission to sustain and advance music and arts education for local K-12 youth. To date, AthFest Educates has awarded over $578,000 in grants to help fund music and arts programs, the purchase of instruments and equipment, and professional development for educators. Nearly $47,000 was awarded during the last grant cycle, making it possible to get drums, recorders, xylophones, DSLR cameras, sculpture materials and learning materials into the hands of kids. The grants also fund a variety of experiences, such as attending the UGA Performing Art Center’s Performances for Youth People series, participating in a production of High School Musical, reviving a literary magazine and learning about public art through the creation of a mural. The application process for the next round of grants will open this July. Check out athfesteducates.org/current-grantees for a comprehensive list of grantees.
JOKERJOKERtv’s AthFest Livestream
Local multidisciplinary artist and performer Mux Blank will close out his June residency, “A Glitch Night’s Dream,” at the Athens Institute of Contemporary Art this weekend with a three-day livestream of AthFest coverage. Hosted by JOKERJOKERtv, Blank’s weekly virtual talkshow-style program celebrating independent artists from around the world, the livestream’s content will bounce between music videos, interviews with AthFest artists and other creative segments. The livestream will be aired Friday from 5–10 p.m., Saturday from 12–10 p.m. and Sunday from 12:30–8 p.m., and can be found at youtube.com/@JOKERJOKERtvofficial. The public is also invited to escape the summer heat and watch the livestream from behind the scenes in the gallery.
Athens Art Book Fair
Presented alongside AthFest, the inaugural Athens Art Book Fair will showcase over 60 artists and presses from across the Southeast downtown at the Athenaeum (287 W. Broad St.) on Saturday from 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Supported by the UGA Art Library, UGA Lamar Dodd School of Art and the UGA Printmaking Students Association, the fair spotlights the important relationship between contemporary art and publishing through a variety of artist books, printmaking, zines and other creative works on paper. Exhibitors will be on site to discuss and sell their work, with locals including Abigail West, Beauty Everyday, David Mack, Flat File Print Shop, Joey Weiser, Robert Newsome, The Bitter Southerner, University of Georgia Press and several others. The fair is free to attend, and visitors will have opportunities to get creative during hour-long workshops in screen printing (11 a.m. and 2 p.m.) and zine making (12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.). For more details and a full list of participating exhibitors, visit art.uga.edu/athensabf.
Athens Music Walk of Fame
In addition to the Historic Athens Welcome Center’s Athens Music History Tour on Sunday (see Calendar Pick on p. 17), a great way to learn more about Athens’ rich musical legacy during AthFest weekend is to take a stroll down the Athens Music Walk of Fame. Overseen by the Athens Cultural Affairs Commission, this public art installation is located within a two-square-block area bounded by Pulaski, Washington, Lumpkin and Clayton streets. A series of bronze guitar pick-shaped plaques along the sidewalk recognize musicians who have made significant contributions to local music history. ACAC member Montu Miller will announce this year’s new wave of inductees on Friday evening on the Main Stage in between acts.
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