by Marin Torres
Oconee High School
Along the streets of downtown Athens, Georgia from June 21-23, crowds mingle on the streets checking out the street vendors, whilst the smell of festival food wafts throughout. Locals and visitors make small talk as bands get ready for their next song.
“While I’m watching a live band, I could be supporting a local barbecue smoker and eating a rib while supporting local artists, I don’t know,” said Gracie Waters, a local of Athens.
Athens is often a place not recognizable without a map. However, despite the town’s humble appearance, Athens has been home to many bands known worldwide including R.E.M, Widespread Panic and the B-52’s. These are all bands that have origins within the Athens community.
There is no better way to celebrate and honor the vibrant art culture in Athens than a three-day festival dedicated to celebrating the local artists, bands and businesses. The AthFest Music & Arts Festival is held in the middle of June, signifying the halfway of summer.
This festival includes an artist market made up of over 70 booths with work from local and non-local artists, sponsor booths, retail vendors, along with food trucks. KidFest is included in AthFest as well which allows for a family-friendly environment.
Arguably, the main attraction at AthFest, however, are the music performances. There are three outdoor stages, with artists performing on all three. At KidFest, the Full Moon School of Music is performing on Friday night. Gracie Waters is one of the performers who will be singing.
“[AthFest] encourages people to look at different kinds of music and stuff and also be able to see the different bands who are local in Athens,” Waters said. “I think it’s gonna be a fun experience to be on stage, and I’ve worked hard for it.”
In addition to the main outdoor stages, AthFest also holds a ClubCrawl, hosted by some of Athens’ most iconic venues. 40 Watt Club, The Georgia Theatre, Hendershots, Cine and the Foundry, are only some of the venues helping to host ClubCrawl. There will be 94 bands being hosted from Friday to Sunday just through ClubCrawl. In all, AthFest will host around 156 bands, both local and not.
Some past artists who have played at AthFest include, John Mayer, Jennifer Nettles, and Kishi Bashi.
AthFest is made possible by the many local sponsors that help this festival take place. One of the sponsors of AthFest, is TheRed & Black, a local student run newspaper in Athens.
“The Red & Black is a fellow nonprofit organization here in Athens, and we adopt a culture of philanthropy, both in our own organization as well as in our community, because we would hope to have the same support from our community as well,” said Charlotte Norsworthy Varnum, executive director of the Red and Black newspaper.
“AthFest is such a pivotal event in Athens, we have covered it for as long as it’s been around, and we really just see it as an opportunity to showcase our support for AthFest educates and the cause and the mission that it serves,” Varnum said. “To get the idea being that if we all support one another, we will all thrive and make our community better.”
Not only is AthFest a way for the community to get together, AthFest also raises money for AthFest Educates.
AthFest Educates is a non-profit organization committed to sustaining and advancing music and arts education for K-12 youth in Athens Clarke County. The proceeds from both AthFest and the AthHalf Half Marathon fund the organization’s annual grant-making efforts. The mission of AthFest educates is to provide high-quality music and arts education for local youth and the Athens community through direct support of school and community-based programs and events, including an annual music and arts festival.
As of 2024, AthFest has issued over $620,000 in grants throughout Athens, and the Clarke County School District. This includes all of the elementary schools, middle schools and high schools.
The Red & Black sponsor AthFest for the very purpose that it raises money for AthFest educates.
“We are training the future of the free press,” said Varnum. “And so the idea of education in general is incredibly important. We also kind of culturally believe that knowledge is power, right? We provide free, reliable news to our community. And so the overall idea is a mission, alignment for us, music and arts education is just as important as the education that we provide to our community that makes people more civically engaged and able to make decisions and live their lives.”
As the music dies down, and the festivities come to a close on Sunday night, AthFest’s impact does not disappear. Throughout the next year, the money raised will continue to have an impact on students in the Clarke County School district through grants and special projects.
“AthFest is so unique compared to any other music festival that I’ve ever gone to, and I love the idea that it’s all the local conjunctions of what makes Athens culture so unique together in one event,” Varnum said. “It’s just a great thing to pay witness to.”
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