16 Atlanta festivals to celebrate April

From cherry blossoms to art, there’s a festival for anyone in the metro area
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Atlanta festivals in April
Photograph courtesy of the Atlanta Dogwood Festival

Whether film, music, art, or Sherlock Holmes is your passion, Atlanta and the surrounding area have some great festivals in store for April.

Music
Slingshot
Through 4/2
With more than 50 bands, including Angel Olsen and Crystal Castles, Athens lives up to its musical reputation. Also find art installations and comedy.
Details

Rhythm & Brews
4/2
Enjoy local bands like Chelsea Shag and Sam Burchfield and beers from Jekyll Island, Red Hare, and Monday Night on Sandy Springs Society Entertainment Lawn.
Details

SweetWater 420 Fest
4/22–24
Kid Rock is the top-billed headliner for the Centennial Olympic Park concert this year. Also playing are Ludacris, The Roots, Atmosphere, and more.
Details

Neighborhood
Lemonade Days
4/13–17
From a petting zoo to a classic car show, all proceeds from this Brook Run Park festival go to the Dunwoody Preservation Trust.
Details

Atlanta Streets Alive
4/17
West End goes carless for an afternoon for this Atlanta Bicycle Coalition event. Bike, skateboard, or walk through Mechanicsville, Summerhill, Pittsburgh, Adair Park, West End, Westview, and Grant Park.
Details

Film
Atlanta Film Festival
4/1–10
Now in its 40th year, this cinema event screens more than 200 feature, documentary, and short films; hosts panels on screenwriting, acting, entertainment law, and more; and gives master classes with filmmaker James Ponsoldt, documentary director James Moll, and actor Shuler Hensley.
Details

Cinema Italy Atlanta
4/21–24
See eight Italian films at the Plaza for the 10th consecutive year of this movie marathon.
Details

Cherry blossoms
International Cherry Blossom Festival
Through 4/3
300,000 cherry trees blossom in Macon, but that’s just the beginning of this fest, which also has live music, rides, animal shows, fair food, extreme pogo stick shows, and more.
Details

Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival
4/2–3
Blackburn Park’s flower fest is back for a second year with a 5K; pet parade; art market; kids village; music by The Whiskey Gentry, Wesley Cook, and more; and a classic car show.
Details

Conyers Cherry Blossom Festival
4/2–3
For 35 years, this Georgia International Horse Park event has celebrated international culture with performances and food, but you can also join in on the “Pink Out!” (dress in cherry blossom colors) or watch an alligator show.

Arts
Festival on Ponce
4/2–3
More than 125 artists take over Olmsted Linear Park, along with a kids area and food.
Details

Writers’ Festival
4/7–8
Novelist Dani Shapiro and poet Richard Blanco headline the Agnes Scott celebration of literature, now in its 45th year.
Details

Atlanta Dogwood Festival
4/8–10
It’s been 80 years since the first arts event in Piedmont Park. Expect 260 artists in mediums from paint to leather, music from artists like Jerry on the Moon and The Bitteroots, a 5K, the Disc Dog competition, and more.
Details

Big Shanty Festival
4/16–17
Besides the 250 art booths at this Kennesaw party, watch pigs race for Oreos, parades, jugglers on stilts, and more.
Details

Niche
221B Con
4/1–3
Grab your pipe for the annual Sherlock Holmes convention at Atlanta Marriott Perimeter Center, featuring panels on BBC’s Sherlock, Alan Rickman, Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s Mycroft Holmes book, and more.
Details

Georgia Renaissance Festival
4/16–6/5
Jousting is going to the next level with chariots and crossbows at this year’s incarnation of the Fariburn fete. Watch while chomping on a one-and-a-half-pound turkey leg.
Details

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