Photograph by Cristy Solomon
It wasn’t on purpose that Virginia-Highland Civic Association president Alex Bevel Jones spoke with 40 bands for the 40th iteration of the neighborhood’s annual Summerfest, which returns this month from June 6 through 8. But it certainly has a nice ring to it.
So does the triumph of a block party—dreamed up by local restaurateur Warren Bruno on North Highland Avenue in 1984—that has evolved into a summer staple and is now reaching four decades, right at a time when Bruno’s slogan for the festival, “Allow, Accept, Appreciate,” seems timelier than ever.
That mantra is the basis on which Summerfest was built. In the ’80s, when the intersection of North Highland and Virginia Avenue was beginning to grow as a commercial thoroughfare, tension burgeoned between business owners and nearby residents. Bruno’s solution? Create an opportunity for the former to give back to the latter. The funds raised from the festival were returned to the neighborhood as seed money for John Howell Park, and Virginia-Highland established roots as both a commercial and residential community.
Since then, that community has grown, and so has its namesake festival.
“Last year, I pulled in bands from all over the country,” says Jones. “We’re proud to have hosted artists such as The Revivalists and Jason Isbell before they went on to stardom.” But for this milestone year, Jones zeroed in on eight hyperlocal acts “to encapsulate the spirit of Atlanta, celebrate our community, and promote the rich artistic culture we are so fortunate to have.” This year’s lineup includes a host of up-and-coming bands from Atlanta and around Georgia, including Eddie 9 Volt and Movement Improvement, plus regional talent such as Charleston’s Susto.
Meanwhile, Karen Isenberg Jones (no relation), a 16-year resident of Virginia-Highland and Summerfest’s cochair, is most excited for the festival’s extensive visual art component. “Ultimately, it’s a music and arts festival,” she says; her favorite feature is the juried artist market that lines Virginia Avenue, where 200 artists from across the South compete for prizes. This year, a Makers Market will add further literal color to the streets.
Other returning highlights include the annual 5K race, a “tot trot” for kids ages two to five, and the activity-packed Kidsfest, which Summerfest cochair Kenneth Herring picks as his favorite element: “I moved to VaHi last June with my son, and it was the first event that we attended together in our new community,” he says. “Kidsfest creates memories that will last a lifetime, and creates the next generation of festivalgoers.”
This article appears in our June 2025 issue.
