Win a Pair of VIP Tickets to HOToberFest at Glenwood Park on October 2!

We are so excited that fall is fast approaching – and that this great beer festival is now just a month away! HOToberFest not only brings 170 craft beers, but it also has great food from locals like Vickery’s, Matador Cantina, The Shed, as well as German brats and some great BBQ. Yum. And of course there will be live music from Michael Tolcher and the Pros, Caroline and the Ramblers and others.

And then of course there is the tasting competition, which is the largest consumer-judged competition in the country. It will feature loads of incredible rare and one of a kind beers brewed just for the festival, as well as some great micro-brews, old favorites and a couple of breweries that have just debuted in Atlanta.

For those who want a bit more of a fancy-pants experience, you should spend the extra dollars and get yourself a VIP ticket, which gets you into the festival an hour early, access to 40 rare and exclusive beers not available for the rest of the festival-goers, access to the Firkin VIP Tent (which will have a nice big flatscreen TV showing SEC football) and VIP-only restrooms. Sounds like a perfect day to us.

You can buy the tickets at the link below (tickets bought in advance are $10 cheaper than those at the gate!), but we also have a pair of VIP tickets to give away to one lucky beer lover. Fill out the form at the bottom of the page for your chance to win.

Midtown Festival of the Arts to Take Over Peachtree Street, September 25 and 26

Atlanta’s “Midtown Mile” is really coming into its own. Chic stores, fab restaurants, people actually walking everywhere – just like a real city! And to celebrate just how far Peachtree Street and its offshoots have come in the past few years, Midtown Atlanta is throwing the first annual free Midtown Festival of the Arts this September 25 and 26. Not only does it look like a pretty great selection of artists, food vendors and restaurants are going to be coming along, but the festival will also be shutting down Peachtree Street from 5th to 10th Street to make it a for-real pedestrian event.

Joining the 100 booths for artists, performing and literary arts, a kids zone, street performers and film showings will be a one-mile race (the aforementioned Midtown Mile) from Colony Square to the Fox Theatre and lots of lovely street food vendors from the likes of YEAH Burger, JCT Kitchen, Yumbii Truck, King of Pops and Westside Creamery. Yum. Oh and a beer garden. Of course.

And for those really love their food (like us) you can go the extra Midtown Mile (see what we did there?) and get tickets for the incredible Plates on Peachtree Tasting Area, which will feature fabulous dishes and drinks from Park 75, Bacchanalia, Shaun’s, Tap, Bakeshop, Top Flr and more. We’re drooling already. Tickets go on sale August 30.

Show Us Your Pics and Win Tickets to Athens Popfest!

Athens Popfest has a stellar lineup this year: Mission of Burma, Apples in Stereo, The Wedding Present, Quinton and Miss Pussycat, Supercluster and more. Phew. We’re pretty sure that a few of your favorite bands are in there. Maybe you’ve met a few of them. Maybe you even have pictures of you meeting them. Or, if you’re a bit odd, maybe you have photo-shopped yourself into a picture of the band. You could have even put the band in your own picture.

The point is, we are now giving you an opportunity to put these great shots (or odd talents) to good use. We’re giving away a pair of weekend wristbands for Athens Popfest coming up August 10 – 14. And all you have to do is send us your pictures with your favorite Popfest band, real or created. The coolest (or perhaps the funniest) will win. If you need some inspiration, look no further – we’ve already created a great example! It’s one of our colleagues, Twans Rucker, chilling with Athens Popfest band MISFORTUNE500, in a great shot taken by Michael Lachowski.

Bits and Bobs: Rosanne Cash, Band of Horses, Scissor Sisters, R.E.M., Big Boi

- Rosanne Cash, country star and daughter of the legend that is Johnny Cash, will be signing her book, Composed, at Agnes Scott College’s Presser Hall on August 14. The event is presented by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival (AJC DBF) and Yuengling Beer and is hosted by Agnes Scott and A Cappella Books, and will include a performance by Cash herself. … Continue Reading

Bits and Bobs: Pinkberry, ATL Throwdown, Glastonbury, BET Awards and More!

Looks like it was a busy weekend, with a fabulous awards show, an epic U.K. festival and more. Here’s some bits and bobs we think you should know about:

- The famed frozen yogurt company Pinkberry has opened its first Georgia shop on Cobb Parkway. Atlanta Dish was there and has some crazy yummy-looking pics. Just in time to beat this sweltering heat then. … Continue Reading

Red Stripe Light MidSummer Music Fest – Saturday, June 19 at Candler Park

Hooray for the weekend! It’s MidSummer Music Fest time! Sponsored by Red Stripe Light, the day-long event this Saturday, June 19 is packed with an artist market, family activities, a corn hole tournament and much more! Musical guests include Lefty Williams, Soulphonics and Ruby Velle, Gringo Star, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, The Wailers and Better Than Ezra.

For the third year in a row, the festival will be hosted at Candler Park and is free to the public. Attendees 21 and up will have the opportunity to purchase a wrist band to buy beer ($5 before 5 p.m., $10 after 5 p.m.) to benefit the Candler Park Neighborhood Association to help make park improvements.

MidSummer Music Fest
Saturday, June 19
Candler Park – 1400 McLendon Ave
Atlanta, GA 30307

Get festival updates via Twitter at twitter.com/MidSmrMusicFest

Art-B-Que with The Biters, The Booze, Gringo Star and So Many More – June 11-13

It’s getting hotter, more humid and grossly muggy in Atlanta – time for outdoor weekend festivals! This weekend is the 3rd Annual Art-B-Que in Avondale Estates – and to us, that means rad local art & crafts, delicious BBQ and some of the coolest bands intown!

The band lineup for the Art-B-Que is looking good. Starting off with an opening night show at Alcove Gallery, followed by two full days of music. Some of the coolest bands in town are going to be performing – from acoustic folk to indie rock. Check out the full lineup below!

Friday June 11
(Main Stage)

9:30 p.m. – Snagglepuss at Alcove Gallery

Saturday June 12
(Main Stage)

11 a.m. – Last Chance Runaround
12 p.m. – Curvature
1 p.m. – Underhill Rose
2 p.m. – High Strung String Band
3 p.m. – Cinetrope
4 p.m. – The Holland Dutch
5:15 p.m. -The Biters
6:30 p.m. – The Booze
7:45 p.m. – Warm In The Wake
9:00 p.m. – Gringo Star

11:00 p.m. Late Night Party w/ The Goldest & Mystery guests

(Acoustic Stage)

11 a.m. – Jana Wolf
12 p.m. – Underhill Rose
1 p.m. – The BEANS ( Heidi Polyea, Allison Adams, Ashley Filip, Billy Gewin, Tom Wolfe, Cindy Craven) 2pm- The BEANS (cont.)
3 p.m. – The BEANS (cont.)
4 p.m. – High Strung String Band
5 p.m. – Tone Star
6 p.m. – Sue Wilkinson
7 p.m. – Steel String Session

Sunday June 13
(Main Stage)

11 a.m. – The Wheels
12:30 p.m. – Heather Luttrell
1:45 p.m. – The Soundmen
3 p.m. – Son Red
4:15 p.m. – El Caminos
5:30 p.m. – Van Heineken

(Acoustic Stage)

11 a.m. – John Mickelson
12 p.m. – Myles Brown
1 p.m. – Ben Holst and Melanie Hammet
2 p.m. – Mark Desandre
3 p.m. – Third Lobby
4 p.m. – Tone Star
5 p.m. – Underhill Rose

Thinking about going to this event? Stay informed via Twitter at twitter.com/art_b_que

AMG Weekend Picks: Yelawolf, ARTLANTIS, Psychobilly Freakout and More!

Friday, June 4 – Yelawolf and Hollyweerd at Smith’s Olde Bar
Yelawolf has got to be in a good mood these days. Last week the Alabama-based rapper opened for Big Boi at a secret free show at the Yaarab Shriner Temple. Pretty sure it doesn’t get any cooler than that. Tonight Yelawolf will be sharing the stage with ATL’s own Hollyweerd - who are also everywhere these days. We recommend you attend this event, you know, if you like a good time.

Friday, June 4 – The Coathangers, HotChaCha, Cars Can Be Blue, Pizza Party at 529
Atlanta’s punk rock darlings the Coathangers would probably snarl at us for calling them darlings. Ladies, we mean it in the most bad-ass way possible. Seriously. Last time we caught the Coats they were rocking at Estoriafest with the Barreracudas and Gentlemen Jesse. Tonight they’ll be packing out 529 with equally amazing bands HotChaCha, Cars Can Be Blue and Pizza Party!

Saturday, June 5 – ARTLANTIS – Druid Hills Baptist Church
Here’s the deal – we love supporting local bands. LOVE. We have this blog here dedicated to music! We also love local artists! Atlanta is booming with great artists and art related events. One of these events happens to combine local art with local music! ARTLANTIS, hosted by the folks at Beep Beep Gallery is this Saturday at the Druid Hills Baptist Church on Ponce. Bands on the bill include Carnivores, Thy Mighty Contract, Abby Go Go, Mermaids, Buffalo Bangers and Lindsay Appel. The event will go on from 10 a.m. til 7  p.m. and get this – it’s FREE!

Saturday, June 5 – 3rd Annual Psychobilly Freakout Festival – Star Bar
Psychobilly fans unite! Star Bar is housing the 3rd Annual Psychobilly Freakout Festival this Saturday night! The Right Rev Andy hosts – bands performing the fest include The Hollowbody Hellraisers, King Daddy Polecats, The Atomic Rockets.

Freak Out at the Rock ‘N’ Roll Monster Bash at Starlight Six Drive-In – Sunday, June 6!

FACT: Halloween is too much fun to only celebrate once a year.

The folks at The Starlight Six Drive-In and Silver Scream Spookshow agree. Dress up in your scariest and get down at the Rock ‘N’ Roll Monster Bash on Sunday, June 6 – it’s Halloween in June!

What to expect from the Monster Bash 2010?

- Miss Monster Bash!
- Brain eating contest!
- Blast Off Burlesque!
- Live bands all day long – Iron Maiden All Star Tribute, Daikaiju, Apocalyptic Vision, The Luchagors and Grinder Nova!
- Creature Double Feature: Kingdom of the Spider and Grizzly!

Rock ‘n’ Roll Monster Bash
Starlight Six Drive In
Sunday, June 6

HOToberFest: Sample and Vote For Your Favorite Brew! October 2 at Glenwood Park

Yes, we know it’s 120+ days away, but it was impossible to not get all giddy about HOToberFest 2010. We decided that we had no other choice but to share this wonderful event with everyone. On Saturday, October 2, HOToberfest combines the (free of charge) Glenwood Park neighborhood festival with live music, sustainability information, kids area, food, art and more, AND a ticketed Oktoberfest style beer tasting and the nation’s largest consumer judged craft beer competition. Sign us up.

Aside from being an awesome event for any beer lover, 100% of proceeds from HOToberFest will be donated to several organizations in support of their various efforts toward sustainability. So, it’s for a good cause. Drink on friends, drink on.

You can purchase General Admission tickets to the Beer Garten, or you can purchase the limited number VIP tickets that’ll get you into the private tasting tent which includes 40+ exclusive craft beers.

GENERAL ADMISSION TICKETS

VIP TICKETS