One of the best things about the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts at Emory is that many…read moreperformances are open to the public and completely free, even parking (at certain times). Check out the Emory arts calendar for a schedule of upcoming performances at http://arts.emory.edu/calendar/index.html. You can park for free in the Fishburne parking deck which is conveniently located right next to the Schwartz Center. Parking rates apply, Monday-Friday, 7am-5pm, but the deck is free otherwise. On October 20, 2017, I attended the world premiere of the short film "In Her Image" (2017), written and directed by Emory alumnus Nikoloz Kevkhishvili. What was unique about this premiere was it took place in the Schwartz Center's Emerson Concert Hall (seating capacity: 825) and the Emory Wind Ensemble played the musical soundtrack to the film live as we watched it on a projected screen above the stage. The score for the movie was composed by Emory's director of orchestral studies, Richard Prior. I've been to independent film festivals and independent movie screenings/premieres before and In Her Image (official website: https://www.inherimagefilm.com/ | IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7483328/) was better than I expected. If you're a fan of high quality, well-made, and well-acted short films, it's worth checking out. The premiere was preceded by three arrangements performed by the Emory Wind Ensemble and an additional arrangement after the premiere. They were: 1. Four Scottish Dances (1957) by Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006) 2. Aria Della Battaglia (1567) by Andrea Gabrieli (1510-1586) 3. Suite from Mass (1971) by Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) - Film Premiere - 4. Zion (1994) by Dan Welcher (b. 1948) I was impressed with the quality of the performances. They were outstanding. They were conducted by Paul Bhasin who is Emory's director of wind studies. My favorite arrangement was the Suite from Mass which was written for the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. It sounded magical like a John Williams score from a Steven Spielberg movie. Five brass soloists from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra joined the Emory Wind Ensemble for the suite. They were Stuart Stephenson (trumpet), Michael Tiscione (trumpet), Jaclyn Rainey (horn), Samuel Schlosser (trombone), and Michael Moore (tuba). The entire program, including the movie, lasted only about 1.5 hours. As for the Schwartz Center itself, it is very nice. It opened in February 2003. For comparison, the Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech opened in April 1992 with a 1,155-seat auditorium. The concert hall is two stories and features a 45-pipe organ. There were staff members on the first and second level concourses greeting attendees and handing out descriptive programs. Seating was general admission. The seats were comfortable and there was not a bad seat in the house. Every seat seemed to have good to great sight lines and viewing angles. The acoustics were terrific. Along with the concert hall, the Schwartz Center also has a dance studio, theater lab and observatory, rehearsal hall, and classrooms. Outside, there is a courtyard with beautiful tree lights. The Schwartz Center is located on the southern end of Emory's campus. It's just a stone's throw away from Emory Village which has several great dining options like Double Zero, Falafel King, Keba, Rise-n-Dine, and Wagaya.

A beautiful venue that showcases some wonderful music groups throughout the year. Many concerts are…read morefree, so check it out for sure! The seats are comfortable and the acoustics are good. Nice bathrooms and overall a high quality feel to the venue. It is part of Emory University. Parking can be a pain if the deck next door fills up.

While I usually refrain from reviewing festivals, I've been a part of these events for awhile now…read morethat I really can rave about it. Not only do you get exercise (the hubs and I ride our bikes to and from for the most part so it's more efficient), but you get a lot of nice freebies like energy drinks (there used to be plenty of granola and nutritional bars), cute trinkets to add onto your bike, and maybe even a t-shirt at some places. There's also the wonderful awe in being able to ride on the actual street that you might have driven on a million times. It's great to take on the views of the city where you work and live to notice that business you've never known existed before or to just take on the beauty of everything. And if you've never been to that part of town before, now's your opportunity! Everyone is super friendly with loads of people around. Take that Sunday afternoon off (because the event is always on a Sunday) and get some vitamin D and slow down before the Monday churn comes around. Even if you don't have a bike, there are plenty of people walking, roller blading, skate boarding, and so forth. It's good exercise even if the vendors are a dud.

Living in this event-going city never leaves me found wanting or with a sense of need regarding…read moreweekend outings and/or adventures. There are plenty of opportunities to explore festivals of all all kinds across parks in the entire Atlanta area and most tend to be multiple day events. Atlanta Streets Alive has taken the cake for me. Lasting but 4 hours, your time to enjoy this event is limited, but perfect. No need for multi-day attendance, but rather a microburst of celebrating Inman, O4W, and the Highlands and the surrounding businesses. It may sound silly from the 1000ft view, but walking down Highland from Boulevard and then making it all the way to Ponce... and walking across through the middle of the street, was hilariously fun. People on all kinds of bikes, dressed up, drinking great beer in the streets, activities, dunking booths, poem stations, screen printing, cupcakes, food trucks, chalk art, dancing, you name it -- it was all there. If you plan on making it around the entire stretch of Streets Alive, the easily preferred mode of transportation is on bike. Most people were on bikes and walked their bikes leisurely up the big hills, when needed. Next time, we'll definitely plan on biking, but walking was still really fun. If you have a stroller or little kids, you'll still have a blast.

Virginia Highland Summer Festival is pretty cool, though honestly if you are like me, if you been…read moreto this festival, you have been to them all. The majority of the festivals in Atlanta have the same vendors and the same food trucks. The food here was very limited and located at the very end of the street. We did see some cool things for sale at the festival that were unique, but most of it was the same. We purchased a very cool Hammock Chair called the Oakweave by a company called Twin Oaks. I have never seen anything like this, so it is super cool. The festival is completely free to attend, just make sure you park down the street near the homes, from as there is nowhere to park off Virginia Ave. [Review #383] (29th Review of 2016)

A very well attended event (read: crowded) that features maybe a little more art vendors than do…read moremost other street festivals. Fewer food trucks. Still, plenty of stuff to buy and eat. Island Noodles rocks.

Had a Funday Saturday, attended the 2025 Decatur Wine Festival with my Friend and her Daughter (all…read morenewbies), it was soooo much fun! Over 300 plus wines to sample and you use the souvenir wine glass given upon check it! The weather was beautiful, the wine was being poured! Tasted some sweet wines that were really good, not a fan of the dry wine. Food vendors were there for purchase, of you needed a snack! We decidedto eat st Leon's will do a separate review (it was located along shops/restaurants in the Decatur square. Parking was not bad, we parked in the Court house parking lot for $6! The Festival started at 12:30 and ended on time at 4pm! Will most definitely be attending in 2026.

This is my all time favorite festival in the city! It's located at the Decatur Square. Parking is…read morenearby by parallel parking on the streets and surface lots, but we take Lyft for the ease. It's super laid back with over 200 wines and food. The used to include the food with your ticket, but now you have to buy it from the vendors. Luckily, there are tons of restaurants in the area to visit when you are done with the festival. I love that they had covid protocols in place for entry this year. We had to provide vaccine proof or negative tests.

Yesterday I attended a movie premier to support a friends new movie…read more Location: Do NOT type in cinevision only into your gps. It will NOT take you to the correct place. Be sure you type in cinevision corporation! Also - if using Waze it will also not take you to the correct bldg lol if it stops at bldg 5, keep going until you see bldg A. Then go Around back is where the entrance is. Very confusing so beware! Appearance: it's in an industrial/commercial space so it's pretty simple outside. Inside was setup for premier, red carpet, etc. Staff: it was a hosted event so all staff were apart of movie cast which was fine. The bathrooms were half way up graded and the toilets had a ring around them which is one of the reasons for the 3 stars. The other is because the seats were outdated and old. You literally sunk in them and had to sit towards the edge to see the film. Overall, felt like your typical high school performance auditorium. I would go back but not on my own dime lol

Cinevision is a motion picture equipment and supplies company that lends their space for occasional…read moresmall scale movie premier and focus group premiers. I'm here sharing my experience watching a movie at their venue. Indian movie Industry is quite much more than Bollywood movies, with each state speaking different languages and separate regional film industries. One such state is kerala with Malayalam as native language. While I don't speak the language myself, I have a friend who is from the state and wanted to go see the movie called 'Bangalore Days'(with subtitles). Initially when we got there we were confused by the blocks of office buildings. But actually inside one of those buildings is Cinevision's office and screening theater. The theater itself is comparable to small ones in AMC or regal multiplex. Since it was some other party renting the space from Cinevision, they only accepted cash. There wasn't much snacks or drinks either. Clearly, this is just a theater for some focus group premier, re-purposed to have small showings. When the movie was over, the theater was still dark and we had to use our cellphones to navigate outside. While the movie was good, seats weren't very comfortable for a two and half hour movie but at least well spaced. But these regional movies can't afford a big premier and I can't complain much about venue choices. Overall, it was better than dollar movie theater experience and if they show another movie that I like(and can't see anywhere else) at this venue, I will go.

My family and I attend about 20 or so festivals each year within the Atlanta area and honestly the…read moremajority of the vendors we see attend most of them, so it is nice to see something new. This is our second Summer Shade Festival, now it is not Dogwood or Inman Park Festival, but nonetheless it is still a nice festival to visit. Some of the vendors here do attend other festivals, but we see a lot of new vendors here. I picked up some amazing raw food from Pure Bliss Organics, which makes energy bars and bites that are incredible soft, unlike the hard bars. The festival does close kind of early, so we did not get to see as much as we wanted to this year. I would recommend checking it out though. [Review #333] (Ninety Third Review of 2015)

I don't really have much to note about this festival, but I will say that I didn't particularly…read moreenjoy it. We got there on the later end, but it was definitely hours before the festival was supposed to close. Yet several stands and vendors had already shut down. The music they played with live performers was also not really my preference. They didn't really play a variety of genres so it was just kind of one genre that I didn't really like hearing. After we walked around a little there was really just not much to see and so it just wasn't the best festival that I've attended at all. Others may have really enjoyed this festival, but it was just not for me.

The Decatur Lantern Parade is a sight to see! A good wholesome, smaller town America parade where…read moreit seems like the whole county turns out to celebrate. It starts on W. Howard Ave and ends in the center of Decatur square! It starts later to wait for the night to set in but it's well worth the wait. The creativity of the lanterns made by people of absolutely all ages! Since this is yelp, all of the square restaurants had their doors open and patios kicking. King of pops for sale at one of their carts, and the aroma of sushi, steak, burgers, coffee along with an awesome night of a parade and live music! Go have an amazing dinner somewhere in Decatur and make a night of it with the lantern parade! For those of you who know Decatur well, it's truly a Decatur experience! If you don't check the website frequently to go and make a lantern and walk in next year's parade. The only reason for four stars is that they don't publish this even well enough! Get the word out on the event and the route!

I decided to go on a little journey to explore Atlanta. In my quest of exploring I discovered…read moreHammond's House Museum. It's a fairly small museum which was originally the house of a successful African American doctor named Dr. Otis Thrash Hammonds who had a love for the arts. ***Please note it is a SMALL museum but the art work is beautiful. It took me about 30 mins which mostly included me watching some of a short film to go through the entire museum. The reason for my four stars instead of five is as I was visiting the museum in one of the rooms that I entered there seemed to be two women who I believe were employees that sat at a table in one of the museum rooms and talked and discussed business as I entered an explored the art. It was very unprofessional! Other than that, a great hidden gem to explore in Atlanta. Students pay a discounted rate with IDs of $5.00, adults $10.00 and anyone under the age of 12 are free.

Thinking back on my visit, I am glad I opted to purchase the Groupon. Time went by, and I hadn't…read moreyet used to. So glad I gave this place a try. The House itself is an open love letter to the Westside of Atlanta. I believe the host told me the artist is named Shaniqua Gay. In the house there are beautiful painting on the walls showcasing the community's known figures. Captivating, historic, and memorable. I recommend everyone to visit to experience the artistry. Side note: Parking may be a bit difficult to locate but there's a library walking distance from the house.