| Music Midtown | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Coldplay at Music Midtown, 2011 | |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Location(s) |
|
| Years active | 1994–2005, 2011–2021, 2023–present |
| Inaugurated | May 13, 1994 |
| Most recent | September 17–18, 2022 |
| Next event | September 15–17, 2023 |
| Website | musicmidtown |
Music Midtown is a large music festival held in Atlanta, Georgia, annually from 1994 to 2005, after which it returned in 2011 following a six-year hiatus. The festival ran consecutively from 2011-2019 with a cancellation in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival returned briefly in 2021, before a cancellation in 2022. In May of 2023, it was announced that Music Midtown would return. The festival runs for one weekend each year, typically in September. The event drew in excess of 300,000 attendees per year during its peak years.[1]
The festival began as a two-day event with three stages, and later grew to a three-day event with six main stages. Each of these stages were typically sponsored by a local Atlanta radio station and were used to present dozens of bands playing a wide variety of musical genres. Due to a decline in attendance and rising expenses after the 2005 festival, promoters placed the festival on hiatus in 2006.
In 2011, the festival returned as a one-day event, and expanded to a two-day format the following year. On August 1, 2022 the festival was cancelled due to Georgia gun laws preventing organizers from banning firearms at the event, which was held in a public park.[2] Upon the return of the festival in 2023, it was announced the event would now take place over 3-days and occurred from September 15-17, 2023.[3]
- ^ BRUMBACK, KATE (6 July 2011). "Atlanta mayor announces return of Music Midtown". TODAY.com. NBC Universal. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
- ^ "Atlanta's Music Midtown Festival Canceled After Court Ruling Made It Illegal to Keep Guns Out of Event". Billboard. 1 August 2022.
- ^ ATLANTA NEWS FIRST STAFF (16 May 2023). "Music Midtown announces its return to Piedmont Park for 3-day event | Full lineup". Atlanta News First. Retrieved July 27, 2023.