Elevate: Rooted
& Rising

Atlanta’s story has always been one of rhythm, resilience, and reinvention. From the corner stores and block parties that raised us to the Southern hip-hop sound that shook the world, this city’s culture has long been more than entertainment — it has been a lifeline. This October, Atlanta’s annual public art festival, ELEVATE, returns with a citywide celebration of that legacy.

Taking place October 10–12, 2025, from Downtown to West End, ELEVATE: Rooted & Rising reframes cultural preservation as health equity. Through a multi-site creative and cultural activation, the festival recognizes the rituals, spaces, and stories of Black Atlanta as vital to collective healing and community well-being.

This year’s theme pays tribute to Atlanta’s cultural rise in the late ’80s through the early 2000s — an era that shaped Atlanta’s global influence. It was a time of skate culture and hair salons, fashion on the block and sound systems in the park, storytellers and stylists, dreamers and doers — all of whom built the blueprint for what the world now knows as “Atlanta.”