Things To Do in Atlanta This Weekend
Last Updated August 18, 2026
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Team Discover Atlanta has suggestions for things to do in Atlanta this weekend, Aug. 21, 22 and 23.
Weekend Highlights
- BronzLense Film Festival
- Oye Fest
- Summer Shade Festival
- Football Fest & Free Day
- Fox Theatre Archives Day
- Pollinator Party
- Atlanta United FC vs Sporting KC
- Horizon Play by Atlanta playwright
Happenings
BronzeLense Kicks Off
On August 21, the BronzeLens Film Festival kicks off and runs through August 30. The festival promotes Atlanta as the new film mecca for people of color, showcasing films and providing networking opportunities to develop the next generation of filmmakers. Check out their events, which take place at Tara Theater.
Brains Battling
Two brilliant inventors, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, face off in one of the most famous rivalries of the Industrial Age at the Center for Puppetry Arts. Thomas Edison, a brilliant entrepreneur and master showman, faces Tesla, the visionary dreamer with lightning in his imagination, in a battle of the brains. Told with large-scale puppetry and spectacular special effects — including a live Tesla coil on stage— this show transforms science into theatrical magic for the 18-and-older crowd. It’s full of wit, invention and moments of unexpected wonder. Tesla vs Edison’s last show is Aug 23.
Shared Reality
It’s all about a shared reality fully immersive experience over at Cosm Atlanta, at Centennial Yards, where attendees will feel as if they’re right in the middle of the action. “The Matrix” is celebrating its 25th anniversary and attendees can experience the film as it unfolds on Cosm’s massive 87-foot LED dome Aug. 21 at 8 p.m. “Freedom 250 Grand Prix” delivers the thrills of auto racing as INDYCAR is hitting the streets of Washington, D.C. in a one-of-a-kind 1.7-mile race through the National Mall. Every lap comes alive as you are transported among the historic landmarks as drivers race to the finish line.
Fox Archives Day
It’s the fifth annual Fox Theatre Archives Day, so come and learn about and celebrate the fabulous Fox Theatre. On Aug. 23 from 3 to 6 p.m., there will be historians and preservation experts telling the stories about the Fox and guests can see artifacts that have shaped the acclaimed theater. Tour the amazing theater and see the coat that Margaret Mitchell wore to the Atlanta premiere of “Gone With the Wind,” shop at the gift shop and enjoy complimentary Fox Theatre Blue Sky Blend coffee. Don’t miss the Might Mo mini-concerts featuring patriotic songs celebrating America 250.
Free Football Fest
The Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame is officially kicking off the 2026 college football season with its annual Football Fest & Free Day, presented by the Peach Bowl, on Saturday, August 22. Fans are invited to enjoy free admission throughout the day while experiencing everything the Hall has to offer, and a few surprises unique to the Capital of College Football.
Guests can experience the Hall’s world-class interactive exhibits alongside appearances and activities featuring some of Atlanta’s biggest sports organizations, including the College GameDay Bus Built by The Home Depot, representatives from the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Vibe and Clark Atlanta University cheerleaders, as well as local marching bands, mascots and live entertainment. Football-themed activities and family-friendly games will take place throughout the Hall and extend outdoors onto Marietta Street. Visitors will also get a first look at the dedicated display honoring the 2026 College Football Hall of Fame Class.
Summer Shade Festival is Back
The annual Summer Shade Festival returns to Grant Park on Saturday, August 22, and Sunday, August 23, for its 24th year. The free two-day festival will once again fill Atlanta’s oldest park with live music across the Main Stage and Gazebo, more than 140 artists and makers, vintage vendors, local food, family programming and the return of Deep South Wrestling. Presented by and benefiting the Grant Park Conservancy, Summer Shade takes place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Among the bands performing are: KJ and the Funk Maysons, The Higher Choir, Jarvis Taylor and Dave Franklin. Yoga Poses Daily opens Saturday’s Main Stage programming, and Sunday will also feature a Tree of Life Dojo Tree demonstration.
Deep South Wrestling returns with four family-friendly matches throughout the weekend, taking place from 1 to 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 to 3 p.m. Sunday. The new Kids Village will also be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days near Loomis Plaza.
A Silent Disco Battle
Uptown Market ATL: Battle of the Generations Silent Disco takes place Saturday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Lawn at Upton, 521 Market St. Three live DJs will spin multi-generational hits (70s through today’s hits) while participants get their groove on with wireless headphones. For the younger kids, there will be bouncy houses and face painting plus more than 20 food vendors and local artisans. $10 for early bird, $15 for same-day entry, which covers silent disco headphone rental.
Pollinator Party
Get ready for this hands-on community science event where you’ll help count and identify the pollinators that sustain and benefit from yards and gardens. Pop in at the Lake Claire Community Land Trust garden at 270 Arizona Ave., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to join in the 2026 Great Southeast Pollinator Census.
Food Well Alliance is partnering with the Intown Atlanta Chapter of the Georgia Native Plant Society and the Lake Claire Community Land Trust to host an event counting pollinators; it’s sort of an insect census. Tools and instructions will be provided, and no experience is required. Learn about the bees, butterflies and other backyard heroes that keep our ecosystems thriving and help provide useful data about them. Bees Knees Nursery will be selling more than 20 species of plants that are great for pollinators.
Art in the Park
It’s never too early to think about holiday presents and the 2026 Open-Air Park Crafts in the Village taking place Friday through Sunday at Piedmont Park is the perfect place to start. There will be unique handmade gifts, such as jewelry, home decor, pottery and clothing, as well as delicious local food. The fun starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 8 p.m.
Kendrick Lamar and the High Museum of Art
Artists get their inspiration from a variety of sources, and for world-renowned painter Tariku Shiferaw, it came from Kendrick Lamar’s songs. Get the inside story at the High Museum of Art Aug. 22 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., with a conversation discussing art and music, featuring a live beat breakdown with Kendrick Lamar’s hit collaborator Tane Runo along with Shiferaw. The two will analyze Shiferaw’s abstract painting, “Element (Kendrick Lamar)”. The painting—on view in the High’s galleries—is directly inspired by Lamar’s discography, and Shiferaw’s practice connects abstract geometry with popular music culture.
Shiferaw explores the concept of ‘mark-making’ to address the physical, social, and political spaces of art and societal constructs. Runo is a music producer, songwriter, and recording artist, whose credits include Nicki Minaj’s platinum-certified “Yikes,” Kacey Musgraves’ Grammy-winning “Lonely Millionaire,” and collaborations with Travis Scott, Usher, Wiz Khalifa, EARTHGANG and 6LACK.
The doors (and bar) open at 6 p.m., followed by a public conversation about “Element (Kendrick Lamar), followed by a Q&A. At 7 p.m., Runo will perform a musical selection.
Live Music and Entertainment
Oye Fest
Oye Fest is back. Atlanta’s Latin arts and music festival returns August 22 at Believe Music Hall Lot. Featuring De La Ghetto, 3BallMTY and Corina Smith — plus EP The Latino and Negra Fabulosa, with 30 other artists and DJs across multiple stages.
Check out how Oye Fest shapes Atlanta’s Latino culture.
More than a Chicken Sandwich
Horizon Theatre Company presents “Holy Chicken Sandwich,” a wildly theatrical new comedy by award-winning Atlanta playwright Kira Rockwell, running Aug. 21–Sept. 19. Directed by Horizon Theatre Co-Artistic Director Lisa Adler, the comedy gathers 100 zealous fans of the fictional fast-food chain Holy Chicken Grail for an overnight parking lot campout and the chance to win a year of free fried chicken combos. But as the night unfolds, it’s clear there’s a fox in the chicken coop. Loyalties are tested, sides are drawn and the flock begins to fracture—with a lot more at stake than free chicken.
Fresh, funny and topical, “Holy Chicken Sandwich” combines whip-smart humor, a shape-shifting ensemble and an absurd pantheon of chicken gods with a cheeky satire of our increasingly divided world. Through the chicken-fried chaos, Rockwell takes a sharp, playful look at how our beliefs and values can bring us together—or send us scrambling to opposite sides of the parking lot. At the heart of it all: What is really in the secret sauce of devotion?
Essential Theatre Festival’s World Premiere
The 2006 Essential Theatre Play Festival held a world premiere production of the 2026 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award’s winning play, “Helen of the West,” by Susan Swavely. The play is a rich reimagined version of the story of Helen of Troy (go see “The Odyssey”), who is now a mail-order bride in the American Wild West. The Essential Theatre focuses on producing new works from Georgia writers. The play will run through Aug. 23.
Atlanta Concerts This Weekend
Don Toliver
Experience Don Toliver’s psychedelic hip-hop sound and arena-sized production on the “Nitrous-Octane World Tour.”
When: Tuesday, Aug. 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: State Farm Arena
Tickets: starting at $78
Buddy Guy
Watch blues legend Buddy Guy perform classic songs in the beautiful setting of Atlanta Symphony Hall.
When: Thursday, Aug. 20 at 6 p.m.
Where: Atlanta Symphony Hall
Tickets: starting at $77
Olivia Dean
Catch one of the UK’s fastest-rising pop and soul artists as Olivia Dean brings her acclaimed live show to the City in the Forest.
When: Saturday, Aug. 22 at 8 p.m.
Where: State Farm Arena
Tickets: starting at $400
Chris Stapleton
Enjoy Chris Stapleton’s powerful country hits alongside special guests Marcus King and Nikki Lane during this massive stadium concert.
When: Saturday, Aug. 22 at 6 p.m.
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Tickets: starting at $121
Calle 24
Hear one of regional Mexican music’s rising stars perform “corridos tumbados” inside the historic Tabernacle.
When: Saturday, Aug. 22 at 8 p.m.
Where: The Tabernacle
Tickets: starting at $64
De La Ghetto, 3BallMTY and Corina Smith
Oye Fest brings three Latinx artists headlining a day filled with music by other Atlanta-based artists. There will be three stages of music, art activations, local food vendors, a small-business marketplace and interactive experiences.
When: Friday, Aug. 22 at 2 p.m.
When: Believe Music Hall
Tickets: Start at $50.01
Sports
United on the Pitch
Atlanta United FC will have a tough battle with Sporting KC this Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, especially since the Kansas City team recently acquired forward Andre Luiz in a club-record transfer from Olympiacos FC. The game will start at 7 p.m.
Ongoing Events
‘Paper Trees’ Exhibit Open at High Museum of Art
The exhibit “Paper Trees” is open at the High Museum of Art and remains through Feb. 21, 2027. Featuring nearly 50 prints, drawings and sculptures from the High’s collection as well as loans from the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking and Clark Atlanta University Art Museum, the exhibition traces different schools of thought in the depiction and representation of landscape and the natural world.
In addition to a selection of 19th- and 20th-century prints and works on paper from the High’s American collection, the exhibition features modern and contemporary works from across the museum’s collecting areas, including folk and self-taught art and decorative arts and design. Together, the works put forth the tree as the primary visual vehicle for the study of nature, from unfinished sketches to finished works.
See New Exhibit about the Civil War at Atlanta History Center
Atlanta History Center has opened an exhibit about the Civil War. “More Perfect Union: The American Civil War Era” goes beyond stories of the battlefield to explore how the Civil War defines American identity — from the seeds of conflict sown at America’s founding, to how the war reverberated through all aspects of American life and to how its resolution continues to impact the present day.
The exhibit includes one of the most comprehensive Civil War collections in the world. Many artifacts have never before been displayed publicly. Among the featured objects are an original copy of Frederick Douglass’ speech, “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?”, the Confederate flag that flew over Atlanta at the time of the city’s surrender and the battle flag of the 127th U.S. Colored Troops bearing the words “We will prove ourselves men.”
See ‘Tesla vs. Edison’ at Center for Puppetry Arts
Center for Puppetry Arts presents “Tesla vs. Edison” through Aug. 23. Entrepreneur Thomas Edison faces visionary Nikola Tesla in an electric showdown.
Center for Puppetry Arts Explores Stop-Motion Animation
Center for Puppetry Arts has opened the special exhibition, “Frame by Frame: The Art of Stop Motion Animation.” The exhibition, running through Nov. 1, explores how stop motion combines puppets, scenery, human hands and patience to bring still artwork to life.
High Museum Presents Playful Exhibit on Carroll Slater Sifly Piazza
The High Museum of Art presents on Carroll Slater Sifly Piazza, “Los Porfiados” (The Stubborns). It is a group of monumental, interactive sculptures by Chilean creative studio gt2P, the 10th in the High’s multiyear series of inclusive and playful projects on its outdoor space.
Inspired by the classic roly-poly wobbling toy, known in Chile as “mono porfiado,” the installation comprises a landscape of 14 inflatable, limber sculptures, some measuring up to 17-feet tall, and invites visitors to interact with their pliable surfaces. These sculptures come to life through human interaction and play, transforming the Piazza with collective movement that explores collaboration and the construction of public space. When activated, the sculptures become a living metaphor for resilience, understood not as rigidity but as adaptability: The capacity to move with others, to be displaced and to return to balance through shared effort, persistence and care. Each sculpture responds to individual action while also becoming part of a larger whole, created by accumulated gestures. The exhibit will remain through Nov. 29.
Amy Sherald Works on Display at High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art has opened an exhibit of Amy Sherald paintings. “Amy Sherald: American Sublime” is the largest exhibition of her work to date. Featuring a broad range of paintings made from 2007 to 2024, the presentation includes many of Sherald’s most iconic works, along with rarely seen paintings spanning her career. See it through Sept. 27. To enjoy the exhibit with smaller crowds, consider the museum’s VIP Nights.
Born in Columbus, Ga., Sherald has deep ties to Atlanta and to the High. She trained as a painter in the city and graduated from Clark Atlanta University. In 2018, the High awarded her its annual David C. Driskell Prize in African American Art and Art History,
See Niki in the Garden at Atlanta Botanical Garden
The Atlanta Botanical Garden is celebrating its 50th anniversary with an encore exhibition, “Niki in the Garden,” featuring Niki de Saint Phalle’s monumental sculptures. The artist first exhibited in the Garden 20 years ago.
The French sculptor was known for her massive works, and the Garden is featuring 40 of them, in what is believed to be the largest showing of her art ever in the United States. The often-playful, extremely colorful sculptures include Grand Step Totem (weighing in a 2,000 points) and Large Yelling Man, towering as 16.5, will be on display through Sept. 6.
Southwest Arts Center Hosts Annual Quilt Festival
The 18th annual Quilt Festival at Southwest Arts Center continues through Sept. 5. The festival provides an opportunity to celebrate the artistry, history and tradition of African American quilting. See exhibits, take a class, enjoy lectures.
T. REX Exhibit Open at Fernbank Museum of Natural History
Fernbank Museum of Natural History has opened the exhibit, “T. REX: The Ultimate Predator.” Meet the entire tyrannosaur family and learn the truth about the most iconic dinosaur in the world through life-sized models, specimens and interactives. Explore how a T. REX grows from a small, fluffy, turkey-sized hatchling into a towering, bone-crushing predator. See the exhibit through Sept. 7.
Children’s Museum of Atlanta Exhibits ‘Wild Kratts Ocean Adventure‘
The Children’s Museum of Atlanta is exhibiting “Wild Kratts Ocean Adventure.” The exhibit, created by Minnesota Children’s Museum in collaboration with the Kratt Brothers Company, enables kids and families to explore various animal habitats and the creatures within them. The exhibit focuses on cultivating STEM skills in children ages 3 to 9 and invites guests to explore animal habitats from around the globe, discover creature powers and go on missions to foil the villains’ nefarious plans. The exhibit continues through Sept. 13.
This article updates weekly with brand new things to do in Atlanta for the weekend. Feel free to bookmark it for next weekend. For more weekend events, check our calendar.
Originally Published January 5, 2026
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