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Music Midtown: Status, History, and the Future of Atlanta’s Largest Music Festival

“Over twenty-five years strong, Music Midtown remains a monumental music festival that brings a diverse lineup of the biggest names in music year-after-year, while giving back to the city that I proudly call home." — Peter Conlon (President of Live Nation Atlanta)

Festival Status

Music Midtown was last held in September 2023. The festival was paused after Georgia lawmakers passed legislation requiring firearms to be allowed at large outdoor events, creating insurance, security, and liability challenges for festival organizers.

Live Nation, the festival’s promoter, announced it would pause Music Midtown while evaluating the legal and operational risks under the new law. As of now, no future dates have been announced, but the festival has not been formally discontinued.

Music Midtown’s Role in Atlanta’s Music History

Since its launch in 1994, Music Midtown has been one of Atlanta’s most important large-scale music festivals, bringing major national and international artists to the city and helping define Atlanta’s place on the national festival circuit.

After multiple iterations and hiatuses over the decades, the festival returned in the 2010s as a major annual event in Piedmont Park, drawing tens of thousands of attendees and hosting some of the biggest names in popular music.

Creative Loafing’s Music Midtown Coverage

Creative Loafing extensively covered Music Midtown across multiple decades, documenting the festival’s evolution, lineups, and cultural impact. The archived stories below preserve that coverage as part of Atlanta’s music and cultural history.

Coverage from the last Music Midtown in 2023

Photo Credit: Photo by Addison Eugene/CL

ATL IN DA HOUSE: 21 Savage sets Music Midtown on fire.

Lineup
Tickets
Music Midtown Events By Day
Events for Saturday, September 15, 2018 - Day One
Events for Sunday, September 16, 2018 - Day Two
Festival Status
Music Midtown’s Role in Atlanta’s Music History
Creative Loafing’s Music Midtown Coverage
Coverage from the last Music Midtown in 2023
Show Information
Lineup
Tickets
Recap of 2021 Festival
About Music Midtown
News
Past Coverage

September

Show Information

Music Midtown 2023 - Day One Event

Friday September 15, 2023 05:15 PM EDT 09/15/2023 5:15 PM

Music Midtown 2023 - Day Two Event

Saturday September 16, 2023 01:00 PM EDT 09/16/2023 1:00 PM

Music Midtown 2023 - Day Three Event

Sunday September 17, 2023 12:00 PM EDT 09/17/2023 12:00 PM

Lineup

P!NK | Flume | Pitbull | J.I.D. | Billy Eilish| Guns n Roses | Lil Baby | Incubus | Tove Lo | Young Nudy | Glorilla | Mazego |The 1975 | Thirty Seconds to Mars | Niall Horan | Young Gravy | Destroy Lonely | Lois the Child |Fletcher | Skaiwater | Leah Kate | Lizzy McAlpine | The Midnight | The Rose | Maude Latour | SueCo | Upsahl | First Aid Kit | Big Wild | PJ Morton | The Garden | JP Saxe | Inhaler | Joy Oladokun | Magic City Hippies | Swavay | BigXThaPlug | The National Parks

Tickets

Get your 3-Day & 1-Day Festival passes with Layaway Plans starting at $25 down (now all fees and taxes are included in the ticket price)! Pick from General Adminission, GA+, VIP, and Super VIP presented by Venmo.

3-Day GA: starting at $350

The 3-Day GA Pass provides admittance to the park for all three days of the festival and includes:

Three days of fantastic live music performances on four stages (two stages on Friday)
A wide variety of mouthwatering food options from regional and local restaurants, including vegan and gluten-free choices
Exciting activities and giveaways from unique experiences with our sponsors
Easy access to bars and concessions located conveniently throughout the park

Recap of 2021 Festival

(NOTE: Music Midtown 2022 was cancelled.)

Music Midtown was a go this year for two days, Saturday and Sunday, September 18 and 19, in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park. Aiming for a more-youthful audience, the line-up was populated with new sensations rather than the legacy acts of years past — though for many in the audience, headliners Maroon 5 and Miley Cyrus are probably considered just that.

The formula, appealing to a younger audience with newer acts, worked. Those attracted to see the likes of Ant Clemons, Girl in Red, Latto, Bleachers, AJR and others were all smiles and grins, movin’ and groovin’ to the beats coming from onstage.

As for the pandemic — what pandemic? Masks were few and far between. There was no social distancing, and, after cancellation of the major Atlanta outdoor event in 2020 due to coronavirus restrictions, everyone was there to party.

Precautions were taken by LiveNation, the promoter of the event. Each day, attendees were required to show a printed copy of their vaccine card or a recent negative COVID-19 negative test result upon entry. After that, it was up to everyone to use common sense while at the festival.

For most people, common sense is never equated with fun, but, at Music Midtown it seems, that’s how they rolled.

Editor’s note: With so many new acts taking the stage at Music Midtown this year, we sent a photographer new to shooting outdoor festivals to capture the event for us. His response? “Being at Music Midtown as a photographer was a great time. I’ve attended several times over the years as a spectator, however this experience was an eye-opening. Seeing performers from a new perspective, meeting other photographers, and seeing how events of this size operate, I believe, was invaluable for my future. Being that this was my first experience shooting at an event as large as Music Midtown was, in a way, like being thrown in the arena not knowing what to expect! But, it only reaffirmed my belief that this is something I want to do again.
—CL—

About Music Midtown

With its initial run from 1994 to 2005, Peter Conlon and the late Alex Cooley's Music Midtown earned a reputation as Atlanta’s definitive outdoor, large music festival. Following a six-year hiatus, the event, powered by Conlon and LiveNation, has reached cruising altitude, growing heftier with each successive year, presenting established and rising mainstream musical acts. Sign up online for this year’s lineup, schedule, and contests. The festivities unfold in the heart of Piedmont Park. PRO TIP: It’s an urban festival, so take advantage of the transportation systems the city has to offer. Take a ride on MARTA or stroll to it on the BeltLine. Avoiding the nightmare traffic situation that backs up at the intersection of 10th and Monroe through Midtown will improve everyone’s festival experience.