athfest: SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE By: Lauren Leising | Photos Contributed by: AthFest
What comes to mind when you think of Athens, Ga? The ever-expanding, bustling, beautiful city we call home is known for great food and drink, an incredibly diverse population, a tight-knit community and, of course, music. One of the most defining characteristics of Athens is its booming music and art scene. It it known for producing and hosting up-and-coming artists from around the country in its iconic venues, such as the 40 Watt Club and the Georgia Theatre. The profound emphasis on music and art is felt throughout the city and has given rise to concerts and festivals yearround, including the annual AthFest festival that takes place each June and draws the community together to celebrate after the school year has come to a close. According to Jill Helme, the current AthFest Executive Director, “[AthFest] started 19 years ago as a small festival on the steps of the courthouse with a few hundred people in attendance,” and has since “grown to a multi-day festival that spans four blocks and welcomes over 30,000 people to the city of Athens.” The festival celebrates musical and artistic talent from people across the country and includes several days of live music,
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artist booths and a two-night Club Crawl around Athens. AthFest is organized and put on by AthFest Educates, which is dedicated to supporting music and art education for youth in the Athens area and to encouraging students to pursue their creative passions. All proceeds from the festival go directly to providing schools and organizations, such as Barrow Elementary School and the Lyndon House Arts Center, with funding for arts programs for young students and children. At Barrow Elementary School, Leslie Sokal-Berg was able to purchase new instruments for her students and says that the school is “able to completely transform what [they] offer [their] students.” At the Lyndon House Arts Center, Didi Dunphy, the program supervisor, says that the arts center is using their first grant from AthFest Educates to purchase the equipment needed for a stopmotion animation program for fourth- and fifth-graders and to expand their program offerings. Each year the Lyndon House Arts Center organizes