Summer Shade Information

You are invited to the 8th Annual Grant Park Summer Shade Festival. In these pages you will be able to get all kinds of information on Festival hours of operation, performance stage schedules, Adams Realtors 5K Run for the Park, children's activities and Corks & Forks — A Fine Food and Wine Event.

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The Grant Park Summer Shade Festival began in August 2003 as the Adams Realtors 5K RUN for the PARK. A half day festival opened immediately after the RUN featuring 45 artists, community groups/organizations and local eateries. Attendance was around 750 people. Positive comments were so overwhelming, we decided to expand the 2004 Festival.

In year two, the Festival ran for two days. The name was changed to Summer Shade Festival to encourage people to get out of the stale air-conditioning to enjoy the cooling shade of century old trees in Grant Park. The Adams Realtors 5K RUN for the PARK remained a major component but the artist market was expanded, an entertainment stage was added, and a very exciting Cycling Criterium gave a whoosh and a thrill to Sunday. Attendance topped 6000. Again, we had a huge positive response from attendees and vendors. Year three was more of the same with attendance over 10,000. And then, year four and five, we exceeded our expectations with 16,000-18,000 attendees.  In 2008 we broke the 20,000 mark.

And now — Get ready for 2010. The 8th Annual Grant Park Summer Shade Festival gets even better. The Festival run dates: August 28 & 29 (Saturday & Sunday).

Kicking off the Festival Saturday morning (8:00 a.m.) is the Adams Realtors 5K RUN for the PARK (walkers are welcome). The Festival Artist Market opens at 10:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. Live Entertainment revs up at 10:00 a.m. till 11:00 p.m. and a Childrens' Fun Center opens at 11:00 noon. Also, back by popular demand — Corks & Forks — A Fine Food and Wine Event is open both Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Atlanta's top chefs will offer specialty items and participants will be able to taste some of the coolest wines and ales on the Atlanta martket. Corks & Forks is a ticketed event with a limited number of tickets available $35 in advance/$45 at the gate — Saturday and Sunday tickets sold separately.  

The event is planned and coordinated by djk - Realtors, the Grant Park Conservancy, the Grant Park Summer Shade Festival, Inc.,   and Adams Realtors. The purpose is to bring focus and new life to Atlanta's oldest public park. Proceeds from the event benefit the Grant Park Conservancy and its efforts to restore this historic green space.