Get smart about Arts in the Heart: Key info you should know about the Augusta festival
A three-day arts festival that's been showcasing diversity and creativity locally for more than 40 years is cranking up again this weekend.
Artists, musicians, craftsmen, authors and street performers are ready to take visitors on a downtown journey of entertainment and artistic expression at Arts in the Heart of Augusta.
The festival will be at and around Augusta Common from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20; from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21; and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 22. The event is coordinated by the Greater Augusta Arts Council.
In the beginning
Augusta's popular festival started as two popular festivals in 1981. At then-Augusta College, the College '81 Festival featured art exhibits and theatre and music performances that had to be hurriedly moved inside because of rain. Later that year, Historic Augusta kicked off Holiday in Old Augusta in front of the Municipal Building on Telfair Street.
In March 1982, The Greater Augusta Arts Council and Historic Augusta formed a new committee and renamed the merged celebrations Arts in the Heart of Augusta.
Around the world in 21 food tents: Top treats at the Arts in the Heart of Augusta Festival
Badges? You'll need badges
An advance admission badge costs $15 until 11:59 p.m. Sept. 19, when the price rises to $20 at the gate.
A VIP admission costs $80 or $150 for two. The price includes admission to the VIP Tent, beverages, snacks and admission to the VIP Party on Saturday evening.
Badges can be purchased, cash only, at Ubora Coffee, 116 N. Belair Rd, Evans; New Moon Cafe in Aiken, S.C.; and Augusta & Co., 1010 Broad St. Badges can be bought at county tag offices, including the tag office in Augusta's Municipal Building.
Children ages 10 and younger will be admitted free.
For more than a decade, admission to Arts in the Heart was free for everyone. It wasn't until the 1994 festival that organizers began charging "a small admission fee to help offset the costs of production," according to an Augusta Chronicle editorial at the time.
More information about tickets and the festival is available at artsintheheartofaugusta.com.
Making beautiful music together
Whether it's the Global Stage on Augusta Common or the smaller stages elsewhere around the festival, live music will be in ample supply with dozens of acts playing rock, country, jazz and gospel among other genres.
The two major headliners are 1990s alt-rockers Fastball; and electronic musician, singer, songwriter and producer Georgia Ann Muldrow.
Fastball, from Austin, Texas, topped Billboard magazine's Adult Alternative Song chart with its 1998 single "The Way," off the platinum-selling album "All the Pain Money Can Buy."
Muldrow's 2018 studio album "Overload" earned a Grammy nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album. Her single "Ciao," from her 2015 album "oLIGARCHY sUCKS," has been listened to more than 2 million times on online music streaming platform Spotify.
Art attack
More than 150 artisans and vendors, including more than two-dozen from the Augusta area, will be creating and selling their work, in media and categories including clay; clothing and accessories; digital art; drawing; fiber art; furniture; jewelry; glass art; leatherwork; metalwork; mixed media; painting; photography; printmaking; sculpture; and wood.
The list of vendors in booths and tents by visiting artsintheheartofaugusta.com/arts-market.
Home cooking
Starting in 2004, the arts council started relying exclusively on community ethnic support groups to provide food for Arts in the Heart from their respective home countries. Part of the reasoning is that many of the dishes can't be found anywhere else.
Nations' and territories' tents vary from year to year. For example, the Sweden tent that had served lingonberry pancakes at the festival in past years won't be firing up its griddle for 2024.
The featured food tents on and near Augusta Common China, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Laos, Lebanon, Mexico, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Samoa, South Korea, Sudan, South Sudan, Thailand, Trinidad, Turkey and Vietnam.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: What to expect at Augusta's Arts in the Heart festival this weekend
