Nashville’s favorite wacky art festival will take place August 9th and 10th, 2019 in East Nashville’s historic Five Points.
(NASHVILLE, TENN) July 11, 2019 — Nashville’s favorite wacky art festival returns for its 16th consecutive year on Friday, August 9th and Saturday, August 10th, 2019 in East Nashville’s historic Five Points.
This FREE, costume-encouraged event provides wildly entertaining, fun-filled days for all types and all-ages. A community builder, Tomato ArtFest has steadily drawn larger crowds with each passing year. Last year, an estimated 60,000 came to celebrate this beloved fruit / vegetable and enjoy the day’s memorable festivities such as the array of wacky & hilarious contests, the popular second-line style Push, Pull & Wear Parade with floats and costumes kicking off Saturday’s festival, and a few new features to get excited about.
The Friday night portion of the festival will take place on August 9th from 7:00 pm to 10:30 pm and offers free live music, favorite local food trucks, and a cash bar. The Saturday portion of the festival will take place Saturday, August 10th and will include the parade, live music from 10:00 am – 9:00 pm, food trucks, a unique Vendor Marketplace from 9:00 am – 6:00 pm, Contests, Kids Activities, and much more.
TRADITION: Touted in the Oxford American and Southern Living as “One of the 5 things you need to know in the South right now”, Tomato Art Fest was also voted “Best Festival” in the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Nashville Scene Reader’s Polls.
The festival and official kickoff events are free to attend and are open to the public, uniting the community for an evening of inspired art, wacky activities, great local music, creative vendors, unique kids activities, favorite food trucks, and a commitment to ensuring that the fest is green in every possible aspect, and maintains local East Nashville traditions.
A percentage of proceeds benefit Friends Of Shelby Park.
HISTORY: Tomato Art Fest was founded by Meg and Bret MacFadyen, owners of East Nashville’s Art and Invention Gallery. In 2004, the gallery hosted an art show celebrating the tomato in late summer and planned a few neighborhood events to promote the show. Tomato Art Fest proved so popular that it immediately turned into an annual, signature event for the hip, urban neighborhood of East Nashville.
THE TOMATO ART: It all began by paying homage to the versatile fruit/vegetable known as the tomato through locally curated tomato art. True to the event’s namesake, the art gets a big part of the tomato spotlight. This year’s art show will take place in the former Art & Invention Gallery and will showcase over 300 tomato-inspired pieces throughout the weekend.
FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES:
Tomato Story Time at The Inglewood Library
Tomato Art Preview Party
Tomato Art Fest Push-Pull, & Wear Parade
Tomato Art Fest Vendor Marketplace
Tomato Art Fest Cooking Stage
Tomato Art Fest Haiku Contest
Tomato Art Fest Red Head Competition
Tomato Art Fest Bloody Mary Competition
East Nashville Tomato 5K
Decorate Your Bike For The Parade
EEUMC’s Tomato Art KidFest 2019
Bobbing For Tomatoes / Tomato Toss
Bike Valet
Faux Paw Fashion Show
Tomato Fairy / Elf Contest
Giant Ice Cream Sundae Extravaganza!
Beautiful Tomato Contest
Biggest / Littlest / Ugliest Tomato Contest
*For complete listing visit tomatoartfest.com.
ENTERTAINMENT FRIDAY: The Tomato Art Fest Friday Concert on Friday, August 9th includes performances by Nashville break out starlets Okey Dokey, Banditos, and KK on the 37206 STAGE presented by Pickers Vodka.
ENTERTAINMENT SATURDAY: Saturday, August 10th’s 37206 STAGE will include such acts as Cordovas, Kenna, Lucas Ebert, Casey Jo & The Friday Night Dads, Bendrix Littleton, Casters, Plevyak, Blue Cactus, Jess, Nolan, and Halfbrass kicking off the day’s live music.
The full line up for all the staging including the COOKING STAGE, CONTEST STAGE, MUDDY ROOTS STAGE, and WOODLAND STAGE presented by Basement East can be viewed at tomatoartfest.com.
The festival is proudly supported by the following sponsors.
OFFICIAL 2019 ARTWORK: This year’s official ‘Testing The Fruit’ artwork by Cody Hale. More on Cody.
LOCATION: Map to Five Points, East Nashville 37206
OFFICIAL EVENT PAGE LINKS: Friday Concert | Saturday Festival.
For more information, please visit tomatoartfest.com.
