EAST NASHVILLE (June 26, 2020) – For 17 years the Tomato Art Fest has been uniting fruits and vegetables together on the second Saturday in August. The 2020 festival will look and feel different, but as a uniter the organizers want to help safely bring East Nashville back together to celebrate once more.
The wacky and beloved festival will move to a full weekend of activities taking place between Thursday, August 6th and Sunday, August 9th. Previously, the festival has been out on the streets in the five points area. This year the festival will feature a combination of in-person and online events in an effort to keep everyone safe.
“While we would love to have the full festival this August, we are thrilled to continue supporting our east Nashville community with a weekend of tomato themed activities including a Tornado Relief Concert, porch parade and plenty of wacky (online) contests,” stated Jack Davis of Good Neighbor Festivals, whose festival team has been managing the annual event for the past 12 years.
Seventeen years ago The Tomato Art Show kicked off the entire idea. This year’s show will once again feature hundreds of fruits and vegetable themed artwork in the former Art and Invention Gallery space. The first chance to see the incredible work is at the Art Show Pre-View Party on Thursday, August 6. Tickets for the event are on sale now at tomatoartfest.com.
As east Nashville continues to recover from the March 3 tornado, festival organizers are planning a Tomato Art Fest Tornado Relief Concert that will take place on Saturday, August 8th in East Park. The socially-distanced-friendly outdoor event will raise funds with 100% of proceeds after expenses going to support hospitality workers, musicians, and artists of East Nashville affected by the March Tornado. “We are looking forward to giving back to our Eastside community which has supported this festival since the beginning. We hope the concert will give East Nashvillians additional aid and some wacky fun.”
The most noticeable changes this year will be the temporary move of our beloved contests and vendors into cyberspace. The ever-popular Bloody Mary Garden Party is coming back, but with some new safety precautions. Tickets for the event are on sale now at tomatoartfest.com.
This year to ensure everyone’s well being we are changing our traditional Tomato Parade to a Porch Parade. Houses, businesses, and apartments along the parade route can register to be a part of the Porch Parade starting in July. We encourage our friends and neighbors to walk, run, bike, or drive the parade route from August 1-8. For the most updated information on the festival, online marketplace, contests, relief concert, and more visit tomatoartfest.com or download the new Tomato Art Fest app.
Businesses or organizations can register to host a Tomato Art Fest event at tomatoartfest.com.
Ticket information for the Tomato Art Fest Pre-View Party, Relief Concert, and Bloody Mary Garden Party is available at tomatoartfest.com.
