East Atlanta Strut Festival

The best kept Festival Secret in Atlanta! The worlds shortest longest parade at 2 p.m. with some fantastic and fun Queens of the Strut! The best live music in the streets… where else? East Atlanta Village. Always a great deal, you can get beer and drinks without paying the HIGH Fest Price at other Festivals. A beer generally $ 3 to $ 4 in a 16oz. Cup. Great Food from the Local Restaurants! A Kids area and lots of Market Artists.

What do you get when one of the most eclectic neighborhoods in the city hosts a festival? A big olé funky street party!
The East Atlanta Strut is my favorite festival in Atlanta. It’s usually in late September, so the weather can be awesome, and this festival is smaller than the Inman Park or Highlands festivals, so you can actually see the art vendors and enjoy walking around.
Several stages are set up throughout the Village with a variety of musical acts — there is always music playing! A Kid’s Zone is also there with a few bounce houses, arts & crafts, etc.
In addition to the neighborhood bars and restaurants, a variety of food vendors are selling your favorite festival food. Beer tents sell adult beverages so you can have a cold one and walk around & enjoy the art, music & parade. Something I just found out that’s really cool — all profits of beer sales go back to the neighborhood!
PS — definitely get a spot to watch the parade!

I never knew about East Atlanta Strut Festival til last year because Unilocal invited me to the lounge. I decided to drag along my boyfriend who was dead tired but we made it out. We were too late for the free food, but whatever.
We were able to park in one of the neighborhoods nearby and didn’t have to walk too far. Apparently we missed the parade but that would’ve been cool. I saw a bunch of people in Storm trooper outfits so that’s always a good sign, they get to wear it more than once a year at D*Con. lots of hipsters and regular people too. All the streets were shut down and there were artist market/​tents everywhere.
The thing I like about this festival vs. the other festivals in Atlanta is that the artists are actually cool and has stuff I’d actually buy. Also everybody is their weird self. I like that. There’s nerdy, eclectic, fun stuff. There was a tent for R. Land!!! Hell yea. I dropped some dollar bills over there. A lot of star wars stuff. A lot of cool printed T shirts. Jewelry, and other stuff I passed by.
Also there was a tent with some weird guy that looked like an archaeologist on acid trying to show us a foot print of an ancient animal from the future. What? I don’t know. He tried to charge us a dollar. We were skeptical but still curious so he just waved us over. It was just a huge food print in the dirt under a tiny tent. What the? We had some good laughs but were still utterly confused. Fun times.
FYI I’d be prepared with some cash to buy stuff, and stay hydrated and dress for the weather obviously. There are a variety of food options throughout the area. KoP was wheeling a cart around. Although I think they upped it to $ 3 a pop vs. their regular 2.50 for the festival, but don’t quote me on that.
Overall I had a great time and I’d definitely plan for it better next time so I can spend some quality time looking at all the vendors and taking it all in.

Good carnival food, drag queens, local weirdos, live music, a parade, and plenty of PBR. What more can you ask for?!
Not too much more!

This was my first year attending and I had a blast. Great vendors, fun crowd and the Unilocal event at Asylum was fun too — we obviously should have gotten there earlier though, since mostly everyone was gone by the time we got there, but it was still nice to have a few drinks on the house. :)

What a fun festival! We got there after the parade was already over, but had a great afternoon wandering around the event. The music was fantastic! A number of very talented local bands played while we were there. The booths ranged from knick knacks to talented artists to guys selling t-​shirts: a bit of something for everyone. A bunch of food trucks aggregated in designated areas and King of Pops was there too.
My favorite part of this festival by far was the people watching. People from all different neighborhoods and parts of the city mingling together, some in costumes, some not, lots of kids running around — what fun!

My first time here this year. What the hell was I thinking? This is my hood.
I love East Atlanta, and the Strut is everything about this place that makes me want to stay for a long time. Ecclectic mix actually does an unjustice to just how varied the crowd is at this place. You’ll find everything from suburbanites slumming it, to hipster families, urban youth, to guys wearing tutus and rollerskates. Its pretty amazing.
This festival offers up all the fare and wares of local artisans and shop owners, music, and fellowship. During the day, its mostly family-​friendly, but, I’m pretty sure non-​service animals weren’t allowed in.
If you want a crazy mix of weridos and straight-​lace, and everything in between, the Strut is a definate must-​attend every year that it occurs.

Saturday, September 15^th was full of excitement as I participated in the East Atlanta Strut. The East Atlanta Strut is a music and arts festival that highlights local businesses, food, nonprofits, community activism, design work of local artists and entertainment that can be found in the proximity. The event is family oriented and FREE. Now that is my type of fun!
This was the 15^th year of this annual event and the festival pulled out all the stops! There was a huge parade march through the streets, live music from over 30 bands on 5 different stages, a car & bike show, carnival games, 100+ booths and vendors, a children’s play area that included a bounce house, food trucks and circus acts by Imperial Opa Circus. In Atlanta, this is what we call, «Putting ON for our city».
What would an event be without having the Unilocal crew in the building? Yes, we were present! Yes, we had an exclusive lounge! Yes, it was great fun! Unilocal Elite members were stationed inside of the new Asylum for our very own exclusive «VIP» lounge. Asylum is a bar and club, that offers a sectioned off bar, outdoor patio and sectioned off club area — Stage, Tables, Bar and Dance Floor. The club had a very festive vibe and was illuminated with blue and red lights. Pretty much it was a techno heaven, but I have no complaints there. We were served up 2 free drinks, samples of ginger ribs, meatloaf sliders, sausage and shrimp kabobs and bruschetta. It was great to have a place to escape the crowds and Georgia’s wicked humidity. Asylum is a pretty new establishment; I plan to return for a visit in the future.
Did you miss the 15^th Annual East Atlanta Strut? Don’t fret… Check out the slideshow of photos to relieve my «fun-​ness» at

The East Atlanta Strut, how I have heard so much about you over the years, had idea what it was was, and finally had the chance to experience it.
First of all, parking can be a nightmare– unless you know your side streets around the area. With careful planning and balls of steel, I was able to park right off Flat Shoals 2 blocks from where they had it blocked off. I will not give you the cross street name.
When my buddy and I arrived, we walked right up to Asylum, where Unilocal had the building to hang out during the festival (that will be the next review), so we had to sign up at a tent across the street. Since the streets were blocked, we were free to roam– and watched the last bit of the parade– which was cool. One of my coworkers play tuba in the seed and feed marching abominable (
) and watching him perform is always fun.
The festival consists of the area being blocked off up and down Flat Shoals and the other street being Glenwood. Within the confines, you had businesses open, and street vendors lined up. There was plenty of live music, and food as well. Much to my surprise, they had Boner’s BBQ there– you better believe I had some, and damn was it better than when I went to eat there!
The art vendors were cool, and offered pretty much anything. A decent amount of them also took credit card too.
I liked the fact that you could walk around a busy area and not worry about getting hit by any cars. And the fact that it wasn’t so big that it was absolutely overwhelming/​overpacked.
A perfect sized event that helped me explore this area more– I liked the idea a lot! And there were plenty of police around, so security was not an issue either– will definitely have to check out next year!

I came to the Strut for the first time this year because a friend was vending and the Unilocal event was happening. It was a lot of fun! There’s a good variety of vendors, plenty of food whether you want a quick bite from a stand or a nice hangout at a restaurant, and the parade is a blast. Everything felt like a community effort and we loved all the work that went into some of the floats. It’s a good festival if you’re looking for something on a September weekend, meaning the weather is much nicer to you than the Va-​Hi Festival, for instance!

I never knew about East Atlanta Strut Festival until the Unilocal Elite event. Man, it would suck when you don’t know about the Festival, try to come to EAV, and find out the roads are blocked off. You have to park on the other side of Moreland if you want to find parking. Even still, you would have to walk about 10 – 15 minutes to the actual festival. But you’re going to be walking anyway at the festival. So be prepared with walking shoes. Naturally, there will be some heavy traffic in the area.
There are a lot of booths and venders showing off creative works. It’s cool to go around and see what the booths have. They also have many street entertainment like various bands and people dressed in weird costumes.
As for food, there are a lot of vendors and restaurants nearby. So you have several choices on your food and beverage choices. Be aware that these restaurants will be packed because of the festival.
Overall, It’s a good place to walk around, have fun, people watch, and take pictures.

This is one of my favorite festivals.
*It’s small enough that it’s not overwhelming
* There’s a fun parade
*It’s not too hard to find parking on the neighborhood side streets
* The artist’s goods are decently priced and unlike other festivals, ahem dogwood, you might actually leave with some art
*There are tons of bars and restaurants where you can stop to get food or drink if you need to sit down for a minute.

Not as big as some other street festivals, such as Inman Park, but EA Strut is pretty cool. I love the parade.

The Strut is THE neighborhood event in Atlanta! Fun, beer and singles. Best place to meet people outside of club meat markets hands down!

Perhaps last year being our first year in the EAV has me biased towards the Strut, we moved in during March. Perhaps the parade beginning directly in front of our house so we could pregame on our porch all morning/​early afternoon watching the parade participants arrive skewed our perception. Maybe the Palookaville corndogs, half off wings at the Glenwood and .99 cent Mimosas, cheap PBR everywhere, and a solid buzz from the before mentioned porch pregaming influenced my decision that this is the most fun I have ever had in 8 years of living in Atlanta.
Looking forward to 2012’s Strut and will look into volunteering this year too.

Strut is EVERYTHING that is awesome in the world. And it is coming up TOMORROW, people!
Whether you’re an old regular in the Village or the Strut is your first visit to EAV, you’re going to find cool folks, cold drinks, creative vendors, tasty food, great entertainment, and an awesome time.
If you’re looking for a good family time, look no further: The kids village this year features free moon walk, face painting, ballon art, activities, games and LOTS more.
If you’re looking to throw down: This year Strut is sponsored by PBR, need I say more? EAV + PBR = LOVE 4eva
If you’re looking to buy some cool crap: The artist market has over 70 talented artists and groups including RLand, Big Daddy Biscuits, and East Atlanta’s own Lorigami. Check out the website for more details.
If you’re looking to pack on the pounds: We have King of Pops in the house. We have corndogs. We have funnel cakes. COME HUNGRY.
If you’re looking to be entertained: There will be not one, not two, not three, not four, not five… oh wait, yeah, FIVE stages for music and comedy. Plus the parade. Plus the CIRCUS. Plus great people watching.
The Strut is a great chance to acquaint (or reacquaint) yourself with Atlanta’s coolest neighborhood and see all the awesomeness that is East Atlanta Village. Be there.