The 2006 Atlanta Downtown Festival & Tour is now a part of our neighborhood’s growing history. The weekend was a great success with fabulous weather, great music, inspirational works of art, and a tour of homes that included some of the most unique and creative living spaces that we’ve ever seen. One of the most fun things about the weekend was the Kick-Off Party on Thursday night at America’s Mart – what a blast! This is definitely a “don’t miss” event for next year!
This year’s Artist’s Market was probably one of the best ever. Between the visual art on display and the musical talent on our two stages, it was certainly a stimulating weekend! Many of our musicians have already offered to return in 2007. And, judging from the success of the artists, we should see many of them again next year as well.
I had the chance, this year, to visit a few of the homes on tour. I was so excited to overhear one woman who nudged her friend and said, “I could do this. I could really live down here!” Then I heard another person say that they couldn’t believe how far downtown has come and how great everything looked. Well, I can’t tell you how rewarding it was to hear these comments! It really made me realize how successful this event had become! Our whole purpose is to bring in new folks and show them how great our neighborhood is!
A nice benefit of our hard work is that we also raise some money for the ADNA. This year’s final numbers aren’t in yet, but I can tell you that we raised several thousand dollars. Start thinking of some great ways we can use that money to promote Downtown or make it an even better place to live!
Beth Haynes, Chris Raffield, and I co-chaired the event, and we couldn’t have asked for a better team. After five years of “practice”, we have such a great system in place that things really seemed easy! I encourage everyone to find a way to work with the 2007 team. You’ll learn a little, laugh a lot, and feel good about doing something great for Downtown.
My thanks and my congratulations to everyone who spent so much time and effort either planning or enjoying 2006 Festival & Tour. Here’s to an even bigger and better event in 2007!
