Atlanta Dogwood Festival

After 72 years of drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors to Piedmont Park each spring, the Atlanta Dogwood Festival is shaking things up. With a new executive director, new board members, a new layout and more artists, the Dogwood Festival is working to prove the adage that some things get better with age.

Joining the Atlanta Dogwood Festival this year as executive director, Brian Hill brings more than 25 years of special event planning and festival operations to the table. Having spent the last 10 years as assistant general manager of Centennial Olympic Park, Hill knows Atlanta and understands the city’s love of outdoor events. Hill has also worked in London, England and Darmstadt, Germany and is able to bring his international experience to one of Atlanta’s largest outdoor festivals.

With the new faces at the Dogwood Festival, the beloved offerings like the Artist Market, Frisbee Dog Competition and Kid’s Village will still be important features. Even better, the festival will increase the number of artists and update the overall layout of the festival, making it easier to navigate. Plenty of new activities will be added for 2008 too. The Dogwood Dinner Theatre will feature performances from Atlanta theatre groups on the lawn and stage at Lake Clara Meer. An Art Bar held in the Piedmont Park Community Center and a Computer Arts Pavilion as part of a community movie project are additional features new in 2008.

The Atlanta Dogwood Festival will be held April 4, 5 and 6, 2008. Now in its 72nd year, the Atlanta Dogwood Festival welcomes more than 300,000 people to Piedmont Park each year for an entire weekend of visual arts, live music and fun family activities. A 501-3C non-profit, the Atlanta Dogwood Festival is made possible by the generosity of sponsors. The festival offices are located at 887 West Marietta Street, Studio S-105, Atlanta, Georgia 30318. The Atlanta Dogwood Festival can be reached at 404-817-6642 or visited online at www.dogwood.org.