The SweetWater 420 Fest is an annual event presented by

SweetWater Brewing Company SweetWater Brewing Company is a craft brewery founded in 1997 by Freddy Bensch and Kevin McNerney in Atlanta, Georgia. SweetWater's beers are unpasteurized and distribution is limited to select states. History Founders Freddy Bensch and Kevi ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

held on a weekend closest to Earth Day. In 2014, the

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...

announced it would be celebrating its 10th anniversary at its new home in

Centennial Olympic Park Centennial Olympic Park is a public park located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, owned and operated by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. It was built by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) as part of the infrastruc ...

Origin

The first festival began in

Oakhurst, Georgia Oakhurst is a historic neighborhood in the southwest corner of Decatur, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. It is located south of downtown Decatur and approximately six miles east of downtown Atlanta. Oakhurst primarily consists of residences ...

, with 3,000 attendees, as a way for the brewery to bring together all of the elements it was passionate about in one place – music, beer and the environment. Patrons drank SweetWater beer while watching headlining musical act

Tea Leaf Green Tea Leaf Green is an American four-piece jam band from the San Francisco Bay Area, composed of Josh Clark (guitar and vocals), Trevor Garrod ( keyboards, vocals, guitar, and harmonica), Scott Rager (drums), and Eric DiBerardino (bass). Histor ...

. Two years later, the festival would call

Little Five Points Little Five Points (also L5P, LFP, Little Five, or Lil' Five) is a district on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, east of downtown. It was established in the early 20th century as the commercial district for the adjacent ...

Candler Park Candler Park is a 55-acre (223,000 m2) city park located at 585 Candler Park Drive NE, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is named after Coca-Cola magnate Asa Griggs Candler, who donated this land to the city in 1922. The park features a nin ...

home, where it remained until 2013. As of its 10th Anniversary in 2014, SweetWater 420 Festival now welcomes fans to their new home at

in the heart of

. Environmental awareness continues to have a large presence at the festival, which also features musicians and local artists and vendors.

Activities

As an Earth Day celebration, the SweetWater 420 Festival hosts charities, non-profits and environmental workshops in its Planet 420 Non-Profit Village alongside the live music stages, food trucks, artist market, and beer stations. The festival also hosts an annual SweetWater 420 Fest 5K, in which participants run through the park and surrounding neighborhood in a

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

qualifying course on the Saturday morning of the weekend festival.

Musical acts

From local favorites to national artists, the festival features headlining musical acts each day of the weekend-long event. The number of attendees has grown since the festival's inception, and it has attracted many popular musicians. ; 2023 festival * Performers:

Shakey Graves Shakey Graves (born Alejandro Rose-Garcia; June 4, 1987) is an American Americana musician from Austin, Texas. His music combines blues, folk, country, and rock and roll. Rose-Garcia received his stage name at Old Settler's Music Festival in 200 ...

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong Pigeons Playing Ping Pong is an American funk jam band from Baltimore, Maryland. The band has garnered a following as a result of their consistent touring, playing as many as two hundred shows a year. History Pigeons Playing Ping Pong began in 20 ...

Ghostland Observatory Ghostland Observatory is an American music duo based in Austin, Texas, United States. Their music has been described as a combination of electro, rock and funk by Allmusic, and "electro- dance soul rock" by Gothamist. Front man Aaron Behrens ...

, Rome & Duddy, Neal Francis, Sunsquabi, Kitchen Dwellers, The Stews, Maggie Rose, Rieside Collective, Yam Yam, Consider the Source, Khaliko, Hotel Fction, Tall Tall treets, Happy Landing, Wolf Mask ; 2019 festival * Performers: Widespread Panic,

Joe Russo's Almost Dead Joe Russo's Almost Dead is an American rock band formed in 2013 that mainly covers the music of the Grateful Dead. Formed by Furthur and Benevento/Russo Duo drummer Joe Russo, the band played their first show on January 26, 2013 at the Brookly ...

The Avett Brothers The Avett Brothers are an American folk rock band from Concord, North Carolina. The band is made up of two brothers, Scott Avett (banjo, lead vocals, guitar, piano, kick-drum) and Seth Avett (guitar, lead vocals, piano, hi-hat) along with Bob Cr ...

JJ Grey & Mofro JJ Grey & Mofro (formerly Mofro) is an American Southern soul- rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. History Early career The early days of Mofro can be traced back to the mid-nineties when John Higginbotham aka "JJ Grey" and Daryl Hance signed ...

Jason Isbell Michael Jason Isbell (; born February 1, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is known for his solo career, his work with the band The 400 Unit, and as a member of Drive-By Truckers for six years, from 2001 to 2007. Isbell ...

Keller Williams Keller Williams is an American singer, songwriter and musician who combines elements of bluegrass, folk, alternative rock, reggae, electronica/dance, jazz, funk, along with other assorted genres. He is often described as a 'one-man jam-band' ...

; 2018 festival * Performers: Joe Russo's Almost Dead, Anders Osborne,

Tedeschi Trucks Band The Tedeschi Trucks Band () is an American blues and blues rock group based in Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 2010, the band is led by married couple Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. Their debut album, '' Revelator'' (2011), won the 2012 Gr ...

Vulfpeck Vulfpeck is an American funk band founded in 2011 by Jack Stratton, Theo Katzman, Woody Goss and Joe Dart. The band has released four extended plays, five studio albums and a live album, having released all of their music independently. The band ...

, The Record Company,

The String Cheese Incident The String Cheese Incident (SCI) is an American jam band from Crested Butte and Telluride, Colorado, formed in 1993. The band is composed of Michael Kang (acoustic/electric mandolin, electric guitar, and violin), Michael Travis (drums and percu ...

The Motet The Motet is an American funk, soul and jazz influenced group based in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1998 by drummer and bandleader Dave Watts, The Motet is Watts, guitarist Ryan Jalbert, bassist Garrett Sayers, keyboardist Joey Porter, and sax ...

Umphrey's McGee Umphrey's McGee is an American jam band originally from South Bend, Indiana. The band experiments with many musical styles, including rock, metal, funk, jazz, blues, reggae, electronic, bluegrass, country, and folk. They have toured regu ...

; 2017 festival * Performers:

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and g ...

, Trey Anastasio Band, moe., Anders Osborne, Twiddle, Slightly Stoopid, the Dirty Heads ; 2016 festival * Performers:

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician ...

Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfor ...

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stor ...

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, homophonous with 'ludicrous' in American English), is an American rapper, actor, record producer and record executive. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludac ...

Disco Biscuits The Disco Biscuits are an American jam band from Philadelphia. The band consists of Allen Aucoin (drums), Marc "Brownie" Brownstein (bass guitar, vocals), Jon "The Barber" Gutwillig (guitar, vocals), and Aron Magner (keyboards, synths, vo ...

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...

The Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's '' The Tonight Show Starring Jimm ...

North Mississippi Allstars North Mississippi Allstars is an American blues and southern rock band from Hernando, Mississippi, founded in 1996. The band is currently composed of brothers Luther Dickinson (guitar, lowebow, vocals) and Cody Dickinson (drums, keyboards, ele ...

Maceo Parker Maceo Parker (; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s and Prince in the 2000s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many o ...

; 2015 festival * Performers:

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, ...

311 311 may refer to: * 311 (number), a natural number * AD 311, a year of the Julian calendar, in the fourth century AD * 311 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 311 (band), an American band ** ''311'' (album), band 311's self-titled album ...

, Primus, AER,

Gov't Mule Gov't Mule (pronounced "Government Mule") is an American Southern rock jam band, formed in 1994 as a side project of the Allman Brothers Band by guitarist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody. Fans often refer to Gov't Mule simply as ''Mule''. ...

, Big Data,

Cage The Elephant Cage the Elephant is an American rock band formed in 2006 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. They moved to England, U.K. and settled in London in 2008, shortly before their self-titled first album was released. The band currently consists of Matt Sh ...

moe. Moe (stylized as moe.) is an American jam rock band, formed at the University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public researc ...

; 2014 festival * Performers:

Steel Pulse Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals), and Ro ...

Sublime with Rome Sublime with Rome is a musical collaboration between Eric Wilson, formerly of the American ska punk band Sublime, and singer and guitarist Rome Ramirez. The group's name is not only a reference to the singer's first name, but to the fact that ...

Chris Robinson Brotherhood Chris Robinson Brotherhood was an American blues rock band formed in 2011 by Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson while the Crowes were on hiatus. The original lineup consisted of Robinson (vocals, guitar), Neal Casal (lead guitar, backing voca ...

Galactic Galactic is an American jam band from New Orleans, Louisiana. Origins and background Formed in 1994 as an octet (under the name Galactic Prophylactic) and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a ...

EOTO EOTO ( ) was an electronic band consisting of Michael Travis and Jason Hann. On July 22, 2021 the band announced via social media that they would no longer be performing, due to irreconcilable creative differences. The post indicated that the de ...

G. Love and Special Sauce G. Love & Special Sauce is an American rock band from Philadelphia. They are known for their unique, "sloppy", and "laid back" sound that encompasses blues, hip hop, rock and soul. The band features Garrett Dutton, better known as G. Love, Je ...

Wesley Cook Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook; April 24, 1954) is an American political activist and journalist who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1982 for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. While on death r ...

Dirty Dozen Brass Band The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a brass band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The ensemble was established in 1977, by Benny Jones and members of the Tornado Brass Band. The Dirty Dozen revolutionized the New Orleans brass band style by incorpor ...

; 2013 festival * Performers: George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic,

Robert Randolph & The Family Band Robert Randolph and the Family Band is an American gospel band led by pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph (Robert Jermaine Randolph, born August 8, 1977, Irvington, New Jersey). NPR has described the band as one with an "irresistible rock 'n ...

, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk,

Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears Black Joe Lewis (born Tucson, Arizona, United States) is an American blues, funk and soul artist influenced by Howlin' Wolf and James Brown. He formed Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears in Austin, Texas, in 2007. In March 2009, ''Esquire'' l ...

; 2012 festival * Performers:

Perpetual Groove Perpetual Groove (or PGroove) is an American rock band that originated in 1997 in Savannah, Georgia. PGroove incorporated a mix of traditional Southern rock, funk, jazzy improvisation, indie rock and synth loops. The members continue to work on ...

Donna the Buffalo Donna the Buffalo is a band from Trumansburg, New York. It plays both original songs and cover versions. A musician friend suggested "Dawn of the Buffalo" as a name for the band, which was misheard as "Donna the Buffalo" and, over thirty years ...

, The Mickey Hart Band feat.

Dave Schools David Allen Schools (born December 11, 1964) is a bass player and founding member of American rock band Widespread Panic. He is also a record producer, songwriter and journalist with articles published in a wide variety of music magazines. Schoo ...

Soulive Soulive is a funk/jazz trio that originated in Woodstock, New York, and is known for its Solo (music), solos and catchy, upbeat songs. The band consists of Eric Krasno (guitar), Alan Evans (drums) and Neal Evans (Hammond organ, Hammond B3 organ, b ...

Anders Osborne Anders Osborne (born May 4, 1966 in Uddevalla, Sweden) is an American singer-songwriter. He tours solo and with a band, and often plays in North Mississippi Osborne (N.M.O), a group formed by Osborne and North Mississippi Allstars. Early life ...

; 2011 festival * 30,000 guests * Performers:

Railroad Earth Railroad Earth is a bluegrass-influenced Americana band formed in Stillwater, New Jersey in 2001. The band's music combines elements of progressive bluegrass, folk, rock, country, jazz, Celtic and other Americana influences. Recognized a ...

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

7 Walkers 7 Walkers was an American rock band featuring former Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, guitarist Papa Mali, multi-instrumentalist Matt Hubbard, and bassist George Porter Jr. History The band formed in 2009 out of informal collaborations ...

References

{{Atlanta events Music festivals in Atlanta Concerts in the United States 2005 establishments