Any time of year, there is always a celebration in Atlanta. The moderate climate enables festivals to be held year-round in the city. Atlanta�s historic neighborhoods as well as the city�s favorite parks, art, music, food and culture are celebrated at numerous festivals throughout the year.

Chinese New Year The Chinese New Year takes place on the first day of the first lunar month (near the end of January or the beginning of February on the American calendar) and is a celebration of health, prosperity and happiness in the coming year. A holiday of sacred traditions and symbolism for the Chinese people, each part of the New Year�s Eve meal and New Year ceremonies have special meanings to honor the past and prepare for the year ahead. The festival shares the importance of the holiday to the Chinese community through the presentation of traditional foods, handmade artwork, musical and dance performances. For more information, please contact the Chinese Community Center at 770.451.4456.

Atlanta Dogwood Festival Held on April 2-4, 2004, the Atlanta Dogwood Festival is a showcase of springtime in Atlanta featuring local artists, crafters and musicians. 2004 will represent the festival�s 58th year in Atlanta, making it the longest running festival in the city. Annual events include a canine Frisbee event, hot air balloon races, a children�s festival and a 5K, road race. For more information, call 404.329.0501 or visit www.dogwood.org.

Georgia Renaissance Festival The Georgia Renaissance Festival is scheduled April 17 � June 6, 2004. This tree-filled terrain is transformed into a renaissance world filled with jesters, maidens, knights and royalty. Guests can participate in games and tests of skill or enjoy savory renaissance foods such as sausage on a stick and giant turkey legs. For more information, please call 770.964.8575 or visit www.garenfest.com.

Inman Park Festival Celebrate in Atlanta�s oldest neighborhood at the Inman Park Festival April 23-25, 2004. Located along Euclid and Edgewood avenues, this Victorian neighborhood plays host to one of the largest neighborhood festivals in Atlanta with live entertainment on several stages and vendors from all over the Southeast. Festivities also include a Tour of Homes and a crazy parade on Saturday, blending the eclectic atmospheres of Inman Park and nearby Little Five Points. For more information, call 770.929.4299 or visit www.inmanpark.org.

Music Midtown Music Midtown celebrates its eleventh year as an Atlanta�s trademark music event. From April 30-May 2, this three-day musical event features more than 130 national, regional and local bands on seven stages, a children�s stage, arts and crafts from artists in Georgia and the Southeast and a blend of food offerings from Atlanta�s favorite restaurants. 2003 performers included: Sheryl Crow, LL Cool J, Tony Bennett, Def Leppard, Crosby, Stills and Nash and Bob Dylan, to name a few. For more information call, 770.643.8696 or access www.musicmidtown.com.

Sweet Auburn SpringFest and Garden Show Set on the Atlanta street famous for its role in the civil rights movement, the 2004 Sweet Auburn SpringFest held May 7-9, features ten stages of continual entertainment including gospel and jazz, floral displays for the garden show, street vendors, a parade of cultures and more. For more information, see the Web site at www.friendsofsweetauburn.com/springfest2004.htm.

The Atlanta Jazz Festival A musical showcase, celebrating jazz legends and up-and-coming jazz greats comes to stages throughout Atlanta during the largest free jazz festival in the country held May 18-27 at Piedmont Park. The festival brings more than 100 of the best jazz performers to Atlanta for nine straight days and features a Free Weekend Concert Series at Piedmont Park, a special benefit concert at Chastain Park Amphitheatre, the best in soul food, ethnic cuisine and American cooking and an expanded arts and crafts market. For more information, visit the festival Web site at www.atlantafestivals.com.

Virginia-Highland Summerfest Summerfest takes place on June 5-6, 2004, in the heart of Atlanta's historic Virginia-Highland, an eclectic neighborhood known for its diverse mix of nightlife, galleries, restaurants and unusual shops. Centered around the intersection of Virginia Avenue and North Highland, this two-day festival includes more than 200 artists booths, the "Taste of Virginia-Highland" Food Market, which includes treats from the neighborhood's hippest restaurants, live local music, a Kidsfest play area, and a Saturday morning 5k run and Tot Trot. For more information, visit www.vahi.org/summerfest.

Georgia Shakespeare Festival Theatre lovers of all types come to Oglethorpe University each summer to see Shakespearean works and other classics performed in a picnic-style atmosphere. The festival�s pre-show entertainment begins on the picnic grounds an hour before curtain. Guests are welcome to bring their picnics or pick up a catered dinner on the grounds an hour and a half before show time.

This summer�s works will include Much Ado About Nothing, The School For Wives, The Tale of Cymbeline, and The Tempest. The newly opened Conant Performing Arts Center has enabled the festival to return for the fall. For more information, call 404.504.3400 or access www.gashakespeare.org.

National Black Arts Festival The National Black Arts Festival will take place July 16-25, 2004, and will include more than 1,000 artists from the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and the Americas presenting music, literature, theatre and performance art, film, dance, visual art and folk art. For more information, call 404.730.7315 or visit www.nbaf.org.

Yellow Daisy Festival More than 400 artists will travel to Stone Mountain Park for the Yellow Daisy Festival, Sept. 9-12. Voted by Sunshine Artists magazine as one of the nation�s top 10 arts and crafts show, the festival features open-air shopping, live entertainment and food. For more information, call 770.498.5633 or visit www.stonemountainpark.com.

Atlanta Greek Festival The Atlanta Greek Orthodox Cathedral invites you to be Greek for a day at the Atlanta Greek Festival, also in September. The festival offers a unique way to experience one of the oldest cultures in history. Visitors are invited to sample authentic Greek wine and cuisine, including souvlaki, moussaka, kabobs, gyro sandwiches and a variety of Greek pastries. A Greek function would not be complete without plenty of music and dance. A shopping bazaar offers authentic Greek items such as clothing, ceramics, copper, books, jewelry, handmade tapestries and needlepoint and original artwork by international, national and local artists. Other festival highlights include cooking demonstrations and a children�s entertainment tent. For more information, call the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation at 404.633.7358 or visit www.atlgoc.org/festival.

Sweet Auburn Festival More than 250,000 people are expected to attend this year�s Atlanta Fantastic Weekend Sept. 17-19. Held in conjunction with the Atlanta Football Classic weekend, the Sweet Auburn area will hum with visitors from around the Southeast. Five stages will feature Atlanta�s best gospel, jazz, blues and hip-hop. Events include children�s fantastic fun area, a technology expo and an international vendors market. Two festival favorites are the Atlanta Classic Car Show and the �Taste of Sweet Auburn,� featuring the best soul food Atlanta has to offer.

Sweet Auburn is one of Atlanta�s historic African-American neighborhoods and is the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the home to landmark churches, such as Big Bethel A.M.E. and Ebenezer Baptist. From the 1890s through the 1940s, "Sweet Auburn" was the thriving center of black enterprise. Today, �Sweet Auburn� is thriving once again, with a resurgence of businesses, shops, galleries and nightlife.

Stone Mountain Highland Games The sound of bag pipes echo throughout Stone Mountain Park Oct. 16-17, 2004, as Scots from around the United States, Canada and the world gather for the 31th annual Stone Mountain Highland Games & Scottish Festival. Known as the �Friendly Games,� the festival features traditional Scottish competitions, celebrations of dance and music and displays of folk art and Scottish tartans. For more information, contact Stone Mountain Park at 770.498.5633 or visit www.smhg.org.

Established in 1913, the ACVB is a private, nonprofit organization created exclusively to market metro Atlanta and Georgia as premier conventions, meetings and leisure destinations in the regional, national and international marketplace and to favorably impact the Atlanta economy through conventions and tourism.

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Media Contact: Brandy Humphries +1 404-521-6645 bhumphries@atlanta.net