Stuff to do: Sweetwater 420 Festival and 5k Run (April 15th-17th)

*kid friendly
*environmentally friendly

Local Atlanta brewery Sweetwater is back again this year with their annual Sweetwater 420 Festival, taking place in Candler Park on April 15-17. The festival has traditionally taken place on just 1 or 2 days but this year they are expanding to a full 3 days of sun, beer, music, art, crafts and many more activities around environmental and greening initiatives. The festival is always in April to coincide with Earth Day and features a variety of booths and companies that exist to draw awareness to environmental and social issues. This year also includes the addition of an adult comedy tent hosted by the newly renovated and improved Relapse Theatre on 14th street.

The festival also includes the 7th annual Sweetwater 5k race. They are currently accepting entries but will be limited to just 2000 runners. All proceeds from the 5k race will be donated to the Candler Park Neighborhood Organization, Inc. You can find all the information you need by clicking this link:

http://www.candlerpark.org/420/

The festival will kickoff on Friday, April 15th at 4:20pm. Some notable bands (both local and national) playing the festival are Galactic (perhaps one of the biggest bands to ever play the festival), 7 Walkers (Featuring Bill Kreutzmann of the Grateful Dead), Dead Confederate (Athens, GA - a big local name to play the festival), Rusted Root (big name - PA reggae band on the rise), and Greensky Bluegrass (not just a bluegrass band, funny enough, but a mix of jazz, bluegrass, roots and jam music from Michigan). Also playing the festival will be Railroad Earth, Arrested Development, Gurufish, Dejablue Grass Band, Gimme Hendrix and many more. There will also be a "Music Matters Rock U Kids" performance by bands Fear of Silence and The Taask. All of the music (bluegrass, reggae, country and jam band driven) is kid friendly but the addition of the Rock U Kids performances guarantees that the kids will have something to listen to that they'll enjoy. There will also be a variety of kid friendly activities and booths (carnival games, etc). 

I've attended 3 of these Sweetwater Festivals over the years and it always proves to be a great time. You get to try a variety of Sweetwater's many beers and the music is always good and of a great variety. There are tons of families out just to enjoy the sun and great music so the Sweetwater 420 Festiva is not just for lovers of beer. Hope to see you out there! 

When:
Friday, April 15th from 4:20 PM to 10 PM.
Saturday, April 16th from Noon to 10 PM.
Sunday, April 17th from 12:30 PM to 7 PM.

Admission:
Free admission for great live music, activities, food, and education about how each and every one of us can be a part of the solution! Festival goers who are 21+ and with a valid ID can purchase a $5 wristband to responsibly enjoy beer. Portion of Proceeds from wristband sales are donated to Park Pride (to benefit Candler Park).

Venue address:
Historic Candler Park 1500 McLendon Ave. NE Atlanta, GA 30307.

More information on the festival can be found at the official festival site: http://sweetwater420fest.com/