EAST NASHVILLE - For seventeen years the Tomato Art Fest has been uniting fruits and vegetables together on the second Saturday in August. The 2020 festival will look and feel different but as a uniter the organizers want to help safely bring east Nashville back together to celebrate once more.
The wacky and beloved festival will move to a full weekend of activities taking place between Thursday, August 6th and Sunday, August 9th. Previously, the festival has been out on the streets celebrating, this year we are changing it up to keep everyone safe. Traditionally taking place in the five points area over several city blocks, this year the festival will look a little different, featuring a combination of in-person and online events.
“While we would love to have the full festival this August, we are thrilled to continue supporting our east Nashville community with a weekend of tomato themed activities including a Tornado Relief Concert, porch parade and plenty of wacky (online) contests,” stated Jack Davis of Good Neighbor Festivals whose festival team has been managing the annual event for the past 12 years.
The Tomato Art Show kicked off the entire idea over 17 years ago. This year's show will once again feature hundreds of fruit and vegetable themed artwork in the old Art and Invention Gallery space. The first chance to see incredible work is at the Art Show Pre-View Party on Thursday August 6th. Tickets for the event are on sale now at tomatoartfest.com.
As east Nashville continues to recover from the March 3 tornado, festival organizers are planning a Tomato Art Fest TornadoRelief Concert that will take place on Saturday, August 8th in East Park. The socially-distanced-friendly outdoor event will raise funds with 100% of proceeds after expenses going to support hospitality workers, musicians, and artists of East Nashville affected by the March Tornado. “We are looking forward to being able to give back to our community that has supported this festival. We hope this event will give East Nashvillians additional aid in the much needed continued tornado relief.”
The most noticeable changes this year will be the temporary move of our beloved contests and vendors to online. The ever-popular Bloody Mary Garden Party is coming back, but with some new safety precautions.
This year to ensure everyone's safety we are changing our traditional Tomato Parade to a Porch Parade. Houses, businesses, and apartments along the parade route can register to be a part of the Porch Parade starting in mid July. We encourage our friends and neighbors to walk, run, bike, or drive the parade route from August 1-8.
For the most updated information on the festival, entertainment, online marketplace, contests, relief concert, and more visit tomatoartfest.com or download the new Tomato Art Fest app.
Businesses or organizations interested in participating can host a Tomato Art Fest event. Please register at tomatoartfest.com.
Ticket information for the Tomato Art Fest Pre-View Party, Relief Concert, and Bloody Mary Garden Party is available at tomatoartfest.com.