West Midtown Restaurant Week debuts Sept. 20-26
The first-ever West Midtown Restaurant Week will be held Sept. 20 to 26, showcasing the district’s wide range of dining options.
Participating restaurants will offer special menus and other offerings throughout the week, including prix fixe meals, shareable plates, tasting flights and signature cocktails. Restaurants will offer brunch, lunch, dinner or a combination, depending on the location.
The lineup includes longtime West Midtown restaurants such as Bacchanalia, Miller Union and Taqueria del Sol, as well as newer spots including Summerland and Ladybird Grove & Mess Hall. Bacchanalia will feature its Michelin-starred seasonal cooking, while Miller Union will offer its seasonal Southern fare.
Other participating restaurants include: Avize Modern Alpine, Barrel Proof, Cheba Hut, Chicheria Mexican Kitchen, Cooks & Soldiers, Drawbar, The Daily – West Midtown, E+ROSE, Emmy Squared Pizza, Fox Bros Bar-B-Q at The Works, Füm, Ghee Indian Kitchen, Grecian Gyro, Holiday Bar, Little Sparrow, Lo Kee, Lucky Star, Monday Night Brewing – The Grove, Muchacho, O-Ku Atlanta, The Optimist, Ormsby’s, The Painted Duck, Paya Thai Kitchen, Pretty Hens Rotisserie, Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours, the Woodall and Your 3rd Spot.
West Midtown Restaurant Week is produced by Livable Buckhead in partnership with the West Midtown Alliance. Details and the full restaurant directory are available at westmidtownrestaurantweek.com
— Derek Prall
South Fulton to host inaugural Roots & Routes storytelling festival
The city of South Fulton will host its inaugural Roots & Routes Festival Sept. 11 and 12 at the Southwest Arts Center, bringing storytellers, performers, educators and community members together for programs focused on culture, history and shared experiences.
The free, two-day festival, organized by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, will feature nationally recognized storytellers, regional performers and workshop presenters. Programming will include storytelling workshops for adults, families and emerging storytellers, along with a Story Swap where participants can share and hear personal stories.
The festival also will feature a Story Slam, where storytellers will compete for judges’ votes, as well as evening storytelling concerts combining spoken stories and live performances.
The event will take place at the Southwest Arts Center, 915 New Hope Road SW, South Fulton. The festival is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
Register for the Roots & Routes Festival.
— Derek Prall
SCAD AnimationFest returns to Atlanta with three days of animation programming
SCAD AnimationFest will return to SCAD Atlanta Sept. 23 to 25 for its 10th anniversary, bringing industry professionals, screenings, panels and student and alumni showcases to the university’s SCADshow theater.
This year’s festival will honor Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar, executive producers of “The Proud Family,” with the Animation Trailblazer Award as the series celebrates its 25th anniversary. Director and writer Joel Crawford also will receive the Variety Impact in Animation Award ahead of a special premiere screening of DreamWorks Animation’s “Forgotten Island.”
New programming this year includes the inaugural Animated Shorts Competition and the SCAD debut of Variety’s “10 Animators to Watch.” The festival also will feature a North American premiere of the anime “Sekiro: No Defeat,” a sneak peek at “The Cat in the Hat” and a presentation on the making of LAIKA’s upcoming stop-motion film “Wildwood.”
Other programming will include conversations with creatives from Walt Disney Imagineering, Warner Bros. Animation, Marvel Animation and other studios, along with student and alumni screenings and panels.
Passes are currently available, while individual event tickets go on sale Sept. 18.
— Derek Prall
Shakespeare at Sunset returns to Avondale Estates for fall 2026
The Shakespeare at Sunset Series will return to the Avondale Estates Town Green this fall with three outdoor performances, continuing a community theater series that began in 2025.
The series, formerly known as A Shakespeare Happening, will open with “The Taming of the Shrew” on Oct. 10, followed by “The Merchant of Venice” on Nov. 14 and “A Christmas Carol” on Dec. 5. The 2026 fall season is being presented in collaboration with Georgia Classic Theatre, a company founded by longtime Shakespeare actor and director Allen O’Reilly.
The performances will take place at 64 N. Avondale Road. Music begins at 6 p.m., children’s programming begins at 6:15 p.m., and the main performances begin at 7 p.m. The schedule is designed around sunset to create a more comfortable outdoor theater experience.
The performances are intended to make professional Shakespeare accessible to the community while continuing Avondale Estates’ connection to Shakespeare. The city is preparing for its centennial celebration, and its founders drew inspiration from Stratford-upon-Avon.
— Derek Prall
Atlanta Public Schools receives $700,000 federal grant for community schoolyards
Atlanta Public Schools has received $700,000 in congressionally directed federal spending to support future community schoolyard projects across Atlanta.
U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Ga., announced the funding Sept. 9 at Crawford W. Long Middle School in South Atlanta, which will be the first campus selected for the next phase of the program. U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff were also credited with helping secure the funding.
The grant will support the transformation of school grounds into outdoor spaces for learning, recreation and community use outside of school hours. The program is operated by Trust for Public Land in partnership with APS, nonprofit organizations and city agencies.
TPL has worked with 14 Atlanta schools over the past six years to redesign schoolyards for use as neighborhood parks. Since the program launched in Atlanta in 2019, APS and TPL have opened 12 community schoolyards.
The investment comes as 18 percent of Atlanta residents still live more than a 10-minute walk from a park. The community schoolyards program is intended to help close that gap while providing students and nearby residents with additional access to green space. Additional school sites and project timelines will be announced as planning progresses.
— Derek Prall
