No Country’s Guide to Tomato Art Fest 2018

Heading into its 15th year, Tomato Art Fest has long been a quirky, beloved East Nashville staple, celebrating the local music and art community with tons of artisan vendors, free live music, vaguely and outright tomato themed activities, and more. The annual event returns this weekend, Aug. 11, with a special Kick-Off Concert and various early activities slated for Aug. 10, and per, usual, you can expect the annual parades, games, competitions, kids activities, a 5k, and more on Saturday

Of course, we love all things Tomato Fest, but we really go nuts for the musical lineups, which are always free and all ages. This year’s event features the Friday Night Kick-Off Concert, which takes place in the parking lot beside Beyond the Edge at 7 p.m., as well as four stages packed with action throughout the event grounds on Saturday. With this much music to chose from you will surely find something that your big tomato heart desires, whether it’s pop, indie, folk, punk, or something in between. Below, check out our guide to the entire musical lineup, complete with stages and times, a map, and a full schedule, and be sure to visit Tomato Fest’s website for everything you need to know about the whole event.

FRIDAY – Aug 10 (KICK-OFF CONCERT)

9:30pm THE WHIGS :: 8:15pm T. HARDY MORRIS & THE HARD KNOCKS :: 7pm BUXTON

@ 37206 Stage (Beyond The Edge Parking Lot)

With all of the activity on Saturday, Tomato’s Friday night preview activities can sometimes be overlooked, but free music is always an enticing option in our book. The lineup is lean but stacked, with beloved garage rock transplants The Whigs, fellow Athens bred and Nashville linked indie rocker T. Hardy Morris & The Hard Knocks, and Houston folk rock outfit Buxton.

SATURDAY – Aug 11 (TOMATO ART FEST)

8pm GUTHRIE BROWN :: 7pm KATIE PRUITT :: 6pm STOOP KIDS :: 5pm MARQUEE MAYFIELD :: 4pm TEDDY & THE ROUGH RIDERS :: 3pm THE MEDIUM :: 2pm DORAN DANOFF :: 1pm BEA TROXEL :: 12pm ACT LIKE A GRRRL :: 11am GIRLS WRITE NASHVILLE :: 10am HALF BRASS

@ 37206 Stage (Beyond The Edge Parking Lot)

Saturday’s main stage, nestled centrally in the parking lot beside Beyond the Edge, is looking pretty stacked, but with so much great music spread across all four stages, it’ll be hard to stay planted at any one spot. Americana-tinged alt/indie rocker Guthrie Brown, versatile singer-songwriter Katie Pruitt, psych-tinged pop rockers Stoop Kids, and teen girl autobiographical writing and performance workshop Act Like a Grrl, are among the highlights.

5pm GYSAI :: 4pm VOLK :: 3pm SADLER VADEN :: 2pm TIGERBEATS :: 1pm PAUL BURCH AND THE WPA BALLCLUB :: 12pm QUEENS OF NOISE :: 10:45am SCHOOL OF ROCK :: 10am EMILY WEST DOES CHILDREN’S SONGS

@ Woodland Stage (10th & Woodland)

Once again this year the Woodland Stage is a solid, albeit all over the place, bet, featuring everything from glam rocker Gyasi, country punks VOLK, folk rocker Sadler Vaden, famed singer-songwriter Paul Burch, and teen tribute to The Runaways, Queens of Noise, among the best of the bunch.

5pm BLACK MOON MOTHER :: 4pm THE MINKS :: 3pm HARI THE BAND :: 2pm ONLY :: 1pm SOFT BODIES :: 12pm PEACHY :: 11am BLEARY :: 10am BLOND BONES

@ Cold Lunch Recordings Stage (Woodland & 12th)

The most rock leaning stage, no surprise since it’s hosted by our friends at Cold Lunch, is headed up by ambient rockers Black Moon Mother, bluesy, psych rock outfit The Minks, dreamy, indie/shoegaze rockers Hari the Band, garage pop faves Only, and more. Basically, if you regularly dig the bands we cover, you could safely hang at this stage all day and have a blast.

4pm AMERICAN DREAM :: 3pm RADIUM SPRINGS BLUEWATER BAND :: 2pm JESSICA STILES & THE NITE OWLS :: 12pm PAT REEDY & THE LONGTIME GONERS :: 11am DJ MUDFATHER :: 10am NANCARROW

Muddy Roots Stage (Russell & 11th)

The Muddy Roots crew also have a curated stage, and it’s a great mix of the country and rockabilly leaning acts they host at their festival and various other events, plus some other faves. Dream pop group American Dream take top billing, and with a couple of DJ sets between acts, you’ll also find talent like bluegrass-tinged singer-songwriter Jessica Stiles, and more!

MAP

SCHEDULE

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