No Country’s Guide to Tomato Art Fest 2019

Heading into its 16th 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 Saturday, Aug. 10, featuring the annual parade, games, art shows, competitions, pageants, kids activities, a 5k, and more, with a special Kick-Off Concert and various early activities once again slated for Friday, Aug. 9.

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 three 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, and a map, and be sure to visit Tomato Fest’s site for everything you need to know about the whole event.

FRIDAY | Aug 9 (Kick-Off Concert)

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 buzzy local indie/psych pop duo Okey Dokey heading things up, along with Americana rockers Banditos, and groovy, party-starting pop singer KK.

9:30pm | OKEY DOKEY

8:15pm | BANDITOS

7:15pm | KK

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SATURDAY | Aug 10 (Tomato Art Fest)

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 over the fest, it’ll be hard to stay planted at any one spot. Americana rockers Cordovas, soul/pop singer Jess Nolan, North Carolina alt/cosmic country duo Blue Cactus, and lo-fi alt/indie project Casters are among the highlights.

8pm | CORDOVAS

7pm | JESS NOLAN

6pm | BLUE CACTUS

5pm | PLEVYAK

4pm | CASTERS

3pm | BENDRIX LITTLETON

2pm | HEAD OVER HEELS (GO-GO’S TRIBUTE)

1pm | CASEY JO AND THE FRIDAY NIGHT DADS

12pm | LUCAS EBERT

11am | KENNA

10am | HALFBRASS

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WOODLAND STAGE (10th & Woodland)

Once again this year the Woodland Stage is a solid, albeit all over the place, bet, featuring everything from garage/rockabilly outfit The Tenders, vibey indie group Flight Attendant, the debut of a brand new group from Philip Creamer and Reno Bo, and the Allen Thompson-featuring buzzy newcomers Lady Couch, among the best of the bunch.

5pm | THE TENDERS

4pm | FLIGHT ATTENDANT

3pm | PHILIP CREAMER & RENO BO

2pm | JEREMY PINNELL

1pm | TIME IS TIGHT (BOOKER T. & THE M.G.’S TRIBUTE)

12pm | LADY COUCH

11am | AVA SIMPSON

10am | MR. MATTY’S WORLD

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MUDDY ROOTS STAGE (11th & Fatherland)

The Muddy Roots crew also have a curated stage, and it’s a great mix of the country, folk,  and Americana leaning acts they host at their festival and various other events. Folk/country singer-songwriter Todd Day Wait takes top billing, and with several DJ sets between acts, you’ll also find talent like country singer Ben Jarrell, folk rockers River Tramps, and more!

3pm | OPEN TURNTABLES

2pm | TODD DAY WAIT

1pm | DJ JASON GALAZ

12pm | BEN JARRELL

11am | DJ JASON GALAZ

10am | MARY RICHARDS

9am | RIVER TRAMPS

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IDEA HATCHERY (1108 Woodland)

While the music lineup is a tad lighter this year (we’re bummed to see the absence of a Cold Lunch-curated stage, despite it perhaps not quite fitting the vibe), you’ll still find other entertainment spread out, like swing and tap dancers at the center of Five Points, various happenings on the Contest and Cooking stages, and Ohio roots rockers The Ohio Weather Band at the Idea Hatchery.

2pm | THE OHIO WEATHER BAND

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MAP

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