ELEVATE, produced by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, was created to reimagine what an arts festival could be—turning the entire city into its stage. Instead of limiting creativity to one venue, ELEVATE brings music, dance, theater, and visual art into Atlanta’s streets, plazas, and public spaces, embedding art directly into the urban landscape.

Since its launch in 2011, ELEVATE has been featured in over 250 media stories for its role in shaping Atlanta’s cultural vitality. The festival has sparked meaningful dialogue across city planning, urban design, and neighborhoods about the power of cultural districts to drive urban growth. At its core, ELEVATE is about connection—bridging communities, inspiring collaboration, and strengthening neighborhoods. Many site-specific projects, first imagined as temporary, still thrive today as lasting cultural landmarks.

Nationally acclaimed, ELEVATE has been named one of the Top 50 Public Art Projects in the U.S. by Americans for the Arts and ranked among the Top 10 City Livability projects nationwide.

Every fall, the festival transforms Atlanta with vibrant programming that is free and open to the public, spotlighting artists, creatives, and cultural visionaries whose work reflects the city’s rhythm, resilience, and reinvention.

ELEVATE isn’t just an arts festival—it’s a movement to uplift culture, ignite conversation, and celebrate Atlanta’s place on the global stage.