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03 September 2014

Review: Iris Captures Atlanta's Imagination with the Inaugural Imagine Music Festival

Labor Day weekend introduced a new festival to the Atlanta lexicon.

Imagine, the two-day event conceived by the award-winning Iris Promotion, brought 15,000 people to Historic Fourth Ward Park and the Masquerade Music Park in midtown.

By most accounts, the first edition of Imagine occurred without any major problems.

Compared to Music Midtown, another midtown Atlanta music festival that is constantly plagued with noise and traffic complaints from area residents, Imagine was a breeze.

Due to organizers' use of free shuttles, and encouraging ticket holders to take MARTA, traffic congestion was virtually non-existent. Georgia Unfiltered witnessed many residents, living in the condos and apartment buildings surrounding the Imagine venue, come out onto their balconies to enjoy a bird's eye view of the show.

The Imagine Music Festival featured three stages, showcasing an eclectic mix of over five dozen local, national, and international artists.

Event organizers made use of the existing landscape at Historic Fourth Ward Park. Nowhere was that more apparent than at the Imaginarium stage (pictured right).

Set in the bowl of the park's amphitheatre, the Imaginarium stage saw body bumping music in a more intimate setting, with the same level of energy found at the two larger stages.

Attendees described Imagine as "amazing."

"It blew my expectations away!," David Dawley said.

One festival-goer told us the sheer level of camaraderie was incredible. Everyone was dancing, she said, and when the music stopped, smiles and laughter rippled through the crowd.

Iris announced that Imagine would be back for its second edition in 2015.

The question is how do they improve upon a nearly flawless opening performance.