Atlantafi.com is bringing you the latest on the coronavirus pandemic, which has the state of Georgia and the city of Atlanta under a state of emergency.
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Making for another Southernplayalistic evening this fall, Atlanta rapper Big Boi is scheduled to perform at Tee Up ATL, the official kickoff party for the Tour Championship!
Come party with the top PGA TOUR players and Atlanta sports stars as Big Boi performs live in concert with DJ Infamous and DJ Debonair on the 1s and 2s, hosted by Ryan Cameron. The event will be at the College Football Hall of Fame on Marietta Boulevard NW in downtown Atlanta.
All proceeds benefit the East Lake Foundation and Purpose Built Communities.
Tickets include one free drink. The community celebration welcomes The Tour Championship back to the city on Monday, September 17, 2018. The event will feature a performance from hometown favorite Big Boi and the night will celebrate the PGA TOUR’s season-ending event as the top 30 players come to Atlanta to compete for the FedExCup.
There are so many Atlanta events popping off every week it’s hard to keep up with it all. That’s why I suggest you subscribe to AtlantaFi.com to get all the freshest gatherings, Atlanta happenings, parties and more delivered to your inbox.
Things to do in Atlanta on a weekly basis can range from going golfing mid-week to checking out the latest restaurant openings. At AtlantaFi.com, we curate the city for you!
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State Farm insurance company and the Atlanta Hawks reached a groundbreaking deal that would change the name of Philips Arena to State Farm Arena, it was announced Wednesday.
Philips Arena is in the midst of a massive reconstruction project that promises to make the complex Atlanta’s new hub for downtown nightlife, a place where “the lights never go out,” the Hawks have touted. The facility is set to reopen in time to celebrate the team’s 50th year in Atlanta in October.
Atlanta’s newest sports venue: State Farm Arena
Sports venue branding has become commonplace among professional sports teams in the NBA, NFL and MLB. The teams benefit from financial backing and the companies use the brand exposure as a civic badge.
Philips Arena debuted in 1999, a time when the Hawks were perennial 50-game winners and the Braves were competing for downtown sports fans’ attention. Nearly 20 years later, both teams face different landscapes.
The Hawks will now play under a red State Farm logo which will be prominently displayed at the top of the arena in downtown Atlanta. Other amenities in the new space will include a huge video board system, rapper Killer Mike’s barbershop, Zack Brown’s BBQ restaurant and a Top Golf.
“Our objective was to create an experience with the Hawks that brought together cutting-edge technology, storytelling and physical space to excite, inspire and persuade visitors,” said Jeff Alpen, Hornall Anderson Managing Director. “The space is a beautiful combination of innovation, exploration and function and celebrates the uniqueness and vibrancy of Atlanta and its people.”
Downtown Atlanta is enjoying a renaissance when it comes to sports venues. Last year, the city christened Mercedes Benz Stadium.
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The Atlanta Dream evened the playoff series against the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night, beating them 78-75. The Mystics lost their best player, Elene Delle Donne, in the fourth quarter.
McCamish Pavilion was electric as the Dream scratched and clawed their way to hang on for the victory.
“Really, really proud of our toughness,” Dream coach Nicki Collen said after the game. Collen had double reason to celebrate: She was named WNBA Coach of the Year earlier in the day. “We turned over the ball too much, but to get stops when we needed them says a lot about our team. Early in the season, we had a lot of grind-it-out kind of games, and tonight was another one of those.”
The series is now tied at 1-1 and will head to Washington for game 3 on Friday night. In game 1, the Dream couldn’t find any momentum on offense, losing 87-84 at home on Sunday. Their ace shooter, Tiffany Hayes, was cold for most of the night.
Delle Donne told fans that she will be OK, saying “the swelling isn’t terrible.”
Elena Delle Donne shared her thoughts with us via Mystics' media relations: “I mean, I’m walking. The swelling isn’t terrible. I’ll go home tomorrow and see our doctors, and see what they say. But I’m hopeful to be back in the lineup Friday."
— Mechelle Voepel (@MechelleV) August 29, 2018
On Tuesday, Hayes scored 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Center Elizabeth Williams (10 points, 11 rebounds) had a solid game as well as Atlanta had an 18-rebound advantage.
Game 3 will be Friday, August 31 at 8 p.m. ET at Charles Smith Center, George Washington University. The contest will be simulcast on WNBATV and ESPN2.
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The 9th annual BronzeLens Film Festival ended triumphantly Sunday with screenings to the very end. Over the course of five days, movie fans, celebrities and personalities converged on the Marriott Marquis and other venues in Atlanta.Filmmakers far and wide came out to show support as well as have their productions screened to live audiences.The films featured a wide array of movies about different cultures, viewpoints and ethnicities, highlighting a widespread diaspora of global filmmakers.BronzeLens Film Festival opens in Atlanta
With hundreds of actors, producers and filmmakers in tow, the film festival’s big winner was “Jinn,” which won the Best Film Award at the event. “Jinn” is a Muslim-centered movie about a teen who rebels against her mother’s newfound faith of Islam.“This is a story that was many years in the making,” “Jinn” filmmaker Nijla Mu’min told the crowd. “I grew up in a very vibrant African-American Muslim community in Oakland. My father and my mother really helped to immerse me in that community and I never saw textured, complicated images of those people in media.”
On the festival’s final night, another film, “United Skates” made its Atlanta premiere to rousing applause and fanfare. The film was produced and directed by Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown. Winkler told the crowd that during the four+ years it took to produce the documentary, she learned the secret sauce of stopping some of the nation’s top roller rinks from closing: Zoning.Winkler said when she originally delved into doing interviews for the documentary she discovered that was culturally important to Americans, but especially to African-Americans. “When I saw what the narrative was, I didn’t want to do the film. I thought it was a great story, a story that needed to be told, but not by me, by an African-American.”She said the skating community pushed her to continue the project, which turned into a labor of love and enamored her to people all around the country.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2ExXMi06coAnother fan favorite was “Canal Street,” which features an all-star cast including Mekhi Phifer, Mykelti Williamson, Lance Reddick and Jon Seda.The film is a modern-day thriller telling the story of a teen, Kholi Styles, trying to get by in an unwelcoming new world. After the mysterious death of a classmate, all eyes fall on Kholi, the new kid at his high school. It’s up to his father, Jackie Styles, an up-and-coming lawyer from the slums of Chicago, to defend his son in court and battle an outraged public before time runs out. Jackie fights to keep his faith and prove his son is not the monster the world has made him out to be.https://vimeo.com/223838829There were several top-notch black films screening at this year’s event.
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Chick-Fil-A meal kits beginning with five meal options became available Monday, August 27 in metro Atlanta as part of a test market experiment, the chain said. The meals will be available through mid-November.
The meal kits have been designed to make it easy for customers to cook their own meals at home using fresh, pre-measured ingredients they can pick up in the drive-thru, at the front counter, or via the Chick-fil-A One app.
Chick-Fil-A meal kits: What to know
Chick-fil-A Chef and Atlanta Restaurateur Stuart Tracy had a big hand in developing five different kit recipes, which are easy to follow and prepare.
With the move, the Atlanta-based company is signaling its intentions to be the first fast-food restaurant to take on Blue Apron, which is a household name in the meal kit market.The meals include many of the favorites we’ve come to love about Chick-Fil-A, including crispy dijon chicken, but also new items such as chicken flatfread, chicken enchiladas and pan-roasted chicken.New menu options include:
- 30-Count Nuggets – The 30-Count Nuggets are available nationwide and can be ordered at the counter, through the drive-thru and via the Chick-fil-A Mobile App.
- Waffle Potato Chips – Previously only available on the catering menu, the kettle-cooked waffle cut chips are an alternate to our Waffle Fries and are gluten-free. Waffle Potato Chips can now be purchased as a side item to pair with any entrée (or Kid’s Meal) and are still available as side offering on the catering menu.
- Improved Fruit Cup – Based on customer feedback, the fruit mix has been improved to feature fewer apples and more premium fruit options. The Fruit Cup is served chilled with fresh strawberries, blueberries, red and green apple pieces and mandarin oranges.
New catering and online order menu options include:
- Grilled Chicken Bundle – This lighter, grilled chicken option makes it easy to build you own grilled chicken sandwiches. The bundle comes with 10 grilled chicken breasts, multigrain buns, Honey Roasted BBQ Sauce, Green Leaf lettuce, tomatoes, Colby-Jack cheese and Applewood smoked bacon and serves 10.
- Spicy Chilled Grilled Chicken Sub Sandwich – The Spicy Chilled Grilled Chicken Sub Sandwich provides a fresh and unique option for people who love grilled chicken but want an extra spicy kick. The boneless spicy chicken breast is marinated with a special blend of seasonings, grilled, thinly sliced and served chilled on a multigrain baguette with Pepper Jack cheese, baby greens and sliced tomato. It is served with Honey Roasted BBQ Sauce.
Read more: How to order from Chick-Fil-A’s secret menuThe meal kits cost about $16 and serve two people, the company says. They are available at more than 150 metro Atlanta locations.Many experts are confused by the decision to get into the meal kit business by Chick-Fil-A, but they know one thing: Whatever the company tries to do, it usually is successful.Mealtime Kits will be available to customers in Atlanta until November 17, but customers nationwide can express their interest in trying the kits by filling out an online form. -
The Atlanta Dream fought and clawed but fell short Sunday afternoon in game one of their semifinals match-up against the Washington Mystics in the WNBA playoffs. Washington beat Atlanta 87-84 in front of a big crowd at McCamish Pavilion in Midtown Atlanta.
The Mystics, led by Elena Delle Donne down low, pulled away in the second quarter and basically held even against a surging Dream team in the second half. Donne finished with a game-high 32 points and 13 rebound. Teammate Ariel Atkins added 15 points.
”My teammates have trust in me in those situations to attack and try to make the right read,” Delle Donne was quoted as saying. ”I was flowing today, so they kind of just ran the offense through me. I just had to make reads or attack.”
Atlanta was led by Elizabeth Williams, who finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Tiffany Hayes only knocked down one of five three-point attempts for Atlanta, whose biggest deficit was 15 points.
The Dream were clearly missing Angel McCoughtry, who is out for the season after sustaining a knee injury earlier this month.
Game 2 of the semifinals resumes Tuesday night at McCamish Pavilion, where the Dream hope a sold-out arena can hype them up for the win.
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On opening night of the 2018 BronzeLens Film Festival, movie lovers were treated to a feast of the senses with a series of independent films. About 70 people crammed into an intimate screening room at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta for the event, dubbed “All Shorts, All Night,” which was hosted by BET Networks.The matriarch for the evening was Atlanta film maven Khalimah Gaston, the creator of Screening Room ATL.The first film shown “Black Korea,” delves into domestic abuse and plight of Korean women who married African-American soldiers in the aftermath of the Korean War.Set in the 1980s, the film follows two children who are dropped off at the home of their grandmother on the Southside of Chicago.Shot in Atlanta, the film stars actors Jason Weaver, Jenne Kang, Erica Watson and Bella Gill, the daughter of the movie’s creator, Patti Kim Gill. It is the elder Gill’s life that was the inspiration for the film. Her Korean mother left her at her grandmother’s home in Chicago when she was just a child.
The screening was well represented by the movie’s makers. In addition to Gill, producer and casting director Genia Nooks was there as well.Bolstering the film screenings this year is BronzeLens’ freshly minted status as an Academy Awards qualifying festival for short films.Other films that will be screened during the week include select st “Jinn,” a short featuring Zoe Renee of “The Quad,” with Simone Missick from “Luke Cage”; “Isoken,” the Nigerian romantic comedy and the Atlanta-filmed BET miniseries “The Bobby Brown Story.”
Screening Room ATL’s Khalilah Gaston at the BronzeLens Film Festival 2018. -
Foxeria del Sol Hatch Chile Festival will take place at the Taqueria del Sol Westside on Sunday, August 26, 2018. The event will run from 4 to 8 pm.
The event, located at 1200 Howell Mill Road, Atlanta, GA 30318, will benefit Hogs for The Cause, the leading pediatric brain cancer outreach organization in the United States. Come out to support them and experience some delicious food from Fox Brothers, live music local beer and more.
The annual block party style event will celebrate the annual harvest of Hatch Chiles from New Mexico and also raise money for a great organization, Hogs for the Cause.
Tickets for this event are $30 and include admission and unlimited access to food stations. Drinks will be available for purchase at the event.
This event is just one among many Atlanta happenings going on weekly in the city. See all the Atlanta festivals this year.
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How to find food and drink specials every day in Atlanta
What you need to know about Atlanta’s BronzeLens Film Festival
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There are some great spots to eat around the city, but when it comes to sipping suds, many people are quite particular based on several factors. Many prefer ambience over ampleness. Others pick a deep selection over anything else. Still others gravitate toward friendly bartenders. But what are the top bars in Atlanta’s Little Five Points.
With all those factors in mind, we compiled a list of the top bars in one of our favorite parts of the city: Little 5 Points. This area of East Atlanta is criminally underrated when it comes to dining and drinking options. We’re here to change that.
We went to the good people at Yelp to help us round out our list. This is what they said.
The Porter Beer Bar 1156 Euclid Ave NE Atlanta, GA 30307. One Yelper said: ““I had pretty low expectations for the salt and vinegar popcorn and was instead blown away by a great and unexpected flavor combo.”
Star Community Bar 437 Moreland Ave NE Atlanta, GA 30307 — One Yelper said: “One visit to the Elvis shrine will stay with you long after you, and Elvis, have left the building.”
The Euclid Avenue Yacht Club 1136 Euclid Ave NE Atlanta, GA 30307 — One Yelper said: “The food is great if you like bar food which I do and thier food is kosher I love the yacht dog and fries.the employee’s are a step above always friendly.”
Aisle 5 1123 Euclid Ave NE Atlanta, GA 30307 — One Yelper said: ““No rude bouncers, quick bar service and relative cleanliness.”
Vortex Bar & Grill 438 Moreland Ave NE Atlanta, GA 30307 — One Yelper said: “Omg…it’s seriously so good with the sweetness of the plantains, the nuttiness of the peanut butter and the savory burger+bacon.”
Got any other cool spots in Little 5? Tell us below.
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One of city’s most iconic restaurants, The Varsity in Midtown Atlanta, is celebrating its 90th anniversary this month. If you stop by the family-owned eatery, you’ll see an abundance of commemorative merchandise and limited-edition cups ($5.99) where you can get unlimited refills on soft drinks and $0.90 refills on Frosted Orange, vanilla and chocolate milkshakes through the end of the year.
And best of all, on Saturday, August 18. All menu items will be priced at $0.90 at all five The Varsity locations (Atlanta, Athens, Dawsonville, Kennesaw and Norcross).
The restaurant is also pledging $90,000 to Shepherd’s Men, a group that raises money for military initiatives at Shepherd Center in Atlanta.
The Varsity In Midtown Atlanta Celebrates 90th Anniversary With Deals, Merch, Party & More
Anniversary events officially kicked off on Memorial Day weekend with the Shepherd’s Men run (from The Varsity to the Shepherd Center in Midtown) to raise awareness for veterans with TBIs and PTSD. Now it’s all going to culminate with an anniversary party on Saturday, August 18.
In addition to the $0.90 price menu, the Midtown location will feature special events from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“For nine decades, we’ve had the opportunity to bring great food to our loyal guests in Atlanta,” The Varsity President Gordon Muir said. “We’re excited to celebrate this milestone in a fun and meaningful way that includes giving back to the community that has given so much to us.”
Got an event or know of something opening in and around Atlanta? Holla: CJ@AtlantaFi.com. See what’s poppin’ in the ATL! Subscribe to our news alerts here, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.