Here are Georgia festivals and concerts to look out for this summer

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Beyonce brings her 2025 Cowboy Carter tour to Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 10, 11, 13 and 14.

Credit: Carlijn Jacobs / Parkwood Entertainment

There’s nothing like a summer concert.

Whether at one of Georgia’s many parks or amphitheaters, small venues or arenas and stadiums, live music brings people together unlike any other activity.

The music industry in the state generates around $3.7 billion dollars annually. And while an uncertain economy saw an 11% drop in Live Nation revenues for the first quarter of 2025, the promoter said future event sales are still up 24% over last year.

Nicole Jurovics, who books acts for the Atlanta Symphony Hall Live, said concerts are still a hot commodity and there are plenty of choices in the Atlanta market and beyond. 

"We do have a wide variety of things — from kids' shows to 'our' generation's summertime — you know, '90s music extravaganza — to hip-hop and everything in between," she said. "So it really is kind of a festival-themed summer at Atlanta Symphony Hall. And we're very excited about that.

From the mountains to the coast

Georgia will see hundreds of concerts and festivals this season, from this weekend’s Virginia Highland Summerfest in Atlanta June 6 to June 8 to Macon’s Bragg Jam on July 26, the Georgia Mountain Fair in Hiawassee Aug. 15 to Aug. 23 and the Arts in the Heart of Augusta Festival in September.

June offers Lil Baby and Wu Tang Forever at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena and Beyonce pulls up to the Mercedes Benz Stadium for Cowboy Carter tour for four nights in July

Country fan? At Savannah’s Enmarket Arena, Luke Bryan scoots in June 12, while Brad Paisley stops there Aug. 1 and Dierks Bentley arrives Aug. 21.

Atlanta Symphony Hall has Disney Pride in Concert on June 21, Jurovics said, featuring the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus performing classic Disney soundtrack favorites.

For indie music fans, Aimee Mann plays Atlanta's Variety Playhouse on June 22. Meanwhile, there's AthFest in Athens from June 20 through June 22 featuring The Bad Ends, Hallpass, Weiuca and many more. Built to Spill and Yo La Tengo perform at The Eastern in Atlanta on July 10.

And that’s followed by hip-hop legend Nas with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra at Synovus Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park on July 5 to celebrate the holiday weekend, and classic rock and country as the Outlaw Music Festival tour brings Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson to Alpharetta on July 25.

Flashback to the 1980s and 1990s

Georgia’s Gen Xers will rejoice as some of the biggest stars of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s are heading to stages in Atlanta and September’s Shaky Knees Festival brings Public Enemy and Lenny Kravitz back to town.

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https://www.variety-playhouse.com/events/detail/?event_id=874861

Credit: Sanjay Suchak

Shows by Dave Matthews Band, Toto, Styx, Counting Crows, Collective Soul, Rod Stewart and more will swing through the Ameris Bank Amphitheatre from June through August. Lost 80s Live hits the Atrium Health Amphitheatre in Macon on Aug. 10 while Toad the Wet Sprocket, KT Tunstall and Sixpence None the Richer play Atlanta Symphony Hall on Aug. 22, followed by Howard Jones and Haircut One Hundred there on Sept 3.

Scottish rock icons Simple Minds topped the Billboard charts 40 years ago with "Don’t You Forget About Me" and they’ll play Atlanta’s Chastain Park this Saturday night. Singer Jim Kerr says live performance is in the DNA of artists whose hit songs have expanded their longevity across decades — and they never forgot their love for one America’s best music hubs — Georgia! Read and listen to the GPB interview with Kerr here.

"This is what we wanted to do with our lives, get up and play, you know," Kerr told GPB. "Someone sent me an interview from the very first gig we did in 1978 in Glasgow, Jan. 17th. The little local What's On magazine sent along their cub reporter, but he said, 'What do you want — you know, fame and riches? I said, 'We want three things: We want to be in a great live band, we want to take it around the world. We want to get a life out of this.' I mean, we were only 18, 19 at the time. And here we are all these years later, still working on that challenge. Atlanta was always great to Simple Minds. We always look forward to it. We're guaranteed we'll give our very best."