The festival got off to a rainy start last weekend but the rain did not stop the fun. This was the 10th year that the festival brought live music and a good time to the neighborhood park. Candler Park Music and Food Festivalnot only brought good tunes but good vibes too as a portion of the proceeds of the festival go to The City of Atlanta Parks, Atlanta ContactPoint, and the Candler Park neighborhood organization.
Rain welcomed the festival on Friday. Severe storms delayed the gate opening by 2 ½ hours, which was unfortunate for the two first bands opening up the festival, as their time slots were lost. Thankfully though after the wet start the rain held off and tunes could continue.
Terrapin Beer Co.’s Battle of the Bands winner, Grand, were not able to perform due to the rain. And I was very sad that Atlanta’s own Larkin Poe were rained out as well. The rain and bad weather did not stop fest goers from coming out though.
When the gates did finally open, the people flooded in with a solid crowd ready to get down. Keller Williams and the Hillbenders opened up the festival playing their PettyGrass. PettyGrass is a special homage to Tom Petty, one of Keller Williams’ musical icons. Keller Williams and The Hillbenders played Tom Petty songs as bluegrass and it worked pretty well. It was great to be able to catch this special show from Keller Williams. The crowd loved it too. It became a super fun sing a long with everyone in the crowd belting out Tom Petty songs. During the PettyGrass set Keller pointed out a double rainbow behind the crowd. It was a pretty special moment and a bit of a cherry on the top of the sweet show.
Lettuce closed out Friday night with a funky set. The super group from Boston made up of very talented jazz musicians kept the music going and the crowd dancing. Overall Candler Park is a solid little festival. There are solid named bands playing, it is not an overwhelming venue, and the event crew were all so friendly despite the delays and confusion over the rain. They were able to pull off a nice first day of the festival. ~ Christina Pradhan
Check out Christina Pradhan’s photos from Day 1 of the 2018 Candler Park Music and Food Festival:
Rain welcomed the festival on Friday. Severe storms delayed the gate opening by 2 ½ hours, which was unfortunate for the two first bands opening up the festival, as their time slots were lost. Thankfully though after the wet start the rain held off and tunes could continue. 
Terrapin Beer Co.’s Battle of the Bands winner, Grand, were not able to perform due to the rain. And I was very sad that Atlanta’s own Larkin Poe were rained out as well. The rain and bad weather did not stop fest goers from coming out though. 
When the gates did finally open, the people flooded in with a solid crowd ready to get down. Keller Williams and the Hillbenders opened up the festival playing their PettyGrass. PettyGrass is a special homage to Tom Petty, one of Keller Williams’ musical icons. Keller Williams and The Hillbenders played Tom Petty songs as bluegrass and it worked pretty well. It was great to be able to catch this special show from Keller Williams. The crowd loved it too. It became a super fun sing a long with everyone in the crowd belting out Tom Petty songs. During the PettyGrass set Keller pointed out a double rainbow behind the crowd. It was a pretty special moment and a bit of a cherry on the top of the sweet show. 
Lettuce closed out Friday night with a funky set. The super group from Boston made up of very talented jazz musicians kept the music going and the crowd dancing. Overall Candler Park is a solid little festival. There are solid named bands playing, it is not an overwhelming venue, and the event crew were all so friendly despite the delays and confusion over the rain. They were able to pull off a nice first day of the festival. ~ Christina Pradhan
