The Atlanta Design Festival is proud to announce its 2024 dates, running from September 28th to October 6th. This year’s festival will celebrate design and emphasize Atlanta’s significant contribution to the global design economy. Inspired by insights from the recent Atlanta Design Economy Report, the festival will underscore how design drives economic growth and innovation.

Highlights include the Creative Futures Conference featuring global design leaders, the MA! Architecture Tours, the inaugural Atlanta Art Fair, engaging film screenings, and the return of DesignStation for exhibitions and interactive experiences.

Returning for its second year, DesignStation will foster public dialogue on design. This year’s festival underscores Atlanta’s status as a creative powerhouse, inviting everyone to engage and contribute to its vibrant cultural landscape.

Creative Futures Conference: Scheduled for September 28, 2024, the Creative Futures Conference will convene leading thinkers in design, architecture, and technology. This year’s theme, “Now That You Know, What Will You Do?” will challenge attendees to harness the power of human-centered design in addressing global issues.

The conference will begin with the Design is Human Awards on the evening of September 27, honoring exemplary contributions to the design community. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from industry leaders, including John Ferguson from Work & Co, who will discuss digital design for the Obama Foundation. Other highlights include presentations on experiential design, a talk by Morris Adjmi FAIA, the designer of the FORTH Hotel & Social Club, and discussions on the urban planning impacts of the 2026 World Cup in Atlanta.

The conference will also present international perspectives, such as Tabea Fahr, an architect from Zurich, sharing her research on Vine City, and a session on reshaping Atlanta’s Westside led by Taylor Coles and Professor Ingeborg Rocker from GA Tech.

MA! Architecture Tours: Now in its 17th year, the MA! Architecture Tours provides exclusive access to Atlanta’s premier modern residential and commercial design projects. These tours will showcase the latest in sustainable materials, architectural systems, and interior design. Over the past few years, the projects selected for the tours have been refined to highlight the very best in modern architecture, honoring the original vision of festival founder Bernard McCoy. McCoy aimed to spotlight exceptional modern designs in the traditionally conservative architectural landscape of Georgia. MA! only features projects that truly push the boundaries of innovation and excellence.

Atlanta Art Fair: Launching in October 2024, the inaugural Atlanta Art Fair will coincide with the third edition of Atlanta Art Week. This fair is set to become a significant cultural event, featuring over 50 galleries from Atlanta and the South. Organized by Art Market Productions (AMP) and Intersect Art and Design, the fair will be held at Pullman Yards, a redeveloped industrial complex in east Atlanta. The Atlanta Art Fair aims to establish a centralized gathering place for the arts, reflecting Atlanta’s growing status as a major art destination in the US​​.

DesignStation: Returning for its second year after a successful launch in 2023, DesignStation will serve as a nexus for innovation, creativity, and public dialogue, hosted in one or more locations across Atlanta. This dynamic space houses design stories and facilitates engagement with the latest in design thinking and practice.

Festival Mission: The Atlanta Design Festival is a pivotal platform that celebrates, convenes, and connects Atlanta’s creative industries. Over the week-long event, the festival invites leading creative minds and organizations from Atlanta and around the world to host installations, exhibitions, design and architecture tours, film screenings, and conference panels.

This year, the festival will emphasize the findings of the Atlanta Design Economy Report, which highlights the economic significance of the design sector in Atlanta:

Economic Impact: Atlanta’s designers contributed $39.5 billion to the city’s GDP in 2021, representing 8.3% of the total GDP.

Employment: Design occupations employ 111,800 people in Atlanta, accounting for 4.1% of the workforce, a higher proportion than in New York and above the national average.

Growth and Productivity: Between 2012 and 2021, GDP generated by Atlanta’s designers rose by 68%, with designers being twice as productive as the average worker in Atlanta.

By showcasing Atlanta as a global powerhouse of design, the festival highlights the integral role of design in economic growth and innovation. It invites audiences to engage, experience, and contribute to the enrichment of Atlanta’s cultural and creative landscape.

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