TOMATO ART FEST CELEBRATES 15 YEARS AUGUST 10TH AND 11TH

 

"A Uniter, Not a Divider ...Bringing Together Fruits & Vegetables!"

The 15th annual Tomato Art Fest takes place on Friday August 10th and Saturday August 11th in historic East Nashville.  What once started as simply a Tomato themed art show at Art and Invention Gallery celebrates its 15th year as one of Nashville’s best festivals.

The Tomato Art Festival kicks off on Friday August 10th with an all New West Records line up to celebrate respective milestone years for both.  The 37206 Main Stage presented by Pickers Vodka includes Buxton, T. Hardy Morris & the Hard Knocks, and The Whigs — highlighting just a few of the amazing acts New West Records has worked with in its 20 years in Nashville.

On Saturday August 11th the 37206 Main Stage features Guthrie Brown, Katie Pruitt, Stoop Kids, Marquee Mayfield, Teddy & the Rough Riders plus many more (full line up).  Other stages include the Muddy Roots Stage, Cold Lunch Recordings Stage, Contest Stage, plus a Cooking Stage. For more information on additional artists performing at the festival you can visit tomatoartfest.com.

The festival and official kick-off concert are free to attend and welcoming to the public, uniting the community for a weekend of inspired art, wacky activities, great local music, creative vendors, unique kids activities, and favorite food trucks. For a full schedule of events, please visit tomatoartfest.com/scheduleofevents

True to the event's namesake, the art gets a big part of the tomato spotlight each year, where Art & Invention Gallery showcases over 300 tomato-inspired pieces throughout the weekend, beginning at the Tomato Art Preview Party at Art & Invention Friday August 11th from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm.  Tickets may be purchased at: https://www.tomatoartfest.com/art-preview-party/.

New this year the festival will feature a Bloody Mary Garden on Saturday August 11th from 11:00 am-1:30 pm in the heart of the festival.  This ticketed experience will include up to 15 bloody mary samples from local and national mixes all served with Nashville’s own Pickers Vodka.  Tickets may be purchased at: https://www.tomatoartfest.com/bloodymarygardenparty/.

About the Tomato Art Fest
Tomato Art Fest was founded by Meg and Bret MacFadyen, owners of East Nashville’s Art and Invention Gallery. In 2004, the gallery hosted an art show celebrating the tomato in late summer, and planned a few neighborhood events to promote the show. The Fest proved so popular that it immediately turned into an annual, signature event for the growing, hip, urban neighborhood of East Nashville.

A community builder, Tomato Art Fest has steadily drawn larger crowds with each year that passes. Last year, an estimated 60,000 came to celebrate this beloved fruit/vegetable and enjoy the day’s festivities. Touted in the Oxford American, and Southern Living, Tomato Art Fest was been voted “Best Festival” in the 2007-2017 in the Nashville Scene Reader’s Polls.

NATIVE FOR A CURE: Man & Woman of the Year Campaign for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

I am extremely honored to say that I am a candidate for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Man & Woman of the Year campaign. I really need your support in my efforts to help LLS in its mission to ensure access to cures and treatments for blood cancers.

I am competing with several other Man & Woman of the Year candidates in Nashville, and together we will each put our best fundraising foot forward in honor of two courageous children, Ramble and Hilda, our Boy & Girl of the Year.  

While childhood leukemia has the highest cure rate of any blood cancer, it is also still the number-one disease killer among children under the age of 20.  As I am now a mother, nothing is more precious to me than my son, and the thought of this happening in our lives scares me like crazy.  This needs to change, and I know that as we come together and partner with LLS we will find a cure, not someday, but today!  

Here is how you can be part of the cure…

My campaign to be the Woman of the Year is all about dollars raised and I am asking you today to join me in this ambitious campaign. I have until Friday May 4th to reach my goal of raising $50,000.  This goal may sound like a whole lot of money, but I believe that anything is possible, and together we could make a huge impact in helping to find the cures that we need.  If my team reaches this goal I will have the ability to name a research portfolio in my dear friend from high school, Phillip Robertson’s name, who passed away of Leukemia a few years ago. 

Phillip and I were in the same kindergarten class and went to school again together in high school.  He was always the life of the party, the person you could always count on to make you laugh.  He was the best person really. There aren't enough good things I can say. When I found out that Phillip passed away of cancer I was in complete shock.  The first reason I was in complete shock was because I, along with most people other than his very best friends, wife, family and doctors, had no idea because Phillip never wanted anyone to feel sorry for him or treat him differently.  Secondly, he was SO young.  How could this happen to such a young, healthy person?  Cancer definitely doesn't discriminate. 

Your donation will prevent someone from losing a child, sibling, parent or loved one, and allow LLS to continue funding lifesaving research.  Learn more about LLS at LLS.org and its mission.  

Ways you can help!!

• A donation made through my link or by check. Tax deductible contribution. LINK: HERE   All donations for the campaign need to be made through this link or a check/cash picked up by me with "Amber Ford" in the memo line.  Charitable contribution receipt will be provided on contact. You can also send money to my Venmo account @ambi_bambi and I will put it into the fundraiser site for you and send you the confirmation.  Just put "LLS DONATION".
• Purchase tickets or a table and  attend one of our amazing events . HERE

We also have our Grand Finale Gala that will be a very fun and fancy event, with dinner, drinks and an AMAZING silent auction!! It will be held May 4, 2018 at Marathon Music Works.

• Buy a Fundraiser shirt! $15 of every shirt sale has been donated to my team's campaign , helping me to donate over $1500 in the first week of selling them!  Click HERE to order.

• Sponsor an event through a program ad advertisement for the business in an event program, to be seen by all attendees. You can also become a major sponsor if you are looking for those opportunities. Ads for the events can be seen at this LINK. Click the “BECOME A SPONSOR” button and select “Program Book Ads” . 

• Gift cards or other unique auction items for the fundraising giveaways I’m doing on social media. Looking for silent auction items for the two big events. Let me know if this interests you and we can coordinate on a way to make this fun.  I am THRILLED at all of the auction items I have so generously been given so far!!  I will be updating this page  acknowledging all of the sponsors so far!!

• Point of Sale Donations for your customers – we can provide you with a branded donation box or barcoded “Blood Drop” branded papers for customers to purchase and write their name on. This is a great way to raise money and make your customers aware of your philanthropic endeavors.

I want to thank you in advance for your generous support of myself and Team "Native in Nashville" and for being a hero!

XO,

Amber