A Local’s Guide to Shaky Knees

This year’s festival season has been a whirlwind of adventure. I started the season by venturing south to Resonate down at Suwannee, then experienced the chaos and heartbreak of Bonnaroo, then ventured to new territory with the Capitol Groove and King Gizzard’s inaugural Field of Vision, and finally will close out the year with the one and only Shaky Knees. The Atlanta rock festival has evolved over the years, starting as a smaller spring festival that took place in the old Masquerade Music Park (RIP) and now morphing into a fall festival in the iconic Piedmont Park where Music Midtown (RIP) used to take place. Tickets have been flying out the door with the booking of My Chemical Romance, to no one’s surprise, with Saturday sold out.

With the location change for Shaky Knees this year to Piedmont Park, I want to share some knowledge from my experience attending events in this park. I spent all of my 20s going to Music Midtown annually, knowing that one day all of that partying would come in handy somehow, some way. Check out my tips below.

1. Two food vendors at Shaky Knees are must-tries in my opinion: Island Noodles and Roti Rolls. Island Noodles is a festival staple, serving wok-fried noodles for over a decade all along the East Coast and beyond. They serve the noodles in a Chinese takeout to-go box where the lid can fold down, allowing you to save the noodles for later without a mess in your bag. I’ve spent many a late night in the middle of June munching on leftover Island Noodles while in the pit at some festival. It’s a parlor trick not enough people do. Roti Rolls has one of the best bites you will take in your life, the Thurman Murman. The vendor started as a food truck in Charleston, where they have won the city’s annual Best Food Truck Award. They serve taco-like entrees made using roti bread. Make sure you add an egg to your order.
2. If you are balling on a budget, there are some clutch options for food right next to Piedmont Park. Woody’s Cheesesteak is a 5-minute walk from the park, offering a cheesesteak for $10. Woody’s is an Atlanta staple that has been serving cheesesteaks for decades. They are open late, so consider it as an option for after the festival is over each night. Make sure you ask for Woody’s sauce on the side. A block down the street from Woody’s is the Midtown Promenade shopping plaza with a Mellow Mushroom Pizza, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, and even a walk-up ice cream stand.
3. There is parking behind the Midtown Promenade shopping plaza, which offers two hours of free parking usually. More than likely, this parking lot will be used as event parking for the festival. Other parking lots around the park will also become event parking for the weekend. Usually, these lots will charge a flat rate of $20 to $30 per day if not more. If you are looking to save on parking, there is free parking available at some MARTA stations around the city. There are two MARTA train stations that are within walking distance of Piedmont Park, with a round-trip fare costing about $5.
4. If you are looking for more of a bar or club scene around the park, check out the Atlanta Pride Crosswalk at the intersection of Piedmont Avenue and 10th Street. This area will be popping off after the festival each night with people pouring out into the streets from the bars. From this intersection, if you go further west and north, you will end up in the heart of Atlanta’s Midtown.
5. The Atlanta Beltline, a huge urban walking path, connects to Piedmont Park. It runs next to the Midtown Promenade and continues south. This section of the Beltline is filled with breweries, bars, restaurants, and parks. About a mile down the Beltline from the park is Ponce City Market, a giant indoor food hall and shopping center. If you venture even further south on the Beltline, you will eventually hit the Krog District, another area loaded with bars and restaurants. There should be plenty of electric scooters for rent near Piedmont Park, so you can make your way down the Beltline with ease.
6. Make time to explore the entire park. The festival only takes up the south end of the park. The north end has the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, which would make a great stop early in the day before heading into the festival. Additionally, there are lots of walking trails all throughout the park to explore.
7. If you are looking for cool places around the city to explore while you are in Atlanta, check out East Atlanta Village, Little Five Points, Oakland Cemetery, Centennial Olympic Park, which has the aquarium and World of Coke, Atlantic Station, and The Works, which is an industrial complex turned into a bar district on the upper west side of town.

I hope you found some of the above tips useful for your trip to Atlanta for Shaky Knees! Looking forward to another amazing festival weekend in Atlanta. See y’all in the pit.