9 essential Atlanta arts events this weekend

Each week, ArtsATL curates a selection of the most exciting arts and culture events happening in Atlanta this weekend, highlighting nine must-see experiences. 

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Thursday

Tank Stranger

True Colors Theatre Company’s world premiere by Pulitzer-winning playwright James Ijames is at the Southwest Arts Center, with previews beginning on September 15, opening night on September 18 and continuing through October 4 

Béla Fleck

Georgia State’s Rialto Center for the Arts’ 30th season opens with the world’s premier banjo player, Béla Fleck, on September 17, marking his sixth performance at Rialto since 1996. Read ArtsATL’s interview with Fleck.

Friday

Nu Africans

Hammonds House Museum’s new exhibition features artworks that consider the notion that Africans of the Diaspora, through the circumstances of bondage and oppression, have evolved into their own tribe, complete with cultural practices and their own language. Artist Maurice Evans’ work draws on legendary warriors and queens from the African continent, with each woman costumed by Grace Kisa and photographed by Evans in two looks: warrior and queen. The show opens on September 18 and runs through December 13.

Forward Warrior

The annual celebration of street art is back in Cabbagetown, with live painting events and a street festival from September 18 through September 20. New artists for this year’s event include Danae Antoine, Emily Cadena, Monk Panda, Skape and Jesus Valdivia.

Atlanta Ballet: Passion and Pride

Atlanta Ballet’s season opens September 18 through September 20 at the Cobb Energy Centre with a mixed-rep program featuring a reprise of Remi Wörtmeyer’s Significant Others, with its bold, geometric set and costume designs, and Plagued Houses, a world premiere by Melissa Hough, inspired by Romeo and Juliet and set to Tchaikovsky. The closer will be Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes, set to John Philip Sousa’s marches. Expect baton twirling, military precision, dazzling technique and lots of red, white and blue.

Fences

August Wilson’s award-winning classic about the American dream is the first production on the schedule for Theatrical Outfit’s 50^th season. Previews begin on September 16, with opening night on September 18. Performances continue through October 4.

Becoming

Spalding Nix Fine Art presents exhibitions by Khalilah Birdsong, Gretchen Wagner, Mary Robinson and Angela Carter. The artists explore transformation and how all that surrounds us informs, changes and shapes what we become. The show opens with receptions from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. September 18 and from noon until 4 p.m. on September 19. The show will be on view through November 13.

Saturday

Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre: Out of the Box IV

The company launches its 10th anniversary season with Out of the Box IV on September 19, September 20, September 26 and September 27 at the Tula Arts Center in Buckhead. The 10 dancers will perform multiple pieces: A Mi Lado, a neoclassical work from Chicago-based choreographer Stephanie Martinez; Confronting Genius, co-founder Heath Gill’s humorous choreography last seen at the company’s Atlanta Botanical Garden concert in 2023; and Tiny Universe, co-founder Tara Lee’s 2025 ballet. Terminus has weathered many lows and highs since its founding in 2016 and is now well-established with much to celebrate.

Sunday

Les Liaisons Dangereuses (A Guillotine Play)

Blending elements of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 1782 novel with real French history, this is a harrowing portrait of gendered violence and the cost of a revolution without mercy. Belle Esprit’s production is at the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern on September 20 and September 21.

More things to do this weekend and beyond

The Shaky Knees Music Festival returns to Piedmont Park from September 18 through September 20 with headliners The Strokes, Gorillaz and Twenty One Pilots, along with LCD Soundsystem, Fontaines D.C., Turnstile, Wu-Tang Clan, Geese and many more … The third annual Law Rocks Atlanta is a battle of the bands that raises money for music education for underprivileged youth and for other local nonprofits by combining the power of music and the generosity of the legal community. Four bands, all made up of local legal professionals, will perform at the Loft on September 17 … The Atlanta Beltline Lantern Parade will return on September 19. Last year’s was canceled due to stormy weather. This year, organizers are back with an expanded route along the Southwest Trail at dusk, featuring lanterns, marching bands, giant puppets and community performances.