We Make Festival 2026

Chattanooga’s We Make multi-day event culminates with an awesome free, public art event for the city!

The main event takes place Saturday, May 9th in Miller Park with a free, family friendly festival complete with international food, student art exhibits, activities and art cars from 11am to 3pm. Attendees can also expect live entertainment plus a variety of art cars from fun to fabulous lined up around the park for everyone to enjoy. Student art car entries will vie for the Golden Gnome Award courtesy of Rock City with a $500 cash prize. This is the perfect family friendly event to treat Mom with some great food, artwork, and fun. Be sure to vote for your favorite student art car too!

T his event is free to the public but please RSVP so our International food vendors have enough great food to go around!

These creative automobiles, known as art cars can range from a painted hippy van, to an ambulance transformed into a giant red wagon, or anything in between. Art 120 created this event as a way to reach schools that did not have art so children would have opportunities to express themselves and engage their creativity. Since they started this program in 2011, Art 120 has provided art programming to over 30,000 Hamilton County Schoolchildren.

Organized by local arts non-profit Art 120, We Make evolved from their Scenic City Art Car Weekend and organizing The Nation of Makers Conference who selected Chattanooga as the host city in 2019.

According to executive director Kate Warren, “Art 120 strives to make art accessible, engaging, and easy for our community to get involved. It was only natural that the name of our signature event would change to reflect this intention.”

To stay up to date with the We Make schedule, follow Art 120 on Facebook @art120, and on Instagram @art120chatt.

Special thanks to our Partners: The City of Chattanooga, Reagan Outdoor, WTCI, Rock City, and Culture Chatt.

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Host or Publisher Art 120