Cherokee County Art and Jazz Festival comes to Canton

photo courtesy Marc Dutton Over 30 artists bring their creations, both edible and decorative, to sell at booths, and the local band Greenhouse Gases plays enticing jazz music at the Cherokee County Art and Jazz festival.

The Cherokee County Art and Jazz Festival is a brand new event that is focused solely on celebrating Cherokee County’s handmade art as well as its classic jazz music. Despite this being the festival’s first year, the planning group, which consists of just two people, took only six months instead of the usual 12 months needed to plan their regular art themed event or festival. Over 20 artists went to the event to sell their homemade creations, and the Greenhouse Gases played throughout the festival.

“We feel there is a saturation of generic festivals that all look the same, so we decided something that was more niche and focused on fine art and jazz which fills a void here in Cherokee County… adding jazz to the mix gave this festival its own unique identity,” Mr. Gary Lamb said.

Lamb, the owner of Black Sheep Promotions, and Jamie Foster, the owner of Menagerie, work together to plan almost 50 art themed events and festivals every year throughout Georgia. This festival was created with a concentration on the art and jazz that Cherokee County rarely gets the chance to advertise. The Cherokee County Arts and Jazz Festival is different from others because it allows artists as well as jazz-lovers to spend time with each other.

“The artists are curated, the music is Jazz focused, it is geared more towards adults. It is an elevated event for those who are tired of cookie cutter festivals,” Lamb said.

Some festivals are broad with their main focus, the Cherokee County Art and Jazz festival has a main focus on jazz, a lively yet complex type of music. A band played live jazz music throughout the duration of the festival.

“Every year the goal is to get bigger, draw more people while also keeping the uniqueness of what makes the event special,” Lamb said. “We think this can grow into what we call ‘Legacy Events’ that can draw people from all over the region for the event.” 

Like this festival, the goal of these many events is not just to make money, but also to bring people together who can share their love for something. They strive to keep consistency throughout each event, while also giving each event its own special twist that makes it different from the rest.

“We love creating community,” Lamb said. “We love gathering people together. We love creating a place where artists can shine.”