Best Free Thing to Do in Atlanta

From Craig Robinson playing TV jingles, Rory Scovel improvising for a full hour, and ’90s music sing-a-longs, to a truly wild mix of traditional and experimental stand-up every Saturday night/Sunday, the 1AM Secret Show is one of a kind. David Perdue and Anthony Driver helm the free, rambunctious late late show for those weekend warriors who aren’t ready to call it quits. You never know what you’re going to get, but the 1AMSS always makes sure it?s something to talk about. less...

Every couple months, men, women, and children reclaim the streets with bicycles, in-line skates, unicycles, or just their feet, and enjoy the freedom of the open road without any cars during ATLANTA STREETS ALIVE. A brainchild of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, visitors bike, skate, sprint, dance, skip, spin, hula-hoop, cartwheel, lag, or move in any shape, way, or form they please for exercise or just to reconnect with their communities. Businesses set up things like hula-hoop contests or field day events; restaurants adorn the streets with outdoor seating areas. The April event showed how easy it is to get around the city when you don’t have steel beasts breathing down your neck. With a vibrantly colored sea of bodies, helmets, high-fives, and bouncy music, the event celebrated cultures — free of traffic and free of price. www.atlantastreetsalive.com. less...

In a few short years, the ATLANTA BELTLINE LANTERN PARADE went from a small idea by local artist Chantelle Rytter to the city’s brightest and most beautiful gathering of residents. On one evening in September, artists cobble together 20-foot-tall illuminated skeletons and children piece together makeshift glowing boxes. The crowd lines up, starts to walk, and takes ownership of the Eastside Trail for roughly two miles. Atlantans and visitors, along with some teens on hallucinogens, stand alongside or post up on porches and take in the parade that proceeds to the soundtrack of the Seed and Feed Marching Abominable. In a city that tends to overplan and commercialize its events, the lantern parade is a nice reprieve. www.atlantabeltline.org. less...