History of the Atlanta Dogwood Festival

Every April, Atlantans enjoy the blooming of our dogwood trees and the Atlanta Dogwood Festival that celebrates them. Walter Rich, member of the family that founded Rich’s department store, started the first festival in 1936 to make our city famous and lift spirits during the tough times of the Depression. That first festival featured parades, carnivals and performances by the Philadelphia Symphony and the Metropolitan Opera.

A few years later, the festival was discontinued in 1941 for WWII. It was revived in 1964 by the Women’s Chamber of Commerce of Atlanta and is held in early April in Piedmont Park.

– Jan Schroder, The 100 Companies