This historic textile town less than an hour’s drive southwest of the world’s busiest airport in Atlanta sets a lower key pitch-perfect tone for travelers in search of a culture with hometown vibes and Southern hospitality.
Listen up!
The first thing to do when planning a music and arts-themed trip to LaGrange is check the calendar at Pure Life House of Music to see if any shows are scheduled. Better yet, plan a visit around a show. This intimate venue tucked away on a tree-lined street in the resurgent Hillside neighborhood serves as LaGrange’s de facto living room. Seeing a show at Pure Life immerses the listener into the ultimate house concert experience, one where it feels like you’re at a friend’s place if your friend’s place comfortably seats 130 people indoors. It’s a unique space for a small city where touring singer-songwriters perform in a listening room environment akin to Nashville’s renowned Bluebird Cafe. Even if you’ve never heard of the names on the bill, go, and feel like family while there, interacting with fellow audience members and the musicians entertaining you.
Pure Life is brown-bag approved for adult beverages, so grab some locally-brewed beer at Beacon Brewery Co. just up the street. Beacon also has a restaurant with an Asian-inspired menu full of Southern-infused flavors and offers free live music on the weekends.
Theatergoers rejoice
LaGrange has lovers of live theater covered, too. LaGrange College — the oldest private college in the state — is home to state-of-the-art production facilities, including the 280-seat main performance space at Price Theater. Open to the public for performances year-round, cast and crew for all productions are students from the college’s acclaimed Theatre Arts program.
Downtown, the Black Box Theatre serves as the main stage of the Lafayette Society for the Performing Arts (LSPA). The Black Box presents classic and contemporary plays by the society’s Lafayette Theatre Academy and Lafayette Theatre Company. Like Pure Life, it’s an intimate space where patrons feel like they’re immersed in the show, whether it’s laughing out loud at a comedy, singing along with a musical, or shedding a tear at the drama unfolding onstage.
More music, more spirits, more art
A block south of the Black Box Theatre, Wild Leap Brew Co. has a large courtyard area with a dedicated concert stage. The courtyard has become a community space since Wild Leap’s opening in 2017, home to many events, food vendors and lots of live music. You never know what you’ll encounter at Wild Leap so check their socials to find out the latest. The tasting room at the beautifully restored art deco building is so large that outdoor shows can move inside during times of inclement weather.
For visual arts, two don’t-miss museums are the LaGrange Art Museum showcasing local and international artists in a Victorian-era mansion off Lafayette Square downtown, and the Lamar Dodd Art Center on campus at LaGrange College. The Dodd Center — named after the highly influential Georgia-born artist who attended the college — is an impressive modern facility with three floors of gallery space.
The sweetness of Sweetland
Each year locals and visitors alike look forward to the lineup announcement for outdoor concert season at Sweetland Amphitheatre. And for good reason. Named after LaGrange’s cherished annual Sweet Land of Liberty Parade that begins at Boyd Park each Fourth of July, Sweetland brings top-tier national acts to its 2,500-capacity amphitheater, making it another venue worthy of planning a trip around.
A short list of big-name acts who have graced Sweetland’s stage since it opened in 2016 includes hitmakers such as Willie Nelson, ZZ Top, the Temptations, Flo Rida, B-52s, Amy Grant, and Wynonna Judd.
Set on a hillside with a tree-lined view of the sunset, Sweetland is within easy walking distance to downtown’s shops, restaurants and hotels. If Pure Life is LaGrange’s living room, Sweetland serves as its front porch with a giant welcoming yard.
Come and bask in the glow of a place that has earned its nickname as “The Greatest Little City.”
