City Fun | My Evening with Adult Swim on the Green

My husband and I are really lucky to live in a city that is home to unique events. One of our favorite annual events is put on by Adult Swim. This year the event is called Adult Swim on the Green Tour. It was previously called the Adult Swim Drive-in. The actual name of the event has changed, but the concept remains the same. The event includes screenings of new, unaired episodes and never before seen pilots. And it only costs $5.

THE EVENT

The husband and I are really big fans of Adult Swim. We watch reruns of American Dad and Family Guy. We also watch to catch goodies such as Tim & Eric’s Bedtime Stories, Rick and Morty, Robot Chicken, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Squidbillies. Most of the shows run later at night so we record them and catch up over the weekend. As with most late night television, it isn’t for those with a sophisticated viewing palate. Most of these shows are absolutely ridiculous. Have a couple of drinks and get comfy. They are going to make you laugh.

The Atlanta viewing party was at Piedmont Park on the Promenade. I had never been to the Promenade and did not realize how pretty it was! The Promenade is an area of the park that is right next to the Atlanta Botanical Garden. It is as the opposite end of the park from where the Midtown Music Festival is held.

In order to get there, we had to sit in traffic for about an hour. The doors to the event opened at 6:30. We wanted to get there early enough so we could dine from one of the delicious food trucks, so we sat in rush hour traffic. It was totally worth it.

WHEN WE ARRIVED

Once we entered the event, they put arm bands on our wrists and set us free. It was cute! It had characters from Adult Swim shows printed on it. Too bad that mine was put on a wee bit tight. After I was settled in for the show, I ripped mine off.

The Promenade was decorated for the event from top to bottom. It was actually very lovely. This is a shot of the front entrance. You can see people getting their tickets scanned on the left. Others are walking into the event under the Adult Swim sign.

There were banners around the parameter of the event, signaling to park-goers that this is where the event was taking place.

There were flags with lights around the parameter of the food trucks. This illuminated the path to junk food after it got dark.

WHAT WE BROUGHT

This was a picnic-style event. They had food trucks with various dinner options. Next to none of them were what I would consider healthy. For example, one food truck only sold cookies and ice cream. (They were delicious, by the way.) All patrons were welcome to bring their own food and drink, with the exception of anything in a glass container or alcohol.

I brought our Coleman outdoor chairs that have lovely little cup holders on the side. I also packed a blanket. I am so glad I did. The blanket was great for eating. You can see from the photo below that we had too much food in flimsy food truck to-go containers to hold in our laps. After the sun went down, the temperature dropped quite a bit. I was able to wrap up in the blanket to keep warm.

We picked up travel cups from the Quick Trip on our way in. The cups are disposable (not in a environmentally sustainable way). They also had lids! That meant fewer spills. …and I might have put a little vodka in my cup before entering the event. Shhhhh! Don’t tell!

We also brought bug spray, a bottle of water, and my camera. I packed everything in the black re-usable grocery bag. It had a handle and was easy to carry both in and out of the event.

THE EVENT

The event itself consisted of three mini events: trivia, an auction, and the viewing party. We arrived during the trivia event. Questions were displayed on a large LED screen. A phone number was provided for participants to text responses. I didn’t pay much attention to the trivia questions as I was preoccupied with the food trucks and all of their yummy offerings.

The second mini event was the As Seen on Adult Swim auction. The As Seen on Adult Swim is a live show that airs on AdultSwim.com on Wednesday nights at 8pm ET. It is a show hosted by Nick Gibbons. Nick auctions off random Adult Swim merchandise while wearing a ridiculous argyle sweater. This was quite a feat for this outdoor event as the temperature was nearly 90 degrees before the sun went down. The items auctioned are often limited edition. According to the website, “Once [these items] are gone, there won’t be anymore made. Ever. Probably.” The items up for grabs during this event felt more like gag gifts than collectibles.

The viewing party was the third mini event. It was kicked off at about 9pm. The park was dark. My belly was full. It was time to watch some animated shows! At the kick-off of the viewing party, voice actors of Squidbillies riffed for a few minutes. This included Mary Kraft, voice of Krystal and Dave Willis, voice of the narrator. Dan Harmon, co-creator of Ricky and Morty was also said to be on site.

We were treated to unaired episodes of 3 pilots, episodes of the new season of Ricky and Morty and Squibillies. it was great fun!

FUTURE EVENTS

Do you think this is something you might be interested in? You are in luck! This event is currently traveling the country. Here are the current tour dates as per the Adult Swim website.