Alpharetta’s Wire & Wood Festival Announces ‘80s Flashbacks and Celtic Fire Coming to Downtown

If you’ve ever wanted to hear “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” live while drinking a craft cocktail on a walkable, small-town sidewalk—you’re in luck. The Wire & Wood Songwriters Festival is coming back for its twelfth run in Downtown Alpharetta, and this year, it’s playing to nostalgia and novelty.

Running October 10–11, the free two-day fest (my favorite in the state) will scatter six stages across the city center with over 30 artists. And – just announced – it will be headlined by two acts that might make you do a double take: Wang Chung and Gaelic Storm.

Yes, that Wang Chung. The ‘80s pop duo behind “Dance Hall Days” and the single most enthusiastic command to have fun ever recorded is headlining Friday night. High-gloss hooks, a little synth, and a surprising amount of emotional range under all the neon. They’ve still got it—and yes, there will be people dancing in the street, shoulder pads or not.

Saturday swings in a wildly different direction, with Gaelic Storm—an Irish-American band that first gained mass exposure playing the steerage party scene in Titanic. They’ve been riding that wave (sorry) for two decades now, blending Celtic roots with rock, folk, and Americana energy that feels more like a pub brawl turned dance party. Their new lineup, including Natalya Kay on fiddle and Parker Hastings on guitar, brings a younger edge to a band that already knows how to work a crowd.

But this isn’t just about big-name acts. Wire & Wood is one of the rare local festivals that puts songwriting front and center—not just performance. You’ll find artists telling stories between songs, testing out new material, or reworking old hits in stripped-down sets that feel more like conversations than concerts. It’s equal parts showcase and sidewalk discovery.

The real trick, though, is what this festival does to Downtown Alpharetta. Streets close, shops stay open late, strangers swap music tips in line for tacos. For a town known more for its tech corridor and well-manicured cul-de-sacs, Wire & Wood shakes off the corporate glaze and gets a little scrappy—just for a weekend.

You could make it a day trip, but with 30 hotels nearby and more than 200 restaurants in walking distance, the city’s clearly hoping you’ll stay a little longer. And if you haven’t been to Alpharetta lately, it’s not the same buttoned-up suburb it was ten years ago. There’s a whiskey bar with live blues, a record shop that doubles as a listening room, and enough indie boutiques to justify a break between sets.

So no, it’s not Bonnaroo. It’s better in some ways: clean bathrooms, free admission, a lineup that isn’t afraid to veer from indie-folk to Irish fiddle-core, and a crowd that’s here for the music, not the merch table. You don’t even need a wristband—just decent shoes, an open mind, and maybe a Spotify refresh on your ’80s and Celtic playlists.