When Drew French founded Your Pie, his mission was simple: Do every small thing with passion and greatness. That’s why, for years, French had always dreamed about giving back to a community that had supported and embraced his brand from the very beginning—Athens, Georgia. Now, that dream is finally coming to fruition. On August 20th, the first-ever Your Fest will make its debut in the Athens community, and it’s an event created to celebrate what Your Pie is all about: a place where people, communities, great beer, great pizza and the arts come together for one amazing, unforgettable experience. 

“I’ve been wanting to have an event like Your Fest for a very long time. I wanted it to highlight the true core of Your Pie—and that’s community. It creates an entirely new—and much more personal—way for us to connect with everyone that has supported our brand from the moment we first opened our doors,” French said. “But most importantly, it gives us a chance to truly thank our community by giving back in a very meaningful way.” 

French is referring to Your Fest’s tagline: “To End Childhood Hunger.” A lot of kids in his community struggle with food insecurity during the summer months when school lunches aren’t available—and French wanted to harness the power of the Your Pie Family to do something about it. For the inaugural Your Fest, French has partnered with Action Ministries’ Smart Lunch, Smart Kids. Nearly one million children in Georgia schools are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch—a crucial meal that disappears in the summer. Smart Lunch, Smart Kid ensures that these children are fed during school breaks. A portion of proceeds from Your Fest will go to next year’s programs so that they can continue providing meals to as many children as possible. For every one of Your Pie’s Peach Prosciutto Pies that’s sold, they’ll also donate one pizza back to the charity. 

“During the summer months, thousands of kids lose they only meal they can count on. We wanted to team up with a charity that has always made a difference in these kids’ lives and help supplement those meals during this time of year,” French said. “By bringing hundreds of people together for Your Fest, we’re also helping to raise awareness and get more people involved.”

Pizza, craft beer and live music are also at the core of Your Fest. In addition to the sounds of local bands, like headliner Wrenn, and tastes of local brews, 11 chefs from some of Athens’ best restaurants, including Peter Dale of The National, Seabear and Condor Chocolates; Gena Knox of Fire and Flavor; and Charlie Mustard of Jittery Joe’s will be whipping up their own pizza concoctions in a craft pie cook-off. Your Pie will donate $2,000 to the winning chef’s charity of choice.    

French hopes to use the first Your Fest as a launching point, and eventually, his plan is to not only make it an annual event, but to extend it into every other Your Pie community as well.

“All of our Your Pie restaurants are super local and very much involved in their communities. We want to continue to grow Your Fest every single year, with the hope that as it becomes bigger, we’ll make a bigger impact and raise more awareness for our cause,” French said. “Childhood hunger will continue to be Your Pie’s mission in each of our communities.” 

Tickets for Your Fest cost anywhere from $15 to $75, and the event will take place on Saturday, August 20 from 1 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at the Terrapin Beer Co., in Athens Georgia.