North Georgia tree lightings and light shows 2026: dates, and which to pair

Tree lightings are one-night events, mostly on a Friday or Saturday evening. Light shows run for weeks. Most people want one of each, and the trick is matching them by place and night. Every date and time below comes from the organizer, a city calendar or a chamber listing, checked on October 19, 2026. Where an organizer had not posted a 2026 date, we list the event at the end instead of guessing.

Tree lightings, by date

November 18 to 21: the early lightings

Canton goes first, on Wednesday, November 18. The City of Canton calendar lists a Holiday Tree Lighting and Drone Show in downtown Canton from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Flowery Branch follows on Friday, November 20, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on the city calendar. Its evening starts with the annual lantern parade down Main Street and ends with the lighting of the community Christmas tree.

Saturday, November 21 is crowded. Cumming lights the giant tree at City Center from 6 to 7 p.m., with a holiday concert, after the City Center Winter/Holiday Market. That market is in its fifth year and lists more than 100 local vendors, Santa photos, live holiday music and a kids’ zone. Dawsonville lights its tree at City Hall at 6 p.m. the same night, two hours after its Christmas parade. Gainesville holds Jingle Mingle on the downtown square from 4 to 8 p.m., with the Lighting of the Chicken in Roosevelt Square. Ball Ground lists Light up the Night from 6 to 8 p.m., and the city calls its schedule tentative.

Thanksgiving weekend: Dahlonega, Helen, Ball Ground, Blue Ridge and Canton

The day after Thanksgiving, Friday, November 27, brings two mountain lightings. Dahlonega’s Lighting of the Square runs from 3 to 8 p.m. and opens the Old Fashioned Christmas season. The organizers list carolers, hot cocoa and a visit from Santa Claus. In Helen, the Annual Lighting of the Village runs from 5 to 7 p.m. at Riverside Park. Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive as the village lights come on, local groups perform beforehand, and children can meet Santa.

• Dahlonega's Old-Fashioned Christmas is a month-long celebration that starts the day after Thanksgiving with a Lighting of the Square. Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Chamber & Visitors Bureau

On Saturday, November 28, Ball Ground holds its Hometown Tree Lighting at the Garden from 6 to 8 p.m., again on a schedule the city calls tentative. Blue Ridge lights the Great Tree the same day as its Christmas parade. For the rest of the Blue Ridge season, see Christmas in Blue Ridge. In Canton, The Mill on Etowah holds Christmas at The Mill on November 27 and 28, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with ice skating, Santa, live music and its annual Christmas tree lighting.

December 4 to 12: Roswell, Suwanee, Gainesville and Vogel

Friday, December 4 has two north metro lightings. Roswell’s Annual Lighting of the Christmas Tree is from 6 to 8 p.m. at Heart of Roswell Park. The city lists choral performances, hot chocolate, fire pits with s’mores and a visit from Santa, and the evening ends with the lighting of a 40-foot tree. It is free. Suwanee’s Jolly Holly Day is the same evening, from 6 to 9 p.m. The city calendar gives only the date and hours, so check the city for the program and location.

On Sunday, December 6, Gainesville lights the Rotary Tree at the end of Christmas on Green Street, at about 5:45 p.m. or when the parade finishes. The last lighting on our list is at Vogel State Park near Blairsville on Saturday, December 12, from 4 to 7 p.m. Hayrides begin at 4, and the chamber lists hot chocolate, cider, cookies, children’s crafts and bonfires. Visitors are asked to bring an unwrapped gift for a child 12 or under for the Union County Sheriff’s Department toy drive, and no parking fees are charged for the event.

The light shows that run for weeks

Gainesville Glows: Lanterns and Lights is back at the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Gainesville site for a second year. It is open on select nights from November 19 to January 3, from 5 to 10 p.m. Explore Gainesville lists luminarias, lighted woodland animals, a light tunnel, a model train, interactive candy canes and s’mores pits. Because it runs on select nights, check the garden’s calendar for your date before you go.

• Gainesville Glows: Lanterns and Lights runs on select nights from mid-November into early January at the Atlanta Botanical Garden's Gainesville Garden. Atlanta Botanical Garden
• The Atlanta Botanical Garden's Gainesville Garden is at 1911 Sweetbay Drive. Atlanta Botanical Garden

Magical Nights of Lights at Lanier Islands Resort in Buford is a drive-through show, open daily from November 20 to January 3, from 5 to 10 p.m. You see the animated displays from your car. Tickets are priced per vehicle and are sold in advance or at the gate. One caution: when we checked, an FAQ on the same resort page still showed old dates, so we use the dates in the page’s main text.

Mountain Country Christmas in Lights is a walk-through show at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds in Hiawassee. It is open from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from November 26 to December 12, then every night from December 17 to 24, and it is closed Christmas Day. Christmas Eve and December 26 to 31 are drive-through only, at $25 per car. Walk-through admission is $12 per person, and children 12 and under get in free. The fairgrounds list Christmas music, crafts, food, train rides and visits with Santa, Mrs. Claus and the Grinch.

The Tour of Trees and Gingerbread Village in Blairsville is a daytime display. More than 50 Christmas trees and wreaths, each decorated by a local business or organization, stand at the Union County Community Center through December. It is open Tuesday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., from December 1 to 31, and it is free. Visitors can vote for their favorites from December 1 to 11.

Two smaller dates round out the list. Clarkesville Main Street’s 2026 calendar lists a Candlelight Christmas Walk on Monday, December 21, with no time or place given. In Blue Ridge, the Annual Christmas Tour of Trees at Serenity in the Mountains opens on two Sunday afternoons, November 8 and 15, from 2 to 5 p.m. Admission is $20, and proceeds support Shop With a Cop.

Pairing a lighting with a light show

Our drive times are free-flow minutes from downtown Atlanta and Alpharetta City Hall, computed with the OSRM routing engine, with no traffic. We did not compute drives between towns, so treat these pairs as same-area ideas and check the road between them yourself.

Lake Lanier: Buford and Gainesville

Buford is 48 minutes from downtown Atlanta and Gainesville is 64. The simplest pair on the whole list is at one address. On Friday, November 27, Santa’s Magical Arrival at Game Changer inside Lanier Islands Resort runs from 4 to 9 p.m., and Magical Nights of Lights opens at 5 p.m. at the same resort. In Gainesville, Jingle Mingle on Saturday, November 21 runs from 4 to 8 p.m. downtown, and Gainesville Glows opens two days earlier. If Glows is open that Saturday, you can do both in one evening. Glows and Magical Nights both run from 5 to 10 p.m., so plan on one of them per night.

The mountains on Saturday, December 12

Blairsville is 129 minutes from downtown Atlanta and Hiawassee is 144, so this is an overnight trip for most metro visitors. It is also the fullest single day of lights on our list. The Blairsville Tour of Trees is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. that Saturday. The Vogel State Park tree lighting runs from 4 to 7 p.m. Mountain Country Christmas in Lights is open from 6 to 9 p.m., the last night of its Thursday to Saturday run before it opens nightly on December 17.

Thanksgiving weekend in the mountains

Hiawassee’s show opens on Thanksgiving night and is open again on Friday and Saturday. That makes it easy to pair with Dahlonega’s or Helen’s lighting on Friday, November 27: one town’s lighting one evening, the fairgrounds the next. Dahlonega is 84 minutes from downtown Atlanta and Helen is 112.

North metro: Roswell and Suwanee on December 4

From Alpharetta City Hall, Roswell is 12 minutes and Suwanee is 28. Roswell’s lighting ends at 8 p.m. and Suwanee’s Jolly Holly Day runs until 9, so a family could catch the end of one after the other. Pick one if you have small children.

Lightings that had not posted a 2026 date

These were missing from organizer pages when we checked on October 19, 2026. We do not carry a date forward from a past year.

• Alpharetta: the city tree lighting, the Lighting of Avalon and Holiday Lights on the Loop. We could not confirm 2026 dates on the organizers’ own pages.
• Hiawassee: Light Up Hiawassee had no 2026 date.
• Jasper: Christmas Night of Lights, the downtown tree lighting with a parade, had no 2026 date.
• Clayton: the candle lighting usually held with the Christmas parade had no 2026 date, though the parade itself is set for December 5.
• Buford: the Mall of Georgia tree lighting had no 2026 date on a primary page.

We add these as organizers post them. The events finder has the current list, and our Christmas parade guide covers the parades by town. For markets, Santa visits and the rest of the season, see Christmas in North Georgia 2026.

Written by the The Georgia Journal Editorial Team. AI tools help us draft; people check every fact before it publishes.

Dates, times and rules can change. Each listing links the organizer or local government page it came from, with the date we checked it; confirm there before you go.