North Georgia Christmas parades 2026: every confirmed date, by town

This list uses only dates that organizers posted for 2026. Every date below comes from the organizer itself: a city calendar, a chamber or visitors bureau listing, or the parade’s own page. We checked each one on October 19, 2026. If a town had not posted a 2026 date by then, we say so instead of guessing from an old pattern.

That leaves nine parades with confirmed 2026 dates, spread over four weekends from November 21 to December 12. The list below is built from our events file and names the source for each parade. It drops a parade once the day has passed. Times and places are the organizers’ own.

Every confirmed parade, soonest first

The parades in date order

Saturday, November 21: Dawsonville

Dawsonville goes first. Destination Dawsonville, the tourism office of the Dawson County Chamber, lists one evening that combines three things. The Jingle Market of local handmade crafts runs from 2 to 8 p.m. at City Hall. The Christmas parade starts at 4 p.m. and brings Santa to City Hall. The mayor then leads the tree lighting at City Hall at 6 p.m. Food trucks, Santa photos, ornament decorating for kids and music bingo are also on the listing, and the event is free.

One detail to watch: the listing mentions an updated parade start at the Dawson County Courthouse and Government Center. Check the Destination Dawsonville listing in the week before the parade in case the start moves again.

Saturday, November 28: Blue Ridge

Blue Ridge holds its parade on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which in 2026 is November 28. The Light Up Blue Ridge organizers pair the downtown parade with the lighting of the Great Tree. They list free activities, live entertainment and photos with Santa, and they say the event goes ahead rain, snow or shine. When we checked, their page did not give a start time, so confirm it closer to the day on the Light Up Blue Ridge site.

The Fannin County Chamber describes the same tradition in general terms:

• Light Up Blue Ridge and the Christmas Parade take place the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Fannin County Chamber of Commerce & CVB

Blue Ridge makes a full holiday weekend if you want one. Blue Friday, the day before the parade, brings store discounts downtown, and the Gingerbread Village at the Arts Center opens to the public at noon that day. Our Thanksgiving weekend guide covers the rest of those four days.

Friday, December 4: Ball Ground and Clarkesville

Ball Ground’s 12th annual March of the Toys Parade starts at 7 p.m. on Friday, December 4, on the Gilmer Ferry Road and Main Street route. The city calendar lists it from 7 to 9 p.m. The parade benefits Toys for Tots, and spectators are asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy. Collection boxes sit at City Park and along the Main Street route. The organizers describe it as one of the largest Christmas parades in North Georgia, with floats, bands, antique cars and costumed characters. That is their description, not a ranking of ours.

The same evening, at 6 p.m., the City of Clarkesville hosts the 2026 Habersham County Christmas Parade together with its Downtown Clarkesville Christmas celebration. The city’s homepage notice links the parade application for groups that want to enter. Our record of the notice has the date and start time but no route, so check the City of Clarkesville notice before you pick a spot on the curb.

Saturday, December 5: Buford and Clayton

Buford has the only morning parade on the list. The Buford Holiday Festival and Parade steps off at 9 a.m. from Tannery Row. The festival follows from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with vendors, food tents and trucks, stage performers and a dog costume contest. The Buford Business Alliance runs it and says it has been held for more than 10 years.

Clayton’s annual Christmas parade is that evening at 6 p.m. downtown. The City of Clayton says this year’s theme honors the Founding Fathers and early American Christmases for the nation’s 250th anniversary. Entry applications are available online or at City Hall, with a November 30 deadline. One caution: the city’s notice, posted on October 13, 2026, says Saturday, December 5th without printing the year. We count it as 2026 because of the date of the post, and December 5 does fall on a Saturday this year.

Sunday, December 6: Gainesville

Gainesville’s parade is part of Christmas on Green Street, the city’s annual celebration. The event listing runs from 3 to 7 p.m. The city’s tentative timeline closes streets at noon and opens activities at the historic homes from 2 to 4 p.m. A one-mile Green Street Santa Sprint starts at 3:50 p.m., and the parade starts at 4 p.m. Antique cars, floats and marching bands run from the Civic Center down Green Street. The Rotary Tree lighting follows at about 5:45 p.m., or when the parade finishes.

It is the only Sunday parade we found, which makes it an easy one to add if your Saturday is already full.

Saturday, December 12: Dahlonega and Helen

Dahlonega’s Christmas parade runs from noon to 1 p.m. through the historic district, with floats decorated by community groups. It is part of the town’s Old Fashioned Christmas season. The organizer’s schedule page links the parade application, the rules and a route map. For parking and the rest of the season’s program, see Christmas in Dahlonega.

Helen’s annual Christmas parade is at 6 p.m. the same Saturday, downtown, rain or shine. The Helen Welcome Center lists fire trucks, horses, dune buggies, floats, candy and Santa. It suggests watching from across the street from the Downtown Gazebo. One other Welcome Center page lists December 11 instead, so call the Welcome Center at (706) 878-2181 before you drive up.

With a noon parade in Dahlonega and an evening parade in Helen, December 12 is the one day with two mountain parades. We have not measured the drive between the two towns, so leave extra time for parade traffic if you try both.

Towns that had not posted a 2026 date

These towns have held Christmas parades before, but their organizers had not posted a 2026 date when we checked on October 19, 2026. We do not carry a date forward from a past year, so they are not on the list yet.

• Canton: the Downtown Canton Christmas Parade, run by the Canton Optimist Club, had not posted a 2026 date.
• Cumming: the City of Cumming Christmas Parade was not on the city’s December 2026 calendar.
• Jasper: Christmas Night of Lights, which the Pickens County Chamber describes as a tree lighting with a parade, had no 2026 date.
• Blairsville: the chamber’s annual list gave only the month of December for Holiday on the Square and the Christmas Parade.
• Hiawassee: the Towns County Sheriff’s Christmas Parade had not posted a 2026 date.
• Ellijay: no 2026 Christmas parade date. The Gilmer County Chamber does list the Merry Mountain Town Festival downtown on November 27.
• Flowery Branch: no date for a Christmas parade or Santa’s arrival. The city does list a lantern parade before its tree lighting on November 20.

• Christmas Night of Lights in downtown Jasper is an annual Christmas tree lighting with a parade, vendors, food and stage entertainment. Visit Pickens (Pickens County Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center)

We did not find 2026 parade listings for Alpharetta, Roswell or Suwanee. Their December events on our list are tree lightings and markets. We recheck all of these towns and add each parade when its organizer posts a date. The events finder always shows the current list.

Parades that come with a tree lighting

Four evenings combine a parade with a tree. Dawsonville lights its tree at City Hall two hours after the parade starts. Blue Ridge lights the Great Tree on parade day. Gainesville ends Christmas on Green Street with the Rotary Tree. Flowery Branch starts its November 20 evening with a lantern parade down Main Street and then lights the community Christmas tree, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on the city calendar.

• Christmas on Green Street, an annual City of Gainesville celebration, ends with a parade and the traditional lighting of the Rotary Tree. Explore Gainesville (Gainesville CVB)

Our guide to tree lightings and light shows lists the rest of the season’s lightings, plus the light displays that run for weeks.

Planning around a parade

The drive times below are free-flow estimates from downtown Atlanta, computed with the OSRM routing engine. They assume no traffic. Parade days bring closed streets and full lots, so add time.

• Buford: 48 minutes (38.5 miles) from downtown Atlanta
• Ball Ground: 59 minutes (50.1 miles) from downtown Atlanta
• Gainesville: 64 minutes (54.4 miles) from downtown Atlanta
• Dawsonville: 75 minutes (57.9 miles) from downtown Atlanta
• Dahlonega: 84 minutes (65.6 miles) from downtown Atlanta
• Clarkesville: 100 minutes (83.5 miles) from downtown Atlanta
• Blue Ridge: 110 minutes (92.6 miles) from downtown Atlanta
• Helen: 112 minutes (87.6 miles) from downtown Atlanta
• Clayton: 128 minutes (107.5 miles) from downtown Atlanta

A few practical notes come straight from the listings. Bring a new, unwrapped toy to Ball Ground. If your group wants to march in Clayton, the entry deadline is November 30. In Gainesville, streets start closing at noon, four hours before the parade. Helen and Blue Ridge both say they go ahead in bad weather. Buford is the one to pick if you want to be home by lunch.

For the whole season in one place, including markets and Santa visits, see Christmas in North Georgia 2026. To see what is on a given weekend, use this weekend in North Georgia.

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.