Tag: holidays

New Year’s parties are all about popping that special bottle of bubbly. Whether it’s champagne, cava, or a pet nat sparkler from Portugal, the sound of the bottle go pop! is an unmatched, ceremonious welcome to the year ahead. But it doesn’t need to be limited to alcohol. The N.A. sparkling wines I sampled at Soberish were still accompanied by that joyous cork pop.

After 34 years of staging A Christmas Carol, Alliance Theatre’s production department has the show down to a science. “It’s like the train that we always know where it’s going,” says Laury Conley, director of costumes and wardrobe. “If it ever goes off the tracks, we know how to get right back.”

Whether kid-friendly, pet-friendly, or strictly for adults, Atlanta’s holiday season has something for everyone. To help to make the most of this year’s festive fun, we’ve rounded up just a few of the metro's great events, from live entertainment to Santa meet-and-greets to festive markets to pop-up holiday bars.

When Susie Grant went to the National Christmas Tree Association convention in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1986, she was one of the few female farmers there. She ran a small farm in Mississippi at the time. In the exhibit hall, she met a father and son from Stockbridge, who were demonstrating a revolutionary tree trimmer they had invented. “I just walked by and started talking about the trimmer,” says Susie. She and the son, Allen Grant, have been together ever since. Today they own Yule Forest in Stockbridge, and Christmas trees remain an inextricable part of their lives.

As you plan your Thanksgiving gathering, consider helping others in your community by supporting these Atlanta organizations, either through direct food donations, financial contributions, or volunteering.

Known as the “Festival of Lights,” Diwali is a time when worshippers light clay lamps to celebrate the inner glow that repels spiritual darkness. Celebrations are rooted in traditions of oral storytelling and joyful revelry, including mounds of decadent treats, festive finery, and fireworks. For many, it represents their faith in the goodness of humanity.

From spooky to silly, here's just a few of this month's Halloween happenings, including Boo at the Zoo, a Halloween half-marathon, a Westside pop-up bar, and more.

The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. Not because I’m particularly fond of barbecues, fireworks, or overt displays of patriotism, but because of another Atlanta Independence Day tradition: the Peachtree Road Race.

Catch plenty of fireworks, cheer on the runners in the annual Peachtree Road Race, enjoy food trucks, games, and more.

Secret Santa ATL (also known as “Loose Lips”), a speakeasy hidden in a warehouse deep within Pullman Yards in Kirkwood. The brainchild of beverage director Marian Chism, the concept started as an off-handed comment she made to property owner Adam Rosenfelt. “I jokingly said, ‘You know, I could throw a speakeasy up in the tunnels and people would come.’”