Tag: Things to do

Dahlonega, a picturesque Georgia mountain town known for its Hallmark movie charm, is preparing to welcome the Christmas spirit in the heart of summer. A Small Town Christmas, a three-day convention featuring beloved holiday film stars and festive activities, will take place July 25-27.

In 2011, Jonathan Butler and Eric Demby launched a food festival/market designed to foster community in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg. Called Smorgasburg—a combination of “smorgasbord” and “Williamsburg”—it features a carefully curated group of food vendors, along with music and beverages. Since then, the weekly event has grown immensely, bringing approximately 50,000 people to Brooklyn, Miami, and Los Angeles. Starting in October, Atlanta will join that list, welcoming Smorgasburg to South Downtown.

Located a short walk from both the Battery and Atlanta Braves’ home stadium, the Capital One All-Star Village is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from July 12 to 15 and gives fans the opportunity to score autographs from MLB legends, take a stab at batting and pitching, and compete in games for baseball swag.

The MLB All-Star Game: a once meaningful, now aimless whirlwind, which cities nevertheless still clamor to host. The Midsummer Classic has been played in Atlanta three times. It was almost four: In 2021 the Georgia General Assembly passed the controversial Election Integrity Act that placed heavy restrictions on voting access. In protest, MLB moved that year’s edition to Denver. Four years later, the Election Integrity Act remains in place, but MLB has brought the All-Star Game back to Atlanta.

Fireworks, food, music, and parades—here are 10 fun events happening this Fourth of July in metro Atlanta.

Led by director Samantha Singleton, the Hapeville Depot Museum is finding new ways to share the city’s broader history. Its latest initiative is a residency program pairing artists with public historians, who together create museum exhibitions on the lesser-known stories of this Atlanta suburb.

In 2023, Karimah McFarlane took a leap and purchased the gallery Buckhead Art & Company. Her mission for the gallery is “to make art accessible to everybody and to have difficult conversations with people whose paths wouldn’t cross,” she says. “And let them know that we actually have more in common than we think.”

It wasn’t on purpose that Virginia-Highland Civic Association president Alex Bevel Jones spoke with 40 bands for the 40th iteration of the neighborhood’s annual Summerfest, which returns this month from June 6 through 8. But it certainly has a nice ring to it.

A puppet in a white suit, with a smiley face for a head, towers over every Beltline Lantern Parade. His name is Mr. Happy, and he’s the creation of Cam Ayer, who has marched every year since 2010 as a member of the Krewe of the Grateful Gluttons. On May 3, Mr. Happy will join thousands of others at Adair Park and head up the Southwest Beltline trail for the 15th annual Lantern Parade, a free community event that has become an iconic Atlanta tradition.

The Atlanta Film Festival has always highlighted the best of the peach state, but local films are at the core of the 49th year of the festival. From April 24 to May 4, the festival screens 132 films—from documentaries to animated shorts to features—including 40 films with Georgia connections. Atlanta magazine spoke to the directors of two of these films to learn more about each feature and its local ties.