The city tree lighting is still at Blackburn Park, on Wednesday, Dec. 2. Most of the rest of Brookhaven's December now happens on Peachtree Road, and most of that is at one place: Brookhaven Park, at 4158 Peachtree Road NE. The ice rink is there, the craft tents are there, and as of this year the Tinsel Trail is there too. A few blocks south, Brookhaven City Centre hosts Santa photos and the farmers market's first indoor holiday market. Oglethorpe University's holiday concert is farther up the same road.
None of this happened all at once. It started with a rink.
A rink in 2024, an award in 2026
The city traces Holidays in the 'Haven to a single addition. In a Nov. 5 announcement, it wrote that the event "began in 2024 with the introduction of the ice-skating rink at Brookhaven Park and has only grown since." By 2025 the rink had been upgraded, and the season had added arts and crafts, food trucks and pet pictures with Santa.
This fall the Georgia Recreation and Park Association's District 6 gave the event its regional award, and the City Council recognized it at its Oct. 27 meeting:
"Special Event of the Year for Holidays in the Haven."
The same district also named Brookhaven Parks and Recreation its Agency of the Year in the 40,001 to 80,000 population category.
The 2026 version opens Saturday, Dec. 19. According to Explore Brookhaven, the city's convention and visitors bureau, it runs into the first days of January and fills the park with four pieces:
- Rudolph's Rink, the ice skating at the center of the event
- Santa's Village, with arts and crafts for kids and adults
- Festive Food Lane, lined with food trucks and concessions
- Grinch Games, a lawn-game area for families
Skating is free. Brookhaven Local Today reports, citing the city's ice skating page, that skaters register online for 45-minute sessions, a limited number of walk-ups are allowed, and skate rentals are included in sizes from toddler 8 to adult 14. Every skater needs a registration form and a signed waiver. The same report says the rink's run is set to match the DeKalb County School District's winter break. Holidays in the 'Haven is closed Dec. 24, Dec. 25 and Jan. 1, and the city has not yet posted daily hours.
The waiver adds a step on busy afternoons. If you are bringing visiting relatives, fill out the forms before you get to the park.
The Tinsel Trail moved in next door
Last month the Tinsel Trail was planned as a spread-out walk. Brookhaven Local Today reports that in October, Explore Brookhaven's page listed Blackburn Park, Skyland Park, Langford Park and the Peachtree Creek Greenway as display sites. The current Tinsel Trail page lists a single location: Brookhaven Park.
So the community-decorated trees will stand in the same park as the rink, the food trucks and Santa's Village. The program is run by Explore Brookhaven with the City of Brookhaven. Residents, businesses and community groups each decorate an assigned tree in an assigned spot. Registration closed Nov. 15. Installation started Nov. 16 and runs until the Dec. 1 deadline, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.
The sponsorship tiers explain why some trees will look very different from others:
| Level | Cost | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Holly | $45 | One pencil-size tree; the participant supplies decorations and Explore Brookhaven decorates it |
| Snowman | $65 | One full-size tree; the participant supplies decorations and Explore Brookhaven decorates it |
| Ho Ho Ho | $125 | One full-size tree; Explore Brookhaven supplies the decorations and decorates it |
The walk itself is free. Because the trees will be up by Dec. 1 and the rink opens Dec. 19, you can see the trail on its own for about three weeks, before the skating crowds arrive.
City Centre takes the indoor half
The next stop south on Peachtree Road is Brookhaven City Centre at 4001 Peachtree Road NE. It opened on Aug. 9, 2025, so this is only its second holiday season. This year it has the events that work better indoors.
The city calendar lists Photos with Santa there from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Dec. 5, and again on Saturday, Dec. 12. According to Brookhaven Local Today, Explore Brookhaven says walk-ups are welcome and no reservation is needed.
The same weekend, the Brookhaven Farmers Market moves indoors for its Holiday Bazaar, which it calls its "First Indoor Holiday Market." It promises more than 20 vendors, most of them there both days. Hours are 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Dec. 5, and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6. On Saturday morning the bazaar and the Santa photos run in the same building at the same time. That means one trip covers the family photo and the gift shopping, and it also means a busy parking lot.
Blackburn Park keeps the lighting
The biggest single night of the season still happens off Peachtree Road. Light Up Brookhaven is on the city calendar for 6 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at Blackburn Park, 3493 Ashford Dunwoody Road. It is a weeknight this year.
Last year's lighting, on Dec. 3, 2025, started with Santa arriving by helicopter courtesy of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Then came the lighting of the city's 40-foot Christmas tree and a Hanukkah menorah, live holiday music, food trucks, bounce houses, train rides, a petting zoo, crafts and giveaways for the first arrivals, as Brookhaven Local Today described it. That was the 2025 lineup. Check the city's special events page for this year's program as Dec. 2 gets closer.
Of the city-run holiday events, the lighting at Blackburn Park is the only one held off Peachtree Road. The trees at Brookhaven Park will already be up by then, so you can see the decorated trees and the city's lit tree on separate nights in early December.
December along Peachtree Road, in order
Here are the Peachtree Road events in one list, with the Blackburn Park lighting first:
- Wednesday, Dec. 2, 6 to 9 p.m. Light Up Brookhaven at Blackburn Park.
- Friday, Dec. 4, 8 p.m. Oglethorpe University's 82nd annual Boar's Head Concert and Celebration at the Conant Performing Arts Center, 4484 Peachtree Road, per Oglethorpe.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 9 a.m. to noon Photos with Santa and the Holiday Bazaar, both at City Centre.
- Sunday, Dec. 6, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Holiday Bazaar's second day.
- Saturday, Dec. 12, 9 a.m. to noon Photos with Santa returns to City Centre.
- Saturday, Dec. 19 Holidays in the 'Haven and Rudolph's Rink open at Brookhaven Park and run into early January.
The Tinsel Trail is up at Brookhaven Park for the whole stretch.
Off the spine: Dresden Drive and Buford Highway
Two neighborhood events keep their own corners of the city, and they feel different from the Peachtree Road events.
The Dresden District Jingle & Mingle on Saturday, Dec. 12, brings the farmers market's vendors and live music to Woodley Plaza, 1382 Dresden Drive NE. According to Brookhaven Local Today, the Ashford Park Elementary School choir sings at 10 a.m. and the Chamblee Cluster Band plays at 11:45 a.m. Jimmy White performs from 2 to 4 p.m., and Dresden Drive businesses will have offers. It is the same morning as the second Santa session at City Centre.
The Posada Navideña at Plaza Fiesta, 4166 Buford Highway, runs from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 13. It is a Mexican holiday celebration with dancing, piñatas, clowns and food, according to the center's events page.
Town Brookhaven is also part of the season. Its first-Saturday Handmade Haven market wrapped up on Nov. 7, and the center says its Merry Makers Market returns starting Dec. 2.
Three phone numbers worth saving
Outdoor events in December depend on the weather, and January brings its own chores. Brookhaven Local Today lists these contacts:
- City events: City of Brookhaven, 404-637-0500
- Weather cancellations: Parks and Recreation rainout line, 470-704-4774, option 3
- Christmas tree pickup: DeKalb County Sanitation, 404-294-2900
City offices are closed on Christmas Eve, Thursday, Dec. 24. If you have family coming over winter break, the rink is the easiest outing to plan, since it runs through school vacation and costs nothing. Explore Brookhaven also points out that Brookhaven Park has what it calls the tallest playground in the U.S., so younger kids have somewhere to go between skate sessions.
A December like this one depends on where a home sits: how close it is to Brookhaven Park, how far it is from Blackburn Park, and whether Dresden Drive is a walk or a drive. When those details start to matter for your next move, Casey Rutherford can help you compare Brookhaven streets with the same care she brings to pricing a home. Schedule a Market Consultation.
