Alpharetta's Holidays After Dark: A First Winter Parade on Canton Street and Lights on the Loop Every Night

The last time Lights on the Loop came to the Alpha Loop, it ran as a series of three gatherings. At the second, on Dec. 12 and 13, Appen Media reported, people walked a one-mile stretch of trail in temperatures in the 30s, holding thermoses, with dozens of dogs in sweaters. About 1,000 people registered for the Friday evening and 1,500 for the Saturday. A food truck sold coffee and hot cocoa in the parking lot at 2500 North Winds Parkway, artisan vendors set up tables, and a DJ played.

This year the lights don't switch off after the weekend. Downtown Alpharetta is also adding something it hasn't had before, a winter parade down Canton Street. Both are free, both happen after dark, and both take place on public ground, a trail and a main street. Avalon, Halcyon and Alpharetta City Center still run their own holiday events, and the calendar below puts all of them in order.

From a few weekends to every night on the Alpha Loop

The 2026 Lights on the Loop listing from the Awesome Alpharetta visitors bureau runs the display nightly from December 4, 2026, through January 4, 2027, from 5:30 to 11 p.m. It covers a one-mile section of the Alpha Loop between Northwinds Parkway and Old Milton Parkway, and admission is free. The Alpha Loop Foundation presents it. Free parking is listed at 2500 and 2520 Northwinds Parkway.

In its earlier run the event was a festival held on chosen dates, and Appen reported a pet-friendly weekend set for Dec. 19 and 20 to close out the series. Now there's a full month of open evenings, with a few programmed nights layered on top:

• Friday, December 4, 5:30 p.m.: the "Switch On The Lights" opening celebration.
• December 4–5, 5:30–8:30 p.m.: the Holiday Music Showcase, with the Alpharetta Symphony, the Alpharetta City Band, local musicians and a holiday DJ.
• December 18–19, 5:30–8:30 p.m.: a pet-friendly weekend featuring "Llamas on the Loop."

So the themed weekends are where the crowds will be, and every other night is a quieter walk under the same lights. Late openings make a difference too. With the display lit until 11 p.m., a Tuesday walk after dinner fits as easily as a Saturday outing.

The Loop itself is growing around the lights. Encore Greenway Park and Gateway, which True North 400 describes as the link between the Alpha Loop and the Big Creek Greenway, shows a December 2026 completion date on its project page. On Aug. 17, the City Council approved an 18.5-month contract for a section of roughly one mile from Encore Parkway to Morrison Lake at Haynes Bridge Road, according to Appen Media.

Canton Street gets a parade

The second new event moves from the trail to downtown. At the Sept. 14 City Council meeting, a winter parade sponsored by the Rotary Club of Alpharetta was still a proposal, and staff asked for direction on permitting, as the NickO Report summarized from the minutes. By October, the Rotary Club was announcing the 1st Annual Alpharetta Winter Parade as a joint effort with the City of Alpharetta. It's set for Saturday evening, December 12, 2026.

The visitors bureau's event listing gives the time as 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Canton Street, with free admission. It describes the parade as showcasing Alpharetta's youth, civic organizations and the Rotary Club. The Rotary Club's notice to downtown residents and businesses sets out the route:

1. Start at Innovation Academy at 5:30 p.m.
2. Go along School Drive.
3. Turn right onto Canton Street / Roswell Street.
4. Cross Old Milton Parkway.
5. Finish at the Alpharetta Community Center.

According to the same notice, local clubs, schools, youth organizations and Alpharetta businesses will make up the lineup.

If you drive through downtown on a Saturday evening, the closures are the part to plan around:

Roads reopen one section at a time as the parade passes and Public Safety clears each one, and the Rotary Club expects all parade activities to finish around 8 p.m. Registration and updates are at alpharettarotary.com/winterparade. This is a first-year event, so check that page before you head out.

December 12 is the day everything overlaps

Put the new events on the same calendar as the established ones and two Saturdays fill up fast.

On Saturday, December 5, the Alpharetta Christmas Market runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Innovation Academy, 125 Milton Avenue. Snow Day at Alpharetta City Center fills the Town Green at 2001 Commerce Street from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with live music, snow and craft stations. Avalon serves its first Breakfast with Santa at Chick-fil-A that morning and the second at Oak Steakhouse on Sunday. That evening, the Holiday Music Showcase is on the Loop.

Saturday, December 12 is busier still. The Makers Market Local Holiday Street Fair takes over Avalon from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the parade starts on Canton Street at 5:30 p.m. The next morning, Avalon's Jingle Jog, a one-mile fun run down the Boulevard with Santa, starts from The Hotel at Avalon at 9 a.m. Tickets are required. Lights on the Loop has no themed program that weekend, so the trail will likely be calmer than on the music and llama weekends on either side.

Here's the full season in order, including the November dates that come first:

The Halcyon market on Saturday, Nov. 7, is the first date on the list. Avalon's rink opens to the public at 3 p.m. on November 22, the same afternoon its tree is lit.

Where to stop between the lights and the parade

The newest place to stop downtown sits right by the City Center events. Giulia Italian Bakery opened at 24 S. Main St. at Alpharetta City Center, the Alpharetta-Milton Chronicle reported Oct. 23. It's the third location for brothers Ben and Seth Gjuka, after Peachtree Corners and Marietta. The menu includes croissants, bomboloni, sourdough, focaccia and gelato, along with Italian wine, beer and coffee. The bakery is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, so it can work for coffee before Snow Day or a pastry after the parade lets out.

Near the Loop, What Now Atlanta reported that Paris Baguette planned to open on Sept. 16 at 4119 Lake St., Suite 105, in the Lakeview District, with pastries, breads, cakes, coffee and sandwiches. Downtown, Amasa Mexican Kitchen at 15 Academy St. brings a coastal, seafood-focused Mexican menu to City Center, Atlanta News First reported in August.

Alpha Loop Foundation president John Goss told Appen Media that the event's real benefit is "for folks to interact with each other." The lights switch on for the season at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, December 4, with free parking at 2500 and 2520 Northwinds Parkway.

If watching downtown and the Alpha Loop fill up this season has you wondering what your own home nearby would bring in the new year, Lindsay Levin and the team can talk through it with you over coffee or on a call. Ask for a free home valuation, and we'll show you how homes near Canton Street and the Loop are being priced right now.