Brookhaven's November Moves Park to Park, Starting With the One the City Is Enlarging

"Preserving a stand of mature trees protects benefits that cannot be quickly replaced by new plantings, including shade, habitat and natural stormwater functions."

City Arborist Jeff Dadisman said that in an October 13 City of Brookhaven release about a wooded lot on Mendell Circle. Less than a month later, Lynwood Park is where Brookhaven's November begins. From there the season's public events move to Blackburn Park, then to Brookhaven Park, and back to Blackburn by the first Thursday of December. Each stop is a park the city is either adding land to or planning around, and following the calendar in order shows you where that investment is going.

Saturday at Lynwood Park, and the land next door

Paint the Park was supposed to happen earlier this fall. On October 2 the city moved it because of bad weather, to Saturday, Nov. 7, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and to a new spot, Lynwood Park at 3360 Osborne Road. Canvases and art supplies go out first come, first served, and you're welcome to bring your own. King of Pops and face painting will be there too. Judges award prizes in three age groups: 7 and under, 8 to 13, and 14 and up. Winning paintings go into the city's annual Paint the Park calendar.

The park those painters set up in is about to get bigger. On October 13, City Council approved a resolution to buy 1020 Mendell Circle, a lot of about 1.3 acres next to Lynwood Park. The goal is to keep the greenspace and tree canopy, help with stormwater, and protect the land from future redevelopment. The release lists 30 to 40 specimen trees on the property, including American beech, tulip poplar, white oak, Northern and Southern red oak, hickory, big leaf magnolia and black cherry.

Measured against the park itself, the size of the change is clear. The city bought 926 Devine Circle, about half an acre, in late 2024. Add the Mendell Circle lot and Lynwood gains roughly 1.8 acres. The city puts that at about 17% of the park's current 10.8 acres. The $750,000 price comes from the city's Stormwater Fund and Tree Fund. Council has approved the purchase, and the release describes it as going ahead. If you walk past the Mendell Circle side on the 7th, those mature trees are the ones the city is buying.

The first weekend spreads across the city

Paint the Park lands in the middle of a busy stretch. The night before, on Friday, Nov. 6, from 6 to 9 p.m., the Brookhaven Chamber holds its Rooftop Soirée and Coat Drive on the roof of Brookhaven City Centre, 4001 Peachtree Road NE. The morning after, on Sunday, Nov. 8, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., the 2026 Memory Walk takes place at Blackburn Park, 3493 Ashford Dunwoody Road.

So in about 40 hours, the public calendar goes from the Peachtree Road civic center to Lynwood off Osborne Road and then to Blackburn on Ashford Dunwoody.

The relay, in order

Here is the full sequence from the first weekend to the tree lighting, with each event at its location:

1. Fri., Nov. 6, 6–9 p.m.: Chamber Rooftop Soirée and Coat Drive at City Centre, 4001 Peachtree Road NE.
2. Sat., Nov. 7, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.: Paint the Park at Lynwood Park, 3360 Osborne Road.
3. Sun., Nov. 8, 10:30 a.m.–2 p.m.: 2026 Memory Walk at Blackburn Park.
4. Nov. 13–22: Cyrano de Bergerac at Oglethorpe University's Conant Performing Arts Center, 4484 Peachtree Road NE.
5. Nov. 16–Dec. 1: Holiday Tinsel Trail trees go up at Brookhaven Park.
6. Tues., Nov. 17, 6:30 p.m.: Second public hearing on the proposed budget at City Centre.
7. Sun., Nov. 22, 3–5 p.m.: "Voices Within" Skylight Gallery concert at the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art.
8. Thurs., Dec. 3, 6–9 p.m.: Light Up Brookhaven at Blackburn Park.

Mid-month, the trees go up at Brookhaven Park

The Brookhaven Holiday Tinsel Trail is a joint program of Explore Brookhaven and the City of Brookhaven. Residents, businesses and community groups each decorate an assigned tree, and the trees are lined up into a trail you can walk through. The program officially runs from October 28 to December 1. Registration closed October 31. Trees go up Nov. 16 through Dec. 1, between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. This year's listed location is Brookhaven Park. Organizers say locations may shift for reasons like parking, accessibility and park operations.

Because installation takes two weeks, the trail fills in gradually. If you walk Brookhaven Park more than once in the second half of November, you'll see more trees each time, and the trail should be complete around the start of December.

The same weeks bring the season's indoor events, all on Oglethorpe's campus at 4484 Peachtree Road NE. The university's fall production, Cyrano de Bergerac, runs Nov. 13 to 22 at the Conant Performing Arts Center. On the show's closing day, Nov. 22, the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art holds its "Voices Within" concert in the Skylight Gallery from 3 to 5 p.m. That Sunday afternoon gives you a theater matinee window and a gallery concert on one campus.

Back to Blackburn on Dec. 3

The city's calendar lists Light Up Brookhaven for Thursday, Dec. 3, 2026, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Blackburn Park, 3493 Ashford Dunwoody Road. An early-October guide from Brookhaven Local Today gave two possible dates, Dec. 2 and Dec. 3. The current city listing and the Explore Brookhaven event page both say Thursday the 3rd. The city hasn't posted a program yet, so check the event page in the days before you go.

The date lines up with the trail schedule. Tinsel Trail installation ends Dec. 1, and Light Up Brookhaven is two days later. The citywide lighting at Blackburn comes right after the last trees are finished at Brookhaven Park.

Where to eat between stops

Two places that opened this year fit naturally around these outings.

SIREN is a seafood restaurant at 2700 Apple Valley Road NE, Suite 65. What Now Atlanta reported its planned August 18 opening and a menu of oysters, crudo, raw-bar dishes and wood-fired cooking. By the end of August, Rough Draft Atlanta listed it as open, next door to Arnette's Chop Shop. It's a good fit for a dinner after the Friday rooftop event or an evening at the theater.

Beyond Juicery + Eatery opened July 25 at 4060 Peachtree Road NE, according to What Now Atlanta. Rough Draft Atlanta's July roundup also listed it as open. It's a block from City Centre on Peachtree Road, which makes it handy before a budget hearing or a weekend morning event.

The parks on the Nov. 17 agenda

The city's first public hearing on the proposed FY2027 budget was Nov. 3. The second is Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 6:30 p.m. at City Centre, 4001 Peachtree Road NE. The proposed budget includes construction procurement for Phase II of the Peachtree Creek Greenway and design work for Phase III. It doesn't give a completion date for either. In a separate October 27 council update, the city said Council approved acquiring temporary and permanent easements at 2021 N. Druid Hills Road for Phase II, so land acquisition for that segment is still in progress.

That hearing falls on the second day of Tinsel Trail installation and ten days after Paint the Park. It's the public hearing on the budget that includes the Greenway's next two phases.

Trees going up at Brookhaven Park, new land at Lynwood, and the Greenway's next phase are all changes to the parks near people's homes. If you're thinking about how that might shape a move, Lindsay Levin and our team can show you how park-adjacent homes in Brookhaven are being priced right now and talk through what that could mean for yours. Request a free home valuation whenever you're ready.