Two Sundays in November, and Where Dunwoody Is Eating Around Them

The farmhouse at 4831 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road gets its holiday afternoon on Sunday, November 15. The City of Dunwoody's calendar calls Donaldson-Bannister Farm "one of Dunwoody's most historic homes." From 2 to 6 p.m. that day, the farm hosts the event the city calls "a Dunwoody holiday tradition." Seven days later, the same kind of afternoon moves to Dunwoody Village. Those two Sundays, a week apart, carry most of Dunwoody's 2026 holiday season. Neither one is in the part of the city where this fall's best restaurant news happened.

The calendar runs on the old Dunwoody: a historic farm, the Village, and groups like the Dunwoody Homeowners Association and the Dunwoody Preservation Trust. This fall's new food is at High Street, the mixed-use development near the Dunwoody MARTA station. To make the most of November, you'll move between the two.

November 15: Light Up Dunwoody at the farm

The city's event listing says Light Up Dunwoody is presented by the Dunwoody Homeowners Association and the Dunwoody Preservation Trust, with Economos Event Production. The program includes performances by local musicians and dancers, professional photos with Santa, reindeer, and lighting the tree and the menorah.

The event ends at 6 p.m., which matters because the lighting is the main moment. If you're bringing children, arrive in daylight so they can see the performers and Santa, then stay as it gets dark for the tree and menorah.

November 22: The Village Holiday Celebration and Lantern Parade

The following Sunday, the season moves to the Dunwoody Village shopping centers. The city calendar lists the Dunwoody Village Holiday Celebration and Lantern Parade from 3 to 7 p.m. The lineup includes performances, activities, the lantern parade, Santa, farm animals, train rides, and a tree lighting.

Sources give different end times. Appen Media's event listing runs it from 3 to 6:30 p.m. Plan on the earlier time, especially if the train rides or farm animals are why you're going.

The two Sundays are similar on purpose. Each has Santa, live performances, and a tree lighting. The farm event has reindeer and a menorah lighting. The Village event has the lantern parade and farm animals. If you can only go once, choose based on which of those you'd miss more.

The weeks around the two Sundays

The rest of the season fills in around those two afternoons, mostly on weekdays and Saturdays. Taken together, the calendar runs from Veterans Day to just before Christmas:

Sunday, November 15 has the most going on. Spruill's Holiday Art Fair holds Pictures with Santa at the gallery the same day Light Up Dunwoody opens at the farm. If you want Santa photos without the crowd at the farm, the gallery is a calmer option. The art fair runs for nearly six weeks, through December 23, so it's also an easy place to finish holiday shopping close to home.

The DHA Farmers Market at Brook Run Park also runs later than you might expect. It continues on Saturday mornings through December 19, its last market of the year. That gives you Saturday mornings at Brook Run on top of the Sunday afternoon events through the rest of the fall.

Where the new food is: High Street

The two Sunday events are on the north and central side of Dunwoody. This fall's openings are clustered near Perimeter, mostly at High Street. Plan dinner by where you're coming from, not by which restaurant is the hottest.

Two of the new places share an address. Varuni Napoli, the wood-fired Neapolitan pizza restaurant, is at 120 High Street, Suite 100. Rough Draft Atlanta reported a planned August 5 opening. Rosetta Bakery, an Italian bakery and café serving pastries, sandwiches, and coffee, opened at 120 High Street in late August, according to What's Up Dunwoody. Rough Draft's roundup of September openings listed Rosetta among Dunwoody's newly opened spots.

Having both in one building gives the farmers market Saturdays a simple routine: Brook Run in the morning, then coffee and pastries at Rosetta. Varuni works best on the Sunday evenings, after the lighting at the farm or the parade in the Village, when you want a sit-down dinner without driving out of the city.

High Street also has more than restaurants this season. Discover Dunwoody's Holiday HQ page promotes seasonal skating there, though it doesn't list 2026 dates yet.

The other new place to know is at Park Place. Van Leeuwen Ice Cream is open at 4505 Ashford Dunwoody Road NE, Suite 150. Park Place is on the same Ashford Dunwoody corridor as Spruill Gallery, so ice cream after the art fair's opening night on November 13 is a short trip.

Still on the way

Several of the most talked-about Dunwoody openings won't be ready for this holiday season, which is why High Street carries the restaurant news this year:

• Tenku Sushi, The Shops of Dunwoody. Appen Media reported that it was expected to open during summer and fall 2026, but the Dunwoody Journal's October 5 update still listed it as coming soon.
• Saints and Council, Perimeter Mall. Appen Media reported that construction would start in June and finish by early 2027. The mall still lists the restaurant as coming soon.
• Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant, Perimeter Village. It is planned for an outparcel at 3725 Ashford Dunwoody Road, between J. Alexander's and Olive Garden. A WhatNow Atlanta report from July said it would likely open in 2027.

One holiday tradition is also still waiting for its dates. The city's Brook Run Holiday Lights page describes a December display that usually runs nightly through December 31, but no 2026 opening night has been posted. Until the city posts those dates, the two November Sundays are the season's biggest confirmed events, and the art fair and the Saturday markets fill December. The rest of the December calendar depends on when Brook Run announces its schedule.

Hosting family for the holidays is often when people think about their own home: whether it still fits, or which part of Dunwoody they'd want to live closest to. If those questions are on your mind this season, Lindsay Levin and our team are happy to have a calm, no-pressure conversation about what your home is worth today. Get a Free Home Valuation whenever you're ready.