Dunwoody's holiday season begins tomorrow, Friday, November 13, and it ends on New Year's Eve. Across those seven weeks, no single organization holds the calendar. A nonprofit arts center, a homeowners group working with a preservation trust, a Village arts group working with a merchant alliance, and the city's parks department each run a separate piece. The pieces hand off from one to the next with very little overlap, and one of the four hosts shows up inside the others' events.
Here's the season in order, with the details that matter for each date.
The Gallery Opens First and Stays Open Longest
The Spruill Gallery's Holiday Art Fair runs November 13 through December 23 at 4681 Ashford Dunwoody Road. Spruill calls it a Dunwoody tradition of more than 30 years. Every item for sale is made by an artist or artisan based in Georgia. The stock runs from ornaments, pottery and candles to blankets, jewelry and bookmarks.
November hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The fair is closed on Mondays and on Thanksgiving Day.
The fair runs longer than anything else on this calendar, so its free events work as a frame for everything else:
- Friday, Nov. 13, 5 to 9 p.m.: Holiday Art Fair Opening Night
- Sunday, Nov. 15, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Pictures with Santa
- Saturday, Nov. 21, 1 to 4 p.m.: AMPLIFY Mural Unveiling
- Wednesday, Dec. 9, 6 to 8 p.m.: Wine Tasting
- Friday, Dec. 18, 6 to 8 p.m.: Mistletoe & Margaritas
All five events are at the Gallery, and Spruill's Santa leaves at 2 p.m. on Sunday the 15th.
Sunday the 15th Changes Hands at 2 p.m.
Light Up Dunwoody starts at 2 p.m. that same Sunday at Donaldson-Bannister Farm, 4831 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, and runs until 6 p.m. The Dunwoody Homeowners Association and the Dunwoody Preservation Trust present it, and Economos Event Production, known as EEP Events, produces it. The setting is one of the city's most historic homes.
That means a family can do both Santa visits in one afternoon, one after the other:
- 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Pictures with Santa at the Spruill Gallery on Ashford Dunwoody Road
- 2 p.m.: Light Up Dunwoody opens at the farm on Chamblee Dunwoody Road
- Through the afternoon: local musicians and dancers, professional photos with Santa, the reindeer, and a craft corner run by the Spruill Center for the Arts
- To close the day: the tree and menorah lighting
So Spruill is part of the farm event too. Its art fair ends its Santa hours just as Light Up begins, and its craft corner sits on the farm grounds. Light Up's organizers post the detailed run of show on Instagram at @lightupdunwoody_official and on the Light Up Dunwoody Facebook page.
The Village Gets the Sunday Before Thanksgiving
One week later, the season moves up Chamblee Dunwoody Road to the Village. The Village Holiday Celebration and Lantern Parade is Sunday, November 22, from 3 to 6:30 p.m., centered at 5521 Chamblee Dunwoody Road. Create Dunwoody and the Dunwoody Village Merchant Alliance present it. Admission and activities are free. The only extra cost is for lanterns.
The lantern workshops were held earlier this month. If you want to march, you can still get a kit. The Givebutter page sells kits with a paper lantern in one of two sizes, lights and a dowel. Create Dunwoody says kits will also be sold at Village Ace Hardware.
The afternoon offers far more than a parade. The Kids Market at the Shops of Dunwoody has more than 37 young vendors. This year adds a mobile petting zoo and train rides. Those join a classic and exotic car display, ornament decorating, live llamas, hot chocolate and s'mores. Front Porch hosts inflatable dinosaurs at the Cheek Spruill House.
Create Dunwoody's posted stage schedule is marked as subject to updates. Here's how it runs now:
| Time | On the main stage or in the courtyard |
|---|---|
| 3:00 | Kids Market opens |
| 4:05 | James Violin Studio Group |
| 4:20 | Stayin' Alive Crew |
| 4:45 | Expressions in Motion Dance |
| 4:50 | North Georgia School of Ballet |
| 5:00 | Dunwoody Elementary singers |
| 5:15 | Georgia Dance Force |
| 5:30 | The Collective Dance Project |
| 5:40 | Dunwoody High School Choir |
| 5:45 | Lantern Parade |
| 6:00 | Lantern and Tree Award Ceremony |
| 6:15 | Tree lighting in the courtyard with Santa |
Parade lineup and judging start at 5:25 behind the Funwoody screen in the courtyard. Marchers who want a spot before the 5:45 start should be there by then.
Dunwoody United Methodist Church provides overflow parking. If the weather turns, the performances, the awards and some activities move into the church gym. On the day before, Saturday the 21st, the AMPLIFY Mural Unveiling runs from 1 to 4 p.m. back at the Spruill Gallery. That makes it a reasonable stop for anyone running Village errands that weekend.
December Belongs to the City's Park
After Thanksgiving, the season moves to the one host that's open every night. Holiday Lights at Brook Run Park, 4770 North Peachtree Road, opens Tuesday, December 1, with an opening night from 4 to 7 p.m. Dunwoody Parks and Recreation runs it as a free walk-through display in and around the playground. The display usually has about 100,000 lights and stays lit every night through December 31. It began in 2020.
This is the longest stretch of the season that needs no ticket and no fixed time. The farm and the Village each get one afternoon. Brook Run has 31 nights to choose from.
Parks and Recreation also runs two letter campaigns this season. The city's Holiday Lights page describes both. For Letters to Seniors, the city collects written greetings and delivers them to residents of assisted-living communities in Dunwoody. Drop-off points are City Hall at 4800 Ashford Dunwoody Road and the Spruill Arts Center at 5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Road. For Letters to Santa, children email their messages and drawings to Santa and get a personalized letter back in the mail.
Spruill turns up here as well. One of the two drop-offs for the city's letter campaign is a Spruill building, and December's two evening events at the Gallery fall during the weeks the park is lit. The Wine Tasting is on a Wednesday and Mistletoe & Margaritas is on a Friday, five days before the fair closes on December 23.
The Season on One Card
Spruill uses three addresses this season: the Gallery on Ashford Dunwoody Road, a craft table at the farm, and the Arts Center on Chamblee Dunwoody Road. Every other host gets one place and one stretch of dates. Here's the full season to save:
| Date | Event | Host | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov. 13 to Wed, Dec. 23 | Holiday Art Fair | Spruill | 4681 Ashford Dunwoody Rd |
| Sun, Nov. 15, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Pictures with Santa | Spruill | Spruill Gallery |
| Sun, Nov. 15, 2 to 6 p.m. | Light Up Dunwoody | Dunwoody Homeowners Association and Dunwoody Preservation Trust | Donaldson-Bannister Farm, 4831 Chamblee Dunwoody Rd |
| Sat, Nov. 21, 1 to 4 p.m. | AMPLIFY Mural Unveiling | Spruill | Spruill Gallery |
| Sun, Nov. 22, 3 to 6:30 p.m. | Village Holiday Celebration and Lantern Parade | Create Dunwoody and Dunwoody Village Merchant Alliance | 5521 Chamblee Dunwoody Rd |
| Tue, Dec. 1, 4 to 7 p.m. | Holiday Lights opening night | Dunwoody Parks and Recreation | Brook Run Park, 4770 North Peachtree Rd |
| Dec. 1 to 31, nightly | Holiday Lights | Dunwoody Parks and Recreation | Brook Run Park |
| Wed, Dec. 9, 6 to 8 p.m. | Wine Tasting | Spruill | Spruill Gallery |
| Fri, Dec. 18, 6 to 8 p.m. | Mistletoe & Margaritas | Spruill | Spruill Gallery |
If you have relatives coming in this season and want help planning their visit, or you're thinking about a move that would put the lantern parade within walking distance, the team at David Lawhon knows these streets well and is glad to talk it through. Schedule a Consultation, and we'll see you at the farm, in the Village or under the lights at Brook Run.