Dunwoody Lights Two Trees on Back-to-Back Sundays, and the Second One Starts This Weekend

When does the holiday season start in Dunwoody? For about thirty years the answer was simple. It started the afternoon Santa, the live reindeer and the tree lighting arrived for Light Up Dunwoody. The Dunwoody Homeowners Association says that event has opened the season since 1996. In 2026 the answer is spread out. There are two tree lightings on back-to-back Sundays, run by different organizations in different places. The newer one asks for a little work ahead of time, and that work begins this Saturday, November 7.

So the season now runs in a set order, and the first step is a lantern workshop on November 7, eight days before either tree is lit.

A 1996 tradition that keeps outgrowing its address

Light Up Dunwoody is co-presented by the Dunwoody Homeowners Association and the Dunwoody Preservation Trust. The DHA says about 2,500 people come each year to see the tree and menorah lit just after sunset. This year it's on Sunday, November 15, from 2 to 6 p.m. at Donaldson-Bannister Farm, 4831 Chamblee Dunwoody Road. Economos Event Production, which goes by EEP Events, is producing it. The City of Dunwoody's calendar listing includes performances by local musicians and dancers, professional photos with Santa, the reindeer, and a craft corner run by the Spruill Center for the Arts. The tree and menorah lighting closes the afternoon.

The location has moved more than once. Rough Draft Atlanta reported in November 2024 that 2024 was the event's third year at the Shops of Dunwoody on Chamblee Dunwoody Road. Before that, it was held at the Cheek-Spruill House at the corner of Chamblee Dunwoody Road and Mount Vernon Road. The same report covered that year's record crowds. DHA Treasurer Bill Grossman told the outlet that the growth might lead to changes the following year, possibly closing part of Chamblee Dunwoody Road or moving to a location with more room.

The 2026 site is Donaldson-Bannister Farm. The city's listing calls it a chance to "visit one of Dunwoody's most historic homes" while starting the season. Neighbors who remember the event at Cheek-Spruill House or the Shops will find a different setting this year for the same afternoon of reindeer, music and a lighting at dusk.

The Sunday after belongs to the Village

In that same 2024 article, Rough Draft reported that the celebration would "continue next Sunday." Create Dunwoody and the Village Merchant Alliance were holding the first Dunwoody Village Holiday Celebration that weekend, with its own tree lighting and a lantern parade with gift-card prizes from Village businesses.

Two years later, the Village event has its own spot on the calendar. The 2026 Dunwoody Village Holiday Celebration and Lantern Parade is on Sunday, November 22, from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in Greater Dunwoody Village. Discover Dunwoody lists it as free, organized by Create Dunwoody and the Dunwoody Village Merchant Alliance.

The Shops of Dunwoody, where Light Up spent three years, is part of the Village celebration too. Create Dunwoody's page says the event's Kids Market is there and advertises "over 37 vendors." Families who used to walk over to the Shops for Light Up can still go there, a week later, for a different event.

Why the lantern parade starts this weekend

The two Sundays differ most in what they ask of you beforehand. Light Up mostly asks you to show up. The Village parade is built around lanterns that families make themselves, and judging happens before the parade steps off. Create Dunwoody has set up the preparation as its own small schedule:

1. Saturday, November 7, 5 to 7:45 p.m. Lantern workshop at Diwali in Dunwoody. The Diwali celebration itself runs 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Dunwoody Nature Center, with live dance and theater, music, hands-on rangoli art, chai and food, according to Create Dunwoody's event listing.
2. Sunday, November 8, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. A second lantern workshop at the Shops of Dunwoody Farmers Market.
3. Between then and November 22. Lantern kits will be available at Village Ace Hardware for families who would rather build at home. Workshop spots can be purchased through the link on Create Dunwoody's celebration page.
4. Sunday, November 22, around 5:25 p.m. Parade judging and lineup behind the Courtyard Funwoody screen.

So a family planning to walk in the parade has two weekends to work with, and the first is November 7 and 8. A child who makes a lantern at the Nature Center that Saturday night has two full weeks before that lantern goes down the parade route.

How the November 22 afternoon unfolds

Create Dunwoody has posted the 2026 schedule, and it builds toward dusk in short segments.

• 3:00 p.m. The Kids Market opens.
• 4:00 to 5:50 p.m. Main stage performances by groups including James Violin Studio, Stayin' Alive Crew, Expressions in Motion Dance, North Georgia School of Ballet, Dunwoody Elementary singers, Georgia Dance Force, The Collective Dance Project and the Dunwoody High School Choir, with breaks in between to visit activities.
• 5:45 to 6:00 p.m. The Lantern Parade.
• 6:00 to 6:15 p.m. The Lantern and Tree Award Ceremony.
• 6:15 to 6:30 p.m. The tree lighting in the courtyard with Santa.

Create Dunwoody also lists Santa photos, a mobile petting zoo, train rides, classic and exotic cars, crafts and treats. It notes that event details and the map are still being finalized. If the weather turns, performances, awards and some activities move into the Dunwoody United Methodist Church gym. Families with younger children may want to plan around the 5:25 lineup call, since the parade, the awards and the lighting all happen within about an hour of it.

Once both trees are lit, the season spreads across town

After November 22, the season moves away from single big afternoons and toward events you can drop into on your own schedule. Both of these run for weeks instead of one day.

The Spruill fair opens two days before Light Up and runs until two days before Christmas. That makes it the longest event of the season and a place to pick up a handmade gift between the two Sundays. The Brook Run display is newer than Light Up by more than two decades. The City of Dunwoody says Parks and Recreation started it in 2020 to bring the community together.

Parks and Recreation also runs two letter campaigns this time of year. Letters to Seniors can be dropped off at Dunwoody City Hall, 4800 Ashford Dunwoody Road, or at the Spruill Arts Center, 5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Road. The city delivers them to Dunwoody assisted living communities. Through Letters to Santa, children email Santa and get a personalized letter back in the mail. A lantern from the Village parade and a card to a senior make two easy projects for a family's November.

Here's the full sequence. Lantern workshops on November 7 and 8. The Spruill fair opens November 13. Light Up Dunwoody at Donaldson-Bannister Farm on November 15. The Village parade and courtyard lighting on November 22. Then Brook Run's lights every night in December.

For the LaMon Team, a Dunwoody calendar like this one is part of knowing a neighborhood: which Sunday belongs to which event, and which kit has to come home from Village Ace Hardware ahead of time. If you're hosting family this season and want suggestions for showing them Dunwoody, or you're thinking about how a move might change your holiday routine, we'd be glad to talk it over. Let's Connect.