In the nine days from Thursday, Nov. 19 through Friday, Nov. 27, Lawrenceville gets a new county park, its biggest holiday market and the county's tree lighting. A splash pad also opens for exactly one day. Then the town settles into a five-week stretch of things that repeat. Most of what you can only catch once happens in November, so this year's holiday planning is a November job.
Here is how the stretch breaks down, and where the timing matters.
The Nine Days, Date by Date
- Thursday, Nov. 19. Gwinnett County opens Discovery Park at 990 Monfort Road with a 1 p.m. ribbon cutting. The same day, Aurora Theatre opens Christmas Canteen 2026 on its Metro Waterproofing Main Stage.
- Friday, Nov. 20. The park's splash pad is winterized and closes until the 2027 season. The same day, the Atlanta Christkindl Market opens its second season at Lawrenceville Lawn, 210 Luckie Street.
- Thursday, Nov. 26. The market is closed for Thanksgiving, and the county lights its tree at the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse.
- Friday, Nov. 27. The market reopens in Lawrenceville and opens its new second site in Senoia.
Nov. 19 Has the Only Item That Truly Happens Once
Discovery Park is the county's 53rd park. It covers 45 acres off Monfort Road and cost $28.5 million, paid for through the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. Construction started in June 2024, and the county told North Atlanta Star on Oct. 21 that the general construction cost had not changed.
The splash pad is the detail with a deadline. The county expects it to run during the ribbon cutting if the weather cooperates. It will be winterized the next day and stay closed until the start of the 2027 season, and the county has not given a reopening date. So if your kids want to say they used the splash pad first, that chance comes on a November afternoon or not until next year.
Everything else is open from day one, according to county Media Relations Manager Tiffany Sherrod:
- Two small soccer fields built for three-on-three games
- Outdoor basketball courts
- A multipurpose field with a lighted walking track, open for pickup play when nobody has reserved it
- 1.2 miles of multiuse trail
- Picnic pavilions and restrooms
- A playground with shade sails, with separate structures for ages 2–5 and 5–12, ramps throughout, and therapeutic ADA swings and generation swings
The playground is lit for evening play, and the park's listed hours run from sunrise to 11 p.m. unless posted otherwise. Short November days make those lights useful right away. You can walk the lighted track after work, well past dark. Some panels use pictograms for children who don't speak, and a mural by the nonprofit Art In Motion should be done before the ribbon cutting. Rental details and updates are on the county's Discovery Park page.
The Market's Second Season Starts the Next Day
The Atlanta Christkindl Market spent four years in Buckhead before moving to Lawrenceville Lawn in 2025. Atlanta News First reported that the first Lawrenceville season drew more than 200,000 visitors by Dec. 23, 2025. Organizers projected the final count could reach 300,000.
There is one change for 2026. According to WhatNow Atlanta, the market is adding a smaller second site at 158 Seavy Street in Senoia, with about 50 booths and roughly 35 vendors, centered on a German Christmas pyramid 15 to 20 feet tall. Lawrenceville stays the larger site, with about 100 booths from 70 to 80 vendors, a large entertainment stage, a 112-foot Ferris wheel, Santa appearances and the return of the German ornament retailer Käthe Wohlfahrt. From Nov. 20 through Nov. 25, Lawrenceville is the only Christkindl site open in metro Atlanta. The market closes on Thanksgiving, and Senoia opens the next day, Nov. 27.
The hours below come from the market's Lawrenceville page. The FAQ on the same site still shows an older schedule.
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Wednesday–Thursday | 3 p.m.–9 p.m. |
| Friday–Sunday | 11 a.m.–9 p.m. |
| Thanksgiving, Nov. 26 | Closed |
| Christmas Eve, Dec. 24 | 11 a.m.–4 p.m. |
Admission is free, and so is public parking downtown in lots A, B, E, F, G, H and I. Lots C and D are not available for market parking. If lot C or D is where you usually park downtown for dinner or a show at Aurora, you'll need another lot from Nov. 20 through Christmas Eve.
The food list hasn't changed from the Buckhead years: bratwurst, chimney cakes, raclette, roasted nuts, hot chocolate and Glühwein.
Thanksgiving Night Is Downtown's Other Big Evening
The market's published Thursday hours run until 9 p.m., but on Nov. 26 it is closed all day. That same evening, Gwinnett County holds its Lighting of the Tree at the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse, 185 West Crogan Street, from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
The county's listing says Santa arrives at 6 p.m. to light the Great Tree. The evening also includes photos with Santa, a Gingerbread House Contest display, a trackless train, s'mores, children's activities, and Aurora Theatre's Festival of Trees at the Lawrenceville Arts Center. Admission is free. The listing prints the date as "Thursday, November 26" without a year, so check the county page again closer to the date.
So downtown has its tree lighting on the one Thursday evening in the market's run when the market is closed. If a post-turkey walk with visiting relatives sounds good, this is the November evening that doesn't overlap with Ferris wheel crowds.
Discovery Park and Downtown Aren't Linked Yet
The opening stretch has two centers, Monfort Road and the Luckie Street and Crogan Street blocks downtown, and for now you'll drive between them. The county's transportation department is moving the bus stop at Old Norcross and Monfort roads to line up with the park's pedestrian entrance, and it is adding crosswalks at the park's intersections. Neither project has a completion date.
The city's proposed Redland Creek Greenway would begin with a 1.6-mile section from the park to Langley Drive, with later phases extending the network. The county says that trail is separate from the park's own trails, and the connection won't be part of the opening. The county is also adding trail markers at Discovery Park to help visitors give their location if they need help. Similar markers are planned for George Pierce Park in Suwanee, DeShong Park and Beaver Ruin Wetland Park.
December Runs Indoors and on Repeat
After Nov. 27, nothing new opens. What's left is spread across December, mostly indoors and at the Lawrenceville Arts Center, so you can pick dates without the pressure of the opening stretch:
- Through Dec. 23: Christmas Canteen 2026, Aurora's holiday revue, continues on the main stage.
- Dec. 5, 11:30 a.m.: The Holiday Science Show at Aurora Theatre.
- Dec. 5, 7 p.m., and Dec. 6, 4 p.m.: Gwinnett Symphony's Holiday Pops with Joe Gransden at the Lawrenceville Arts Center.
- Dec. 12: The Holiday Magic Extravaganza at Aurora.
- Dec. 19: The Holiday Juggling Show at Aurora.
- Dec. 20–21: Motown Christmas at Aurora.
Dates and showtimes for all of these are on the Downtown Lawrenceville calendar and Aurora Theatre's program page. Through December, the market keeps the Wednesday-through-Sunday hours in the table above and closes at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
Planning family visits around Discovery Park or the Christkindl Market can raise bigger questions too, like which part of Lawrenceville puts you closest to the places you'll go year-round. Taliah Karim and the team at TK Real Estate Group work with clients across Metro Atlanta and New Jersey, and we're glad to talk through what each part of Gwinnett is like day to day. Schedule a Free Consultation whenever the timing suits you.
