What's on in Atlanta, United States through the year

Peak crowds — King Day, Garden Lights at the Botanical Garden

• Hazard

  Winter ice storms

  1 Jan – 28 Feb · usuallyExtreme coldClosures

  Once or twice a winter freezing rain shuts the interstates, the airport and the schools for a day or two. Snow is not the problem here; a quarter-inch of ice on the hills is. Source ↗

• Holiday

  King Day

  15–20 Jan · usuallyNational holidayCrowded

  Atlanta marks the King holiday where he was born, on Auburn Avenue, with a march and a week of events around Ebenezer Baptist. The park service sites are free and they fill early. Source ↗

Still on: Garden Lights at the Botanical Garden (14 Nov – 10 Jan (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Winter ice storms (1 Jan – 28 Feb (usually))

Busy — Spring break in United States

• Hazard

  Pine pollen season

  1 Mar – 10 May · usually

  For six weeks in spring the whole city turns yellow: cars, porches, water. Oak and pine counts here are among the highest in the country and anyone sensitive feels it in a day. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Spring severe-storm season

  1 Mar – 15 May · usually

  North Georgia's tornado and hail season runs through spring, and the warnings here come overnight as often as in the afternoon. Hotels sound the alert; camping is the thing to think twice about. Source ↗

Busy — Atlanta Dogwood Festival

• Festival

  Atlanta Dogwood Festival

  5–20 Apr · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  A free arts festival in Piedmont Park in the second week of April, timed to the dogwoods and running since 1936. The city looks better this fortnight than at any other point in the year. Source ↗

Still on: Pine pollen season (1 Mar – 10 May (usually)), Spring severe-storm season (1 Mar – 15 May (usually))

Busy — Atlanta Jazz Festival

• Festival

  Atlanta Jazz Festival

  23–26 May · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  The city puts on a free festival in Piedmont Park over Memorial Day weekend, one of the largest of its kind anywhere, and it marks the point where Atlanta's outdoor season properly starts. Source ↗

Still on: Pine pollen season (1 Mar – 10 May (usually)), Spring severe-storm season (1 Mar – 15 May (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Summer heat and humidity

  10 Jun – 10 Sep · usuallyExtreme heat

  Three months of humid thirty-plus afternoons with a thunderstorm most days around five. The BeltLine is an early-morning walk in July, not an afternoon one. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Peachtree Road Race, Summer break in United States

• Festival

  Peachtree Road Race

  4 JulMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  Sixty thousand people run ten kilometres down Peachtree Street on the Fourth of July, in the worst heat and humidity of the year. Entry is a lottery and Buckhead closes from dawn. Source ↗

Still on: Summer heat and humidity (10 Jun – 10 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Dragon Con, Summer break in United States

• Festival

  Dragon Con

  28 Aug – 2 Sep · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Labor Day weekend puts tens of thousands of people through five connected downtown hotels, and the parade closes Peachtree on the Saturday morning. Downtown rooms go a year ahead. Source ↗

Still on: Summer heat and humidity (10 Jun – 10 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Dragon Con, Summer break in United States

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Summer heat and humidity (10 Jun – 10 Sep (usually)), Dragon Con (28 Aug – 2 Sep (usually))

Busy — Atlanta Pride

• Festival

  Atlanta Pride

  5–15 Oct · usuallyCrowdedBook early

  Held in October rather than June, on the weekend nearest National Coming Out Day, and centred on Piedmont Park with the parade down Peachtree. Midtown hotels go early. Source ↗

• Nature

  Fall colour

  25 Oct – 20 Nov · usuallyAutumn colour

  Atlanta has more tree canopy than any big American city and it turns late, through the first half of November. The north Georgia mountains an hour up peak two or three weeks earlier.

Peak crowds — Garden Lights at the Botanical Garden, Thanksgiving break in United States

• Festival

  Garden Lights at the Botanical Garden

  14 Nov – 10 Jan · usuallyChristmas & New YearCrowdedBook early

  Timed-entry light installations through the Botanical Garden in Midtown from mid-November into early January. It sells out at weekends and is the city's default December evening. Source ↗

Still on: Fall colour (25 Oct – 20 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — Garden Lights at the Botanical Garden, Winter / Christmas break in United States

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Garden Lights at the Botanical Garden (14 Nov – 10 Jan (usually))