Bulloch Hall's Market Runs Every Day Until Dec. 23. Roswell's Other Holiday Events Crowd Into Two Weekends.

One part of Roswell's holiday season runs on a weekday clock. Starting Friday, Nov. 20, the Christkindlmarket at Bulloch Hall, 180 Bulloch Ave., is open every day through Wednesday, Dec. 23. Hours are 3 to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is free.

Almost everything else on the city's holiday calendar runs on a weekend clock, and it's crowded. Most of the city's December events land on two weekends, Dec. 4–6 and Dec. 11–13. A few more trail into the week before Christmas. If you want one plan that covers the whole season, start with that split. Use the market for easy weeknights, and save your energy and your registration fees for the two big weekends.

The everyday option, opening Nov. 20

Munich Event Group produces the Roswell Christkindlmarket in cooperation with the City of Roswell. The Friends of Bulloch Hall listing describes traditional mulled wine, food from around the world and a marketplace of vendors. It also lists Santa photos every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 4 to 7 p.m., with no reservations needed.

Every other free event below happens once or twice. The market is the one place in Roswell where a free holiday outing fits a regular Tuesday after work, from Nov. 20 to the last Wednesday before Christmas. It also gives the weekend calendar a fallback. If a Saturday plan falls through, the market is open until 9 p.m.

The first weekend of December carries the most

On the city calendar, the season builds toward Friday, Dec. 4, and doesn't let up until Sunday night. Here is how the first weekend lines up, using the event listings on the City of Roswell's Roswell365 calendar.

The tree lighting opens the weekend. The city's 2026 listing promises choral performances, hot chocolate, fire pits and s'mores, and a visit from Santa. Mayor Mary Robichaux will read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and the night ends with the lighting of a 40-foot tree in the center of Heart of Roswell Park. The event is free and open to the public. For parking, Roswell Journal points to the free public lot at City Hall, 38 Hill St., and a walk over to the park.

That Friday is also a deadline a few blocks away. Under Deck the Square, local organizations decorate city-provided six-foot trees on Town Square, 610 Atlanta St., using their own lights and ornaments. Trees are ready for decorating on Nov. 23. Decorations must be finished by noon on Dec. 4, the day of the tree lighting, and the trees can come down starting Jan. 2. Clubs, scout troops and civic groups that want a tree can apply through Friday, Nov. 13.

Saturday is the busiest day of the season. Breakfast with Santa starts the morning, and the Makers Market fills the Roswell Visual Arts Center through the afternoon. The Makers Market listing describes an indoor market with handmade work from both adult and youth vendors, plus a "Winter Wonderland" photo installation. Down Woodstock Road, the Works in Clay Holiday Show & Sale brings ceramics from more than 80 local artists to Art Center West. The artists are on hand to answer questions and give studio tours. The two venues make Woodstock Road the weekend's shopping stretch for handmade gifts. From 1 to 3 p.m., Kid's Holiday Corner at Mimosa Hall offers free ornament-making, a story, games and a look at winter holidays. It's recommended for ages 4 to 10. Mimosa Hall shares Bulloch Avenue with the Christkindlmarket, which opens at noon that day.

Sunday winds down at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center. Sail On mixes holiday classics, songs from the Beach Boys Christmas album and Beach Boys hits in an all-ages singalong. Tickets start at $31.

Two events you can't buy at the door

The free events above don't need a plan beyond showing up. Two of the city's family events work differently. Both require registration for children and parents, both charge a non-resident rate, and neither sells tickets at the door.

1. Breakfast with Santa, Saturday, Dec. 5, 9 to 11 a.m. The city lists a continental breakfast, crafts, games, music and a family photo with Santa, and says space is limited. This year's event has a new location, the ballroom of the Roswell Adult Recreation Center at 830 Grimes Bridge Rd. Fees are $16 for residents and $24 for non-residents, with registration through the city's event page.
2. Candy Cane Hunt, Friday, Dec. 11, 6 to 7:30 p.m. The evening starts with a pizza dinner, then moves to a flashlight hunt for candy canes at East Roswell Park, with the East Roswell Recreation Center at 9000 Fouts Rd. listed as the venue. Fees are $14 for residents and $21 for non-residents, per the city listing.

If you've gone to Breakfast with Santa before, the new address is worth a second look before you head out the door that morning.

The second weekend leans on the stage

The Dec. 11–13 weekend is quieter outdoors and busier indoors. The Candy Cane Hunt opens Friday evening, and Atlanta Dance Theatre's The Nutcracker runs at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center that same weekend. Performances are Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 1 and 5 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Standard seats are $29.50, premium seats are $38.25, and groups of 10 or more pay $23.50 each for standard seating.

Some first-weekend events come back too. Works in Clay reopens Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 10–12, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Kid's Holiday Corner returns to Mimosa Hall on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 1 to 3 p.m. The city calendar also lists a Woodland Friends Ornament Workshop that Saturday morning, 10 to 11:30. Anyone who missed the first weekend gets a second chance at the handmade ceramics and the free kids' crafts, with a smaller crowd around them.

After that, the calendar thins to evenings

By mid-December, the city's schedule moves almost entirely indoors and into the evening:

• Friday, Dec. 18: Y'allmark at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, where Dad's Garage comedians improvise a holiday movie from audience suggestions, complete with small-town settings, romance and family drama. Tickets start at $31.
• Saturday, Dec. 19: Atlanta Vocal Project's Ringin' in the Holidays and "Like the Dickens" Presents the American Holiday Songbook, both listed for that afternoon on the city calendar.
• Sunday, Dec. 20: Joe Gransden's Have Yourself a Jazzy Little Christmas, a 4 p.m. listing on the city calendar.

That's when the market's long run pays off. Once the big city events are over, Bulloch Hall keeps its daily hours through Dec. 23. It's still the place to go for mulled wine and a weeknight walk in the last week before Christmas.

Before December, a Thanksgiving-weekend warm-up

Two things fill the gap between the market's opening and the tree lighting. The Roswell Holiday Expo, presented by VIP Expos, takes over the Mimms Museum of Technology and Art on Friday, Nov. 27, from 4 to 7 p.m., and Saturday, Nov. 28, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. That Saturday is also Small Business Saturday, and Roswell Journal's holiday shopping guide points shoppers toward the stores along Canton Street.

One familiar spot is off the map this year. Riverside Park at 575 Riverside Road is closed for a bond-funded renovation under the River Parks Master Plan. Its sprayground and the Riverside Sounds concert series are on hold, and the city's facility page gives an expected reopening of Summer 2027. For this December, the season belongs to Bulloch Avenue, Canton Street, Woodstock Road and Forrest Street.

At Erin Olivier, we're always happy to compare notes on Roswell's December calendar, starting with which Saturday is worth guarding. If the season also has you wondering what your Roswell home is worth heading into the new year, Get Your Instant Home Valuation and we'll walk through it with you after the lights go up.