The East Cobb Holiday Calendar Runs on Reservation Dates

At 10 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 26, Avenue East Cobb opened appointments for Photos with Santa and tickets for Story Time with Santa. No tree had been lit and no lights had gone up. Santa doesn't sit down in the Family Lounge until Nov. 21. Those three days before this post went up already belong to the 2026 holiday season.

That's how the East Cobb and Marietta holiday calendar works this year. The events with limited slots are decided by the day their bookings open. Nearly everything else stays easygoing. The sections below put the season in the order you'll need to act on it.

What needs a booking, and what doesn't

Every row in that table has a time limit. The tree lightings, the park lights and the drive-through display don't. The season splits along that line.

East Cobb lights first, on Nov. 20

The Lighting of Avenue East Cobb is Friday, Nov. 20, from 5 to 7 p.m. on The Plaza, and it's free. Avenue East Cobb's event page lists The Taylor Harlow Band starting at 5 p.m. and Santa arriving at 6:45. The countdown to light the 26-foot tree starts at 6:50. The activity row runs until Santa shows up, with face painting, a photo op, roaming entertainment, bounce houses and a toddler area.

That's almost two weeks before Marietta Square lights its tree. For East Cobb families, the season's start is at 4475 Roswell Road, not Glover Park, and the Santa who arrives that night stays put. Photos with Santa start the next morning, Saturday, Nov. 21, in the Family Lounge next to Panera Bread and run through Christmas Eve. Times vary, and packages run $35 to $45. According to East Cobb Today, pets are not allowed at these sessions, and the bookings line is 770-971-9945.

The smaller Avenue event has the fewest slots. Story Time with Santa runs on three Wednesdays, Dec. 2, 9 and 16, inside Barnes & Noble, with readings at 3, 4 and 5 p.m. That's nine sessions in total, recommended for ages 3 to 7, at $15 a child. All proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity NW Metro Atlanta. Tickets went on sale with the photo appointments on Oct. 26, so those nine readings have been on sale since that Monday.

The Square's Santa doesn't take walk-ups

Marietta Square holds its Christmas Tree Lighting and Santa's Arrival on Thursday, Dec. 3, in Glover Park at 50 N. Park Square. The 2026 schedule published on Marietta.com starts holiday performances at 4 p.m., with the Ugly Holiday Sweater Walking Parade at 5. Santa arrives at 5:15, the tree is lit at 6, and the evening ends at 8. The park also hosts Santa letter-writing stations and the Winter Wonderland's Festival of Trees, decorated by local schools and organizations.

The next day, Santa moves to the Marietta History Center at 1 Depot St., and the rules there are stricter than at Avenue East Cobb. Santa on the Square offers two formats. Pictures with Santa is a five-minute session from Dec. 4 through Dec. 24 at $10 plus optional image purchases. Santa's Magical Moments is a 25-minute private visit with story time, a craft, milk and cookies, professional photos and a photo ornament, for $200 on four dates only: Dec. 9, 15, 16 and 23. Reservations are limited and required, and walk-ups are not accepted. Families booking together need separate time slots, and each household buys its own download link.

New this year is a Sensory Santa Experience, which the Marietta Winter Wonderland site describes as an inclusive, sensory-friendly way to meet Santa. The booking page lists it as a 15-minute session with reduced lighting, minimal noise and flexible interaction, at $100 paid when you book. The organizer hasn't posted session dates yet, and its Pictures with Santa page still says reservations are "coming soon."

The two Santas run on two different clocks. Avenue East Cobb's booking window is already open. The Square's hasn't opened yet, and once it does, a missed slot can't be made up by just showing up. If you want both photos, book Avenue East Cobb now and keep an eye on the Square's page.

The first weekend of December is the crowded one

Once the Square lights its tree, the four days that follow are the busiest stretch of the season:

1. Thursday, Dec. 3. The Glover Park tree lighting runs from 4 to 8 p.m. A few blocks away, the Marietta Pilgrimage Gala runs from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Whitlock Inn, for $100 with advance purchase required.
2. Friday, Dec. 4. The 40th annual Marietta Pilgrimage Christmas Home Tour opens from 5 to 8 p.m. with five private homes in the Church-Cherokee Historic District. Santa photos also begin at the History Center, and Hanukkah begins at sundown.
3. Saturday, Dec. 5. The Pilgrimage runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Atlanta Ballet's The Nutcracker opens its run at Cobb Energy Centre.
4. Sunday, Dec. 6. The Pilgrimage's last day runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Holiday Lights at East Cobb Park runs from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at 3322 Roswell Road.

Pilgrimage tickets are $40 in advance and $45 during the tour, so buying ahead saves $5 a ticket. The Nutcracker runs Dec. 5 to 26 with matinee and evening performances, and on-site parking is $20 per vehicle. The long run gives you room. If the first weekend is full, the ballet will still be playing the weekend before Christmas.

Hanukkah runs from sundown Friday, Dec. 4, through nightfall Saturday, Dec. 12. Public menorah lightings at Avenue East Cobb and on the Square in past years were announced by their organizers closer to the date, so watch for 2026 announcements from those venues and from Chabad of Cobb.

The nights you can decide that afternoon

The reservation crunch is concentrated in a handful of events. The rest of the calendar needs no booking at all, and several of these stretch over weeks.

Holiday Lights at East Cobb Park is the closest of these to home. East Cobb Today describes it this way:

"East Cobb's own holiday night is at East Cobb Park, 3322 Roswell Road, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6"

The date comes from the Friends for East Cobb Park calendar, the volunteer group that runs the park. The outlet notes that the 2026 program hasn't been posted.

Lights of Life at Life University, 1269 Barclay Circle, runs nightly from Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, through Dec. 31. Lights are on from sunset, about 5:30 p.m., until around 9 or 10 p.m. Admission is $15 per car or truck and $30 per bus, paid at the entrance, and Life University says advance tickets are not required. It runs 36 nights, the longest stretch of anything on this calendar, so it works for the night out-of-town guests arrive or for a quiet weeknight in late December.

Candlelight Shopping on Marietta Square comes first of all. It's Friday, Nov. 13, from 5 to 8 p.m., free, with shops staying open late. The listing mentions live music at Australian Bakery Cafe and a Tiki Holiday theme at Lenny's Hair Salon.

The Winter Festival at Sewell Mill Library & Cultural Center, 2051 Lower Roswell Road, runs Saturday, Dec. 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cobb County's listing promotes local artisans and entertainment. It falls on the Saturday between the busy first weekend and the week before Christmas, close to home.

The Marietta History Center Pop-In for Family Fun on Saturday, Dec. 19, has a Holiday Celebrations theme. It's free, with activities from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and galleries open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It's in the same building where Santa is taking photos that month, though his sessions still need a reservation.

Putting it in order

Ordered by when you need to act, the season runs like this. Avenue East Cobb's Santa photos and Story Time tickets are open now. Santa on the Square and Sensory Santa open soon, with no walk-up option. Pilgrimage tickets and the Gala reward buying early, and the Gala requires it. Then there are the free and pay-at-the-gate nights: Candlelight Shopping on Nov. 13, both tree lightings, East Cobb Park on Dec. 6, Sewell Mill on Dec. 12 and Lights of Life every night from Thanksgiving through New Year's Eve. The events with a booking window are the ones to put in your phone now. The rest can wait until the night itself.

At Rich & Heather Homes, we'll be at many of these events with our own families this season, and we'd love to say hello. If the holidays have you thinking about what your East Cobb home is worth before the new year, request a free home valuation. Rich and Heather will give you an appraisal-backed number you can plan around.