When does Christmas actually start in downtown Roswell? If your answer is the tree lighting on Canton Street, you'll miss two weeks of it. This year the season starts on the front lawn of Bulloch Hall on Friday, Nov. 20. It then moves to Town Square the following Monday. It doesn't fully come together until the evening of Friday, Dec. 4.
The three openings come from different organizers on different schedules, and each one parks, shuttles and closes streets its own way. Once you know the order, you can pick your nights on purpose. Here's how I'd lay it out.
The order, start to finish
- Friday, Nov. 20: The Roswell Christkindlmarket opens at Bulloch Hall, 180 Bulloch Ave., and runs daily through Wednesday, Dec. 23. Entry is free.
- Monday, Nov. 23: Deck the Square trees at Roswell Town Square, 610 Atlanta St., are ready to decorate.
- Friday, Nov. 27 and Saturday, Nov. 28: The Roswell Holiday Expo runs at the Mimms Museum of Technology and Art, outside downtown.
- Noon, Friday, Dec. 4: Every Deck the Square tree has to be fully decorated.
- 6 p.m., Friday, Dec. 4: The City of Roswell lights its 40-foot tree at Heart of Roswell Park, 925 Canton St.
Look at the gap between items 1 and 5. For two weeks the market is open on Bulloch Avenue while the Town Square trees are still going up, one group at a time. Dec. 4 is the first day the market, the decorated square and the lit tree all exist at once. The Town Square deadline falls six hours before the lighting.
Stage one: Bulloch Hall, and the weeknight catch
The Christkindlmarket is a German-style Christmas market. Munich Event Group produces it in cooperation with the City of Roswell. The market's own site lists mulled wine made to a traditional German recipe, food vendors, gift stalls, Christmas trees for sale and photos with Santa. The city's page adds a biergarten, a circular children's train ride and Bulloch Hall itself, decorated for the holidays by local design companies and civic groups.
The market hasn't posted its 2026 daily hours yet. The last schedule it published ran 3 to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. The Roswell Journal flags that schedule as belonging to an earlier season, so check the market's site before you head over, especially on a weeknight.
The weeknight catch is about getting there, not about hours. The Bulloch Hall lot is accessible parking only during the market and closed to through traffic. The free shuttle sponsored by Malon D. Mimms Company runs only on weekends. The Journal says the weeknight answer is to park at one of the Mimosa Boulevard churches and walk.
| Weekend visit | Weeknight visit | |
|---|---|---|
| Shuttle | Free. Fri and Sat 3 to 9 p.m., Sun 3 to 8 p.m. | None |
| Best place to start | Roswell City Hall, 38 Hill St. | Roswell United Methodist, Roswell Presbyterian or Roswell First Baptist lots |
| Shuttle stops | City Hall, the three churches, Bulloch Hall | None |
| Crowd level | Busiest, per the Journal | Lighter |
The city also lists free parking at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center lot at 950 Forrest St., street parking along Mimosa Boulevard and at Mimosa Hall, and the Park Square Court lot. Paid parking is available at Platt Family Law. The shuttle times above come from the city's standing page rather than a 2026 announcement, so confirm them closer to opening.
Three more rules matter once you're there:
- Getting dropped off: Rideshare drop-offs go to the pickup point near Roswell Town Square, 610 Atlanta St. The city asks riders not to stop on Highway 120 or at Bulloch Hall.
- Driving in: Bulloch Avenue stays two-way but can only be reached from Mimosa Boulevard.
- Drinks and dogs: If you're 21 or older, you can carry drinks bought at the market's beverage tents and restaurants through the Historic District in plastic cups. Outside alcohol and glass aren't allowed. Leashed dogs are welcome on the grounds but not inside the house museum.
The Bulloch Hall house museum stays open during market hours, but the city says it usually closes about an hour before the market does. Regular tours aren't offered during the market run. If the house is part of your plan, go early in the evening.
Stage two: Town Square fills in, one tree at a time
While the market runs, Town Square is decorated piece by piece. Deck the Square is a returning City of Roswell display. The 2026 application calls it "back." Here's how the city describes the setup on its Roswell365 listing:
"The City will provide a six-foot tree, access to electricity (one 20-amp, 120-volt circuit), and a sign for your tree. Your organization will just need to provide lights and decorations."
The trees go up from Nov. 23 through noon on Dec. 4, so the square changes from week to week. Each tree gets an 8.5-by-11-inch tag with the name of the business or organization that decorated it. Zeba Hair Salon already appears on the 2026 event page. A walk through the square the week before Thanksgiving and another the week after will look different.
The rules shape what you'll see. Glass ornaments aren't allowed, trees stand outside in all weather, and the city turns away entries that are overtly commercial or political. No pamphlets or handouts can sit beside a tree.
If you want a tree of your own
Applying is free, and Roswell business owners, nonprofits and residents get priority. Roswell365 lists Nov. 13 as the registration deadline. The city's tourism calendar shows the window ending Nov. 12, so go by the earlier date. Timing matters more than the deadline, though. The city says applications stay open only until the trees run out, and then a waitlist starts. In the first week of November, the application on Eventeny has about a week left on the calendar, and maybe less on actual trees.
Accepted participants commit to more than one evening. You decorate between Nov. 23 and noon Dec. 4, and you take everything down between Saturday, Jan. 2 and Saturday, Jan. 9. After that, city staff can throw out whatever is left.
Stage three: Dec. 4, when it all lines up
The City of Roswell's tree lighting runs 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 4 at Heart of Roswell Park. It's free and lists choral performances, hot chocolate, fire pits and s'mores, a reading by the mayor, Santa, and the lighting of a 40-foot tree.
This is where the order pays off. Dec. 4 is a Friday, so the Christkindlmarket is on its weekend schedule. Going by the last hours the market posted, which date from an earlier season, it stays open until 9 p.m. on Fridays. The city's standing shuttle schedule, which isn't dated for 2026, also runs until 9. By then Town Square has been finished since noon. One evening can cover all three if you start at the square, catch the 6 p.m. program on Canton Street, then finish at Bulloch Hall. If Friday's hours and shuttle times hold for 2026, that's the one night all season it works.
Plan for road closures. The city hasn't posted 2026 closures yet. The Roswell Journal's tree-lighting guide says last year Canton Street closed between Norcross and Magnolia from 5 p.m., and Elizabeth Way closed from 2 p.m. Expect something similar and check before you drive. For parking, the Journal points to free public parking at City Hall, 38 Hill St., and walking to the park from there. That's the same lot that anchors weekend market parking, so City Hall works as a home base for the whole evening.
Around the edges of the main three
A few more dates fill in the calendar. Most of them are away from the Historic District.
- Roswell Holiday Expo: Nov. 27, 4 to 7 p.m., and Nov. 28, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Mimms Museum of Technology and Art, 5000 Commerce Parkway. VIP Expos Inc. presents it, and it's free, with vendors, food trucks, Santa and a kids' zone. It falls on Black Friday weekend, a week into the market's run.
- "Trouble in Toyland": That Puppet Guy Productions presents it with Roswell Cultural Arts and the city at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, Dec. 2, 3 and 4.
- Works in Clay Holiday Show & Sale: Roswell Creative Arts presents it with the city at Art Center West, Dec. 3 to 6 and Dec. 10 to 12.
- "The Nutcracker": Atlanta Dance Theatre performs at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, Dec. 11 to 13.
- "American Holiday Songbook": A free program from Roswell's Historic House Museums and the city at Mimosa Hall & Gardens, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m.
Dec. 4 is busy outside the Historic District too. "Trouble in Toyland" and Works in Clay are both scheduled that day, so check their showtimes against the 6 p.m. lighting if you want to fit in both.
After Dec. 4 the downtown pieces wind down on their own schedules. The market closes Dec. 23, and the Town Square trees can start coming down Jan. 2. Between Nov. 20 and Dec. 23 there are 34 days of market, and the full three-part setup lasts from Dec. 4 through the market's final day.
If your Roswell home is going on the market this winter, downtown in December makes a strong backdrop for the neighborhood part of a listing video, and that footage can only be shot between Dec. 4 and Dec. 23. At Richie Rich Atlanta, I plan listing shoots around dates like these. Start with a free, custom marketing plan, and we'll work out whether your listing video should catch Canton Street at its brightest.
