Gas South Lights Up First. Downtown Duluth Saves Its Busiest Stretch for Christmas Week.

When does the holiday season in Duluth actually start? The Gas South District calendar says this Saturday, Nov. 21. Downtown's answer is less obvious, and it matters if you're planning around a December with kids at home. The City of Duluth's Frosty Fun series runs from Nov. 22 to Jan. 2, 2027, but it isn't spread evenly. In the 15 days from Dec. 19 through Jan. 2, the city has eight events on its calendar, almost one every other day.

So Duluth's season comes in two bursts. Gas South District fills Thanksgiving week near Sugarloaf Parkway, and downtown's busiest run starts once that is over. If you know which burst fits which kind of day, you can plan the next six weeks well ahead of time.

Thanksgiving week belongs to Gas South District

The first burst is big and happens all at once. This Saturday, Nov. 21, the Georgia Festival of Trees opens at Gas South Convention Center. That evening Gwinnett Glows, presented by Coca-Cola, lights the district's holiday tree. This is the second year for Gwinnett Glows.

Gwinnett Glows is free. The evening program starts at 5 p.m. with food trucks, free hot cocoa, local performers, craft vendors and photos with Santa. Then comes a lantern parade. You can bring your own LED-lit lantern, or make one at the workshop from 4 to 5:30 p.m. The workshop is $25 per lantern with materials included, and space is limited. The Best Lantern winner gets $100 in cash and a $150 gift card to the Hudgens Center. Parking in Deck 1 is free for the event. Concession stands take only credit or debit cards.

The evening also includes a gift card drive with StreetWise for children in need. If you bring a gift card, you're entered into a raffle for entertainment prizes.

The Georgia Festival of Trees is the ticketed half of the opening weekend. The festival describes itself as hundreds of designer trees plus holiday attractions and live entertainment, and it raises money for efforts to protect vulnerable children. Opening day runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Everyone 2 and older needs a ticket, and tickets can't be refunded or exchanged. Parking is paid and card-only. You can prepay through Ticketmaster until the event starts or pay by card when you arrive. The festival's daily schedule shows the run as Nov. 20–29 because it counts the invitation-only preview on Friday, Nov. 20. It also lists select days with free admission for specific community groups, so check it before you buy tickets.

After Nov. 29, Gas South District's holiday calendar is mostly ballet. The Nativity Ballet plays Gas South Theater Dec. 2–6, and Gwinnett Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker runs Dec. 5–20.

Downtown fills the gaps during that same week

In the same nine days, the city's Frosty Fun calendar has smaller events, each lasting an afternoon or less, and it holds nothing on Nov. 21, the night of the lighting.

• Sunday, Nov. 22, 2–5 p.m. The Hunger Games Pop-Up on the Town Green. Participants must be 18 or older and must register, and spectators of any age are welcome.
• Tuesday, Nov. 24, from 3 p.m. Seek Duluth, a scavenger hunt that starts at the Town Green Christmas tree.
• Friday through Sunday, Nov. 27–29. Free roller skating with free skate rentals on the Activity Lawn. Skate aids are limited.

The skating is a repeat. The city thanked families for coming out to skate on the Activity Lawn in a December 2024 post, which also mentioned free rentals and skate aids. The skating runs on the same Friday-to-Sunday stretch as the Festival of Trees' closing weekend. That makes it a free, outdoor option for the long Thanksgiving weekend, a few miles from the convention center.

Early December is a two-night handoff

The first week of December links the two calendars. On Wednesday, Dec. 2, the Jazz Legacy Project plays Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite at Red Clay Music Foundry at 6:30 p.m. You must register, and the $11 reservation fee becomes credit for a bar item and a snack. On the same night, The Nativity Ballet opens its run at Gas South Theater.

Saturday, Dec. 5, is the big day downtown. Deck the Hall runs 2 to 7 p.m. with Santa, holiday characters, crafts, live performances, a holiday market, story time and a snow slide with a playground. Gwinnett Ballet Theatre's Nutcracker run at Gas South Theater begins that same day.

After Dec. 5, the downtown calendar has nothing until Dec. 19. Gas South's Nutcracker run fills that middle stretch.

Dec. 19 to Jan. 2 is downtown's busiest run

The second burst starts the Saturday before Christmas, and the events come close together. Most are on weekday afternoons, including Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, rather than only on weekends. Each one is in a different part of downtown, so over two weeks the series uses the Town Green, Parsons Alley, the Festival Center, Red Clay and the Activity Lawn.

1. Saturday, Dec. 19, 1–3 p.m. Nutcracker Pop-Up on the Duluth Town Green.
2. Sunday, Dec. 20, 2–4 p.m. Ornament Making at the Duluth Festival Center. Registration is required. You can choose between two crafts, each offered at several workshop times: diamond-painting ornaments for ages 5 and up, with anyone under 18 supervised, and beaded tinsel for ages 16 and up.
3. Monday, Dec. 21, 3–6 p.m. Meet the Grinch in Parsons Alley, with photos and a dance party.
4. Tuesday, Dec. 22, 7–9 p.m. Dueling Pianos at Red Clay Music Foundry, 3116 Main St. Registration is required. The show is free, and the $11 seat-reservation fee is credited toward a bar item and a snack.
5. Sunday, Dec. 27, shows at 1, 3 and 5 p.m. Jurassic Kingdom, a family show across from the Activity Lawn.
6. Tuesday, Dec. 29, 3–6 p.m. Frozen Story Walk, starting at the Christmas tree on the Town Green.
7. Thursday, Dec. 31, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Noon Year's Eve in Parsons Alley, for all ages, with free face painting.
8. Saturday, Jan. 2, 2027. Silent Disco Night at the Duluth Festival Center, with sessions from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and 9 to 10:30 p.m. Participants must be 18 or older and must register.

The times show who each event is for. Six of the eight are daytime or early-evening events for families: the pop-up, the ornament workshops, the Grinch, Jurassic Kingdom, the story walk and Noon Year's Eve. Noon Year's Eve wraps up at 1 p.m. on Dec. 31, so families with small children get a New Year's countdown at midday. The two late-night events, the Dec. 22 pianos and the Jan. 2 silent disco, are aimed at adults. The silent disco is limited to 18 and older, and the pianos run until 9 p.m. at a venue with a bar.

The Town Green Christmas tree connects the season. Seek Duluth starts there in November, and the Frozen Story Walk starts there on Dec. 29.

Gas South District under construction

Gas South District looks different this year. On Sept. 3, 2026, the district held a groundbreaking for a $175 million renovation of the arena and campus. The project includes a new parking deck with about 1,000 spaces and is expected to finish by early 2028. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the arena is expected to keep hosting large events throughout the project, except for a few weeks in summer 2027.

For holiday visits, the venue's parking and directions page sends convention center guests to Decks 1 and 2 and arena guests to Lot A and Deck 2. It also says parking options and opening times change from event to event, so check it the day you go.

In short, if you only want to get out once, go to Gas South during Thanksgiving week. If the kids are home the week of Christmas, the City of Duluth events calendar has something downtown almost every other day from Dec. 19 to Jan. 2.

Our team lives and works in Duluth, and we use this same calendar when relatives visit for the holidays. If friends or family are in town this season and start asking what it's like to own a home near the Town Green or Gas South District, La'Tep Real Estate Group can help, in English or Vietnamese. Schedule your free bilingual home consultation.