When is the Lighting of the Square in Dahlonega?

The time, in plain terms

• The organisers list the Lighting of the Square for Friday, November 27, 2026, from 3:00 to 8:00 PM at the Dahlonega Visitors Center, 13 S Park St. Old Fashioned Christmas committee schedule
• The visitors bureau says the tree lighting ceremony is at 6 PM in front of the Visitor Center. Its page still carries one line dated from 2025, so check the time again closer to the day. Discover Dahlonega (visitors bureau)
• In 2025 Christmas music in front of the Visitor Center began at 5:30 PM, half an hour before the lights. Discover Dahlonega (visitors bureau)

Three times float around because they describe three different things: when the event opens, when the music starts, and when the switch is thrown. If you only want to see the lights come on, plan to be standing in front of the Visitors Center well before 6 PM.

Road closures and parking

• For the 2025 lighting, road closures and detours began at 3:30 PM. No 2026 closure time is published yet. Discover Dahlonega (visitors bureau)
• Evening and weekend visitors are pointed first to the University of North Georgia parking deck, reached from South Chestatee Street and Choice Avenue. It is available after 5:30 PM Monday to Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday. Old Fashioned Christmas committee schedule
• For a full day or several days, use the Park & Stay spaces in the North Park Street lot or the Warwick Street lot, close to the shops and the Welcome Center. Old Fashioned Christmas committee schedule

On a Friday the university deck opens to the public at 5:30 PM, which is late for this event. If you are coming for the afternoon, the Park and Stay lots are the safer plan. The parking guide has every lot.

Where to stand

The ceremony is in front of the Visitors Center at 13 South Park Street, on the square, with the 1836 courthouse in the middle. The square is small. If you are in it, you will see the lights come on.

• In a 2025 Garden & Gun interview the visitors bureau's director spoke of about 16,000 people at the Lighting of the Square and roughly 297,000 visitors over the 2024 Christmas season. Garden & Gun

How long the lights stay on

• The 2026 date for taking the lights down is not published. In the 2025 season they stayed up through January 6, according to the visitors bureau. Discover Dahlonega (visitors bureau)
• The visitors bureau describes the celebration as running from the day after Thanksgiving through the first week of January. Discover Dahlonega (visitors bureau)

Nightly switch-on and switch-off times for 2026 are not published. We will add them when the organisers post them.

After the lights

• The visitors bureau says horse-drawn carriage rides run downtown at night starting on Black Friday after the Lighting of the Square. Discover Dahlonega (visitors bureau)
• The downtown authority says the season brings extended shopping hours, holiday music and trolley or horse-drawn carriage rides. Downtown Dahlonega (development authority)

Expect a wait for dinner on lighting night. Book ahead or eat early. Our one-evening plan puts the pieces in order.

Questions people ask

Dates can change. The organisers have the final word: Official Old Fashioned Christmas schedule