Buckhead's 2026 holiday season starts on Saturday, October 31. That morning, Santa at Phipps Plaza opens at 10 a.m. for its 48th season, and the appointment book is mostly full before the first visit. Most of the free part of the season comes five weeks later, on Saturday, December 5. That day, the Atlanta History Center, Lenox Square, Livable Buckhead and a Buckhead Avenue artisan market all have events within a few hours of each other. The schedule took this shape after the neighborhood's two big department-store traditions ended. The calendar below follows from those two dates.
The Phipps book filled before October did
Santa at Phipps works differently from most mall Santa visits. Every visit is by appointment, and getting one starts in summer. To receive an invitation, families had to pre-register, and that process opens in early July each year. The site now says fewer than 500 appointments are left for the season, mostly weekday midday slots in November. The site lists more than 6,000 slots for 2026, so more than nine in ten were taken before opening day.
The rules explain why the slots go so quickly:
- Each family or email address gets one appointment.
- Visits are booked five every 15 minutes.
- Pre-registering doesn't guarantee a slot. Registrants get an email invitation with their own booking link, and invitations go out in batches.
- The site recommends booking on a computer, not a phone.
- The site lists two sender addresses for invitations, [email protected] and [email protected], so check spam folders for both.
Families who missed the July window still have one option. The site suggests checking with the Santa Desk at the mall about last-minute cancellations. The 2026 operating schedule runs from Saturday, October 31 through Wednesday, December 23. Several weekdays are closed, mostly Tuesdays, plus November 4, 5 and 26 for Thanksgiving. The most recent published photo package prices are from 2023, so 2026 prices may differ. In 2023, a single 5x7 print was $34 and the Rudolph Digital Combo was $125. According to its product page, Phipps stopped offering DVDs after 2024.
Lenox Square's two traditions are gone
Phipps has room for an early appointment system partly because Lenox Square no longer anchors the season the way it used to.
For 17 seasons, the Pink Pig Ride ran at Lenox, from 2003 through 2019. The ride itself goes back to 1953, when the first Priscilla looped above the toy department at Rich's downtown, as the Atlanta History Center recounts. During the Lenox years, part of every fare went to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in 2020 that the ride had raised more than $800,000 for the hospital system since 2003.
The Great Tree followed a similar path. It started at Rich's downtown, moved to Underground Atlanta after that store closed in 1991, and arrived at Macy's at Lenox in 2002. Rough Draft Atlanta reported in December 2023 that Macy's had retired the lighting after 74 years.
Lenox's 2026 holiday program has no single big event to replace them. Instead, Simon lists a set of smaller, scheduled events at the mall from November 1 through December 31:
| Date | Lenox Square event | Booking |
|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 14 to Thu., Dec. 24 | Santa Photos | Reservations through Simon's booking link |
| Sun., Nov. 22 and Sun., Dec. 13 | Santa Paws pet photos | Check the event page |
| Tue., Dec. 1, 6 p.m. | Teal to Heal Fashion Show, Luxury Wing | Ticketed |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 1:30 p.m. | Atlanta Opera holiday performance, Luxury Wing | Check the event page |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Caring Santa, a private sensory-friendly visit | Reservations required |
Santa arrives at Lenox on Saturday, November 14, two weeks after Phipps opens. Simon's Santa Photos page handles reservations, and the mall asks families to book early. The two malls are close together on Peachtree Road but run on different timelines. Phipps's Santa calendar is mostly settled by summer pre-registration, and Lenox's opens closer to the season.
Where the Pink Pig is in 2026
This year you can see the Pink Pig in two places, and only one of them is in Buckhead.
The Pink Pig Trackless Train is back for its third year at the Georgia Festival of Trees, November 21 through 29, 2026. The festival is at Gas South in Duluth, outside Buckhead. The festival says it's inspired by the original tradition, and it notes that the Pink Pig name is a Macy's trademark.
The Buckhead connection is at 130 West Paces Ferry Road. Rich's donated Priscilla and Percival, the twin monorail pigs, to the Atlanta History Center in 1996, and they are part of its permanent collection. The center's Winter Fest 2026 lists photo opportunities with "the famous Pink Pigs from Rich's Department Store." Winter Fest is Saturday, December 5, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It also includes Santa photos, which are booked as time sessions at checkout, plus story times, crafts, the decorated Historic Houses and a winter walk through Goizueta Gardens.
Winter Fest falls on the same Saturday as Livable Buckhead's market and tree lighting.
December 5, from morning to night
For anyone who doesn't have a Phipps appointment, this is the day the free side of the season comes together. In date order, here is the day:
- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Atlanta History Center. Winter Fest, with the Pink Pigs photo op, Santa sessions and the decorated grounds.
- 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Buckhead Avenue. The Buckhead Handmade Holiday Market fills the 200 to 300 block of Buckhead Avenue at Buckhead Village. It runs again Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- 1:30 p.m., Lenox Square. The Atlanta Opera's holiday performance in the Luxury Wing.
- 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., Charlie Loudermilk Park. Livable Buckhead's Holiday Market features local artisans at 3110 Roswell Road. The City of Atlanta lists its event permit as issued.
- Evening, Charlie Loudermilk Park. Livable Buckhead's holiday tree lighting, with live music and hot chocolate before the countdown. The rain date is Friday, December 18.
Livable Buckhead is also running two more events that day. Its Deck the Halls for Our Heroes wreath decorating makes wreaths for Atlanta Fire Rescue and Police stations. The first Miracle on Peachtree Hot Chocolate Crawl is a walking route through the district's holiday displays, with stops for hot chocolate and specialty cocktails and local musicians along the way. A second crawl follows on Saturday, December 12.
Several of those times haven't been announced yet. Livable Buckhead's 2026 plans confirm the dates for the tree lighting, wreath decorating and crawls, but they give no hours. The Livable Buckhead holiday page still shows last year's schedule. Its 7:30 p.m. tree lighting was for December 6, 2025, so it isn't this year's time. The same page lists a Santa and MiguElf ride on the Buc shuttle for December 5, 2025, and that event hasn't been announced for 2026 yet. Phipps is open that Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., if an appointment frees up.
The full season, in one calendar
| Date | Event | Location | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Santa at Phipps opens, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | Phipps Plaza | Appointments only |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Santa arrives at Lenox | Lenox Square | Reserve through Simon |
| Nov. 21 to 29 | Georgia Festival of Trees with the Pink Pig Trackless Train | Gas South, Duluth | Festival tickets |
| Sun., Nov. 22 | Santa Paws | Lenox Square | Pet photos |
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Santa at Phipps closed | Phipps Plaza | Thanksgiving |
| Tue., Dec. 1, 6 p.m. | Teal to Heal Fashion Show | Lenox Square | Ticketed |
| Thu., Dec. 3 | Grinch on The Green | Phipps Plaza | Outdoor screening and Grinch photos |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Winter Fest, Opera performance, two holiday markets, wreaths, Hot Chocolate Crawl, tree lighting | Atlanta History Center, Lenox, Buckhead Avenue, Charlie Loudermilk Park | Tree lighting time not yet posted |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Caring Santa; Handmade Holiday Market day two | Lenox Square; Buckhead Avenue | Caring Santa requires reservations |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Second Hot Chocolate Crawl | Buckhead Village area | Hours not yet posted |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Santa Paws | Lenox Square | Pet photos |
| Fri., Dec. 18 | Tree lighting rain date | Charlie Loudermilk Park | Only if Dec. 5 is rained out |
| Wed., Dec. 23 | Last day of Santa at Phipps | Phipps Plaza | 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Thu., Dec. 24 | Last day of Lenox Santa; Christmas Eve Ham Haul | Lenox Square; citywide | Ham Haul delivers to fire stations and police precincts |
The Christmas Eve Ham Haul brings the season to a close. Livable Buckhead volunteers, working with Atlanta Fire Rescue, Atlanta Police and Buckhead Rotary, deliver holiday hams and sides to 49 fire stations and police precincts across Atlanta.
At Dorsey Alston Realtors, we've been part of Buckhead since 1947, and December 5 is a full day for this neighborhood. If you'd like help deciding which of these events suits your family's plans this year, we'd be glad to talk it through.
