The Callanwolde Fine Arts Center at 980 Briarcliff Road usually spends late November turning into a holiday house, with workshops upstairs, performers in the great hall and a Santa set waiting for families. This year the house is doing something much smaller. Tonight, Thursday, November 19, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., it hosts a Student Art Show that is open to all, and that is the only event on its fall calendar.
So for once, Druid Hills goes into the season without its mansion at the center. The rest of the neighborhood's December is still in place, though, and most of it costs less and sits closer to home than the immersive show that was supposed to take over the grounds.
What Callanwolde Paused, and What Moved to 2027
Earlier this month, Callanwolde posted a short notice on its Winter House page headed "A Pause for What's Next." Its reason for the pause:
"As we look ahead, we're taking time to reflect on the event and consider how we can make it even better, more accessible, and welcoming to everyone."
The news came in two parts. Winter House is Callanwolde's own event. JOIE was separate: an immersive holiday production from Mirth & Mischief Productions planned for this December at the mansion, with a mainstage show inside and a "Winter Wonderland Light Forest" outside. On November 6, Mirth & Mischief announced on JOIE's page that the inaugural season has moved to the 2027 holiday season, and that it is contacting every ticket holder to issue a full refund.
The two events were built very differently. JOIE sold timed tickets by date and tier, and its page listed child tickets at $45 for outdoor-only entry and $99 for a junior mainstage pass. Winter House 2025 ran across three weekend blocks, from November 29 through December 14, with free general admission and fees only for some workshops and performances. Its program included Santa photo sessions and a Salsa Social on December 5.
That free, drop-in quality is what goes missing this year, and the events below cover parts of it at $20 or less.
Emory's Candlelit Carols Have Run for Decades
Emory's Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at Glenn Memorial has a long history behind it. The Schwartz Center box office calls it "a warm and welcoming Atlanta tradition for decades." It's a candlelit choral concert led by Dr. Eric Nelson, with the Emory Concert Choir and University Chorus singing and special guests from the Emory community reading scripture.
This year it runs three times at Glenn Auditorium/Glenn Memorial UMC:
- Friday, December 4, at 8 p.m.
- Saturday, December 5, at 4 p.m.
- Saturday, December 5, at 8 p.m.
Single tickets are $20, through Emory's arts box office. The Saturday 4 p.m. performance is the one to pick if you bring children who would fade by nine.
A week later, Emory's box office also has Christmas with Atlanta Master Chorale on Friday, December 11, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, December 12, at 4 and 8 p.m., with single tickets at $42. Between the two programs, there's a choral concert on campus on both of the first two December weekends.
Fernbank Takes the Weekend Daytime
Winter House had the slot for a winter afternoon indoors with kids, close to home. This year Fernbank Museum, at 767 Clifton Road, fills it.
Winter Wonderland: Celebrations & Traditions Around the World opens this Saturday, November 21, and runs through January 10, 2027. Its decorated trees and displays tell stories chosen by local cultural partners. It is included with general admission and CityPASS, and it's free for Fernbank members. If your household goes to Fernbank several times a winter, the membership already covers it, which puts it closest to Callanwolde's free-admission model of anything on this list.
For adults, Fernbank After Dark's holiday night, "Ugly Knits & Warm Sips," is Friday, December 11, from 7 to 11 p.m. Online tickets are $18.95 for members and $23.95 for nonmembers, before taxes and fees, and buying at the box office or by phone adds $3. It lands the same night as the first Master Chorale concert, so on December 11 the choice is sweaters and cocktails on Clifton Road or carols on campus.
The Smaller Rooms Hold the Most
The season's smallest events, including a free lunch, are posted on Druid Hills Presbyterian Church's events page:
- Sunday, December 6, at noon: Holiday Lunch and Sanctuary Decorating, with a free lunch.
- Sunday, December 6, at 12:30 p.m.: a sandwich ministry that is open to community members.
- Sunday, December 13, at 1:30 p.m.: Pews & Popcorn, a discussion of Elf for ages 18 and up.
- Sunday, December 20, at 11 a.m.: Special Music Worship with Lessons and Carols.
The December 6 lunch has some of what Winter House did best. It costs nothing, and you help decorate a historic interior instead of just walking through one that's already finished. The December 20 service brings Lessons and Carols back for anyone who missed Glenn Memorial's tickets.
The One Event That Never Needed a Venue
In December, the Druid Hills Civic Association's Holiday House Decorating Contest becomes the neighborhood's biggest event, and it happens on the streets themselves. The DHCA's community events page explains how it works. Neighbors nominate standout homes, each nominated home gets a yard sign and a pin on a digital map, and in mid-December the community uses the map to tour the neighborhood and vote for two favorites. Winners are announced toward the end of the month.
The contest needs no tickets, no parking plan and no production company. In a year when Callanwolde is pausing to make its event "more accessible, and welcoming to everyone," the decorating contest already works that way, since touring the map and voting cost nothing. A lot of the route also runs along the same Ponce de Leon corridor as the six-park Olmsted walk we wrote about in September, now connected end to end again, so you can do the voting tour and the parks walk in one evening.
The Season, Week by Week
Here are the dates from above in order, so you can lay out the next six weeks in one place:
- Thursday, November 19, 6:30 to 8 p.m.: Student Art Show at Callanwolde, open to all.
- Saturday, November 21: Fernbank's Winter Wonderland opens and runs through January 10, 2027.
- Friday, December 4, 8 p.m.: Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, Glenn Memorial, $20.
- Saturday, December 5, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.: Lessons and Carols, second and third performances.
- Sunday, December 6, noon: Holiday Lunch and Sanctuary Decorating at Druid Hills Presbyterian, free lunch.
- Friday, December 11, 7 to 11 p.m.: Fernbank After Dark, "Ugly Knits & Warm Sips," from $18.95. Also Christmas with Atlanta Master Chorale at 8 p.m., $42.
- Saturday, December 12, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.: Christmas with Atlanta Master Chorale.
- Sunday, December 13, 1:30 p.m.: Pews & Popcorn with Elf at Druid Hills Presbyterian, ages 18 and up.
- Mid-December: DHCA Holiday House Decorating Contest, with map touring and voting.
- Sunday, December 20, 11 a.m.: Special Music Worship with Lessons and Carols at Druid Hills Presbyterian.
To get JOIE's 2027 dates when they're released, Mirth & Mischief has a free newsletter sign-up on its JOIE page.
If your house is the one neighbors nominate this year, that porch says a lot about how a historic Druid Hills home shows. At Molly Carter Gaines, we think about presentation all year, from the first walkthrough to the listing photos. When you're curious what your home on these streets is worth, our Druid Hills neighborhood page and a quick home valuation are good places to start.
