Brookhaven's Holiday Rink Season Just Won a Regional Award. Here's What to Know Before It Returns Dec. 19

Last December, about 2,000 people came to Blackburn Park on a Wednesday night to watch the City of Brookhaven light its holiday tree and menorah. Two and a half weeks later, Holidays in the 'Haven opened its skating rink on the old county building site at Brookhaven Park. By January 4 the event had drawn more than 18,000.

The tree lighting is still on the calendar, and it is still a good night out. But the city's largest holiday crowd now gathers at Brookhaven Park, at an event that has only existed since 2024. In late October the Georgia Recreation and Park Association named it District 6's Special Event of the Year. Holidays in the 'Haven returns Saturday, December 19, and runs through Monday, January 4, 2027. Last year, demand for the free skate sessions ran ahead of supply.

A District 6 award for Holidays in the 'Haven

The City of Brookhaven announced the recognition in a November 5 news release. At its October 27 meeting, the City Council celebrated two GRPA District 6 honors for the Parks and Recreation Department. One was Agency of the Year in the 40,001 to 80,000 population category. The other was Special Event of the Year for Holidays in the 'Haven. The release says the event "began in 2024 with the introduction of the ice-skating rink at Brookhaven Park and has only grown since."

The release also quotes Mayor John Park:

"Now is the perfect season to get ready for Holidays in the Haven and experience what makes it the Special Event of the Year."

The rink is the main draw, and the rest of the park fills in around it. Explore Brookhaven, the city's convention and visitors bureau, lists four parts to the 2026 season. Rudolph's Rink is the skating. Santa's Village has arts and crafts for kids and adults. Festive Food Lane is lined with food trucks and concessions. Grinch Games is a lawn-game area for families.

Two seasons, two very different rinks

The rink at Brookhaven Park has changed a lot in two winters. In 2024, The Georgia Sun reported that it opened as a synthetic-ice rink, operating Fridays through Sundays from December 7 until January 5. When it came back in 2025, Rough Draft Atlanta called the previous winter its "inaugural season."

The second year brought two big changes. The rink switched to real ice, and the whole event moved to the site of the demolished DeKalb County Services Building. The city's December 2025 Parks and Recreation report says that site "provided the perfect space for the skating rink and other holiday activities."

The city's January 2026 departmental report lists two December 2025 approvals: $18,000 to Aggreko, LLC for rink power and fuel, and $27,000 to Jamboree Events, LLC for holiday inflatables and rink generators. Those two line items alone come to $45,000 in support equipment for a season the city runs with free skating.

As we covered in October, Brookhaven Park was planned as a festival ground years before the city controlled enough of it to use it that way. The open ground left after the county building came down now hosts both the October International Festival and the December rink.

The real limit is a 45-minute time slot

Skating in 2025 was free, which made the schedule tight. According to the city's ice skating page, as summarized by Brookhaven Local Today, here is how the 2025 season worked:

• Sessions: 45 minutes each, booked online at no cost
• Demand: online registration sold out, and the city held back a limited number of walk-up spots for each session
• Skates: rentals included, in sizes from toddler 8 to adult 14
• Paperwork: a registration form and a signed waiver for every skater
• Closed days: December 24, December 25 and January 1

For a family, the waiver matters as much as the time slot, because each skater needs one. Filling out the forms ahead of time, and not at the rink entrance, makes a 45-minute session go a lot further.

The city posts rink information on its Ice Skating page, and Holidays in the 'Haven appears on its Special Events page. For questions, call the City of Brookhaven at 404-637-0500. Since 2025's online slots ran out, check both pages often as December gets closer.

The four weekends before the rink opens

Holidays in the 'Haven closes out a season that starts this week. Here is the run-up in order:

1. Now through December 1: Holiday Tinsel Trail at Brookhaven Park. Explore Brookhaven and the City of Brookhaven run this program, in which local residents, businesses and community groups each decorate an assigned tree. Installation runs November 16 to December 1, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM daily. Sponsorships ranged from the $45 Holly Level for a pencil-size tree to the $125 Ho Ho Ho Level, where Explore Brookhaven supplies the decorations and does the decorating. The trees will be up at Brookhaven Park when the rink opens, so a walk along the trail fits easily before or after a skate session.
2. Wednesday, December 2: Light Up Brookhaven at Blackburn Park. The city calendar lists 6:00 to 9:00 PM at 3493 Ashford Dunwoody Road. Explore Brookhaven's listing promises Santa arriving by helicopter, photos with Santa, bouncy houses and inflatables, train rides, a petting zoo, crafts, and first-come, first-served giveaways. Last year Santa arrived in the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta helicopter, and the Cross Keys High School Band played him to the stage.
3. Saturday and Sunday, December 5 and 6: Holiday Market at Brookhaven City Centre. The Brookhaven Farmers Market moves indoors to 4001 Peachtree Road NE with more than 20 vendors. Hours are Saturday 9 AM to noon and Sunday 11 AM to 2 PM. Details are on the market's holiday page.
4. Saturday, December 5: Pictures with Santa at City Centre. Explore Brookhaven lists photos at 4001 Peachtree Road NE from 9:00 AM to noon, at the same time as the market's Saturday hours. City Centre photos started last year, when the city held them in the atrium for the first time.

Then comes Saturday, December 19, and the season moves to Brookhaven Park for its final 17 days.

Getting to Brookhaven Park

Brookhaven Park is at 4158 Peachtree Road NE, the same park that hosted the International Festival in October. For that festival, the city sent visitors to MARTA and ran free shuttles from Apple Valley Road, behind the MARTA parking lot. That plan was for the October event. For December parking or transit instructions, check the city's Special Events page closer to opening day.

If you already have a December list going, the order is simple. The Tinsel Trail is up through the start of the month, Blackburn Park lights up on the 2nd, City Centre is busiest on the weekend of the 5th, and the rink opens on the 19th. More on the parks, restaurants and streets around these events is on our Brookhaven neighborhood page.

At Heather Cummings, we love seeing neighbors turn out for these seasonal traditions, and we hope to see you at the rink this year. If you are hosting family over the holidays and want help planning around the Brookhaven calendar, or you are curious about our own annual Santa Photos event, let's connect.