Counting this Saturday, the Alpharetta Farmers Market has five Saturdays left. It skipped Oct. 10 to make room for Wire & Wood, and its final 2026 market is Nov. 14. The last Food Truck Alley of the season is a Thursday night, Oct. 22. The scarecrows lining downtown come down Nov. 1. From the last food truck night to the last market morning is 23 days. Most of what downtown Alpharetta does outdoors in fall happens in that window.
The quiet stretch between those last calls and Lights on the Loop is shorter than it looks, though. Downtown's holiday season starts with two tree lightings on back-to-back nights in late November. Then the big draw moves a couple of miles south to the Alpha Loop. Here's how the next eight weeks line up, in order.
Restaurant Week Still Has Five Days Left
Alpharetta Restaurant Week runs through Saturday, Oct. 17. The CVB's live page lists more than 40 participating restaurants, with multi-course dinner menus at $25 to $60 and many lunch menus at $20 to $35 and up. Beverages, tax and gratuity aren't included. An earlier CVB press release put the dinner ceiling at $75, so check the restaurant's own menu before you book. Participation and menus can change during the week.
You can do downtown's share of the list on foot. The CVB's September release names these downtown participants: Amasa Mexican Kitchen, The Butcher and Bottle, Carrie's Conservatory at The Hamilton, Ceviche Taqueria, Chiringa, Citizen Soul, Jack's Feed Store, JINYA Ramen Bar, Monkey 68 Sushi and Bar, Never Enough Thyme, One Day in Paris, Pure Taqueria, Saj, Siena Restaurant & Bar, Smokejack BBQ, Sunset, Surcheros, Taffer's Tavern and UP on the Roof. The current roster also includes Coalition Steak & Seafood at 50 Canton St., which has both lunch and dinner menus.
The week ends on a Saturday, so that morning you can hit the farmers market and still have a Restaurant Week dinner downtown.
The Last-Call Window, Dated
Every item below ends between Oct. 22 and Nov. 14. The CVB lists free admission for Food Truck Alley, Big Screen By The Green and the farmers market.
| Final date | What ends | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Thu., Oct. 22 | Food Truck Alley, last one of 2026, 5 to 9 p.m. | 37 Old Roswell St. |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Paint The Town: Plein Air Festival, running Oct. 20 to 24 | Downtown Alpharetta |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Big Screen By The Green college football days, last listed date | Chiringa, 34 South Main St. |
| Sun., Nov. 1 | Scarecrow Display, more than 100 scarecrows | Around downtown |
| Mon., Nov. 2 | Día de los Muertos Cantina pop-up | Amasa Mexican Kitchen, 15 Academy St. |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Alpharetta Farmers Market, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | Alpharetta Town Green |
Food Truck Alley comes with a few rules. Bring a blanket or chair to sit under the big tree, leave pets at home, and park in the decks at 92 Milton Ave. or 2 Park Plaza. The farmers market is the one most people will feel when it's gone. Every Saturday morning it fills City Center with local farmers, bakers, artisans and flower sellers. The CVB lists it at 2 Park Place on the Town Green.
Two Saturdays stack up best. On Oct. 24, the plein air festival wraps, the market runs in the morning, and Chiringa shows the game on the big screen from noon to 10 p.m. If you have kids, Avalon's trick-or-treating runs that morning from 10 a.m. to noon at 400 Avalon Blvd. On Oct. 31, you get the market, another game day at Chiringa, and a Halloween party at UP on the Roof, 33 South Main St., from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Two Newer City Center Spots Keep Going Through Winter
Plenty of downtown restaurants stay open all year, of course. Two newer City Center spots stand out because neither depends on the weather, and both opened this summer.
Amasa Mexican Kitchen is in Space 1E at 15 Academy St. North Atlanta Star reported a planned soft opening on Aug. 27 and a grand opening on Sept. 18. According to Amasa's own site, it now serves weekday lunch and Sunday brunch, with trivia on Tuesdays and rooftop jazz on Wednesdays. The Day of the Dead Cantina pop-up, with themed décor, cocktails and food specials, runs through Nov. 2. Amasa is also on the downtown Restaurant Week list, so this week covers all three: the Restaurant Week menu, the pop-up, and a Wednesday jazz night.
Grove & Barrel Provisions is a European and Mediterranean specialty market. Appen Media reported it would carry olive oils, pastas, coffee and wine, plus group experiences. North Atlanta Star reported on Aug. 12 that it was scheduled to open Friday, Aug. 14. Its own site now gives the address as 211 Market Street and lists an in-store tasting on Thursday, Oct. 15. Posted hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Once the Town Green market wraps on Nov. 14, Saturday shopping downtown is the same short walk with a later start.
Two other openings aren't confirmed yet. Paris Baguette was scheduled to open Sept. 16 at 4119 Lake St., Suite 105, in Lakeview, but the company's location page still says "Coming Soon." Giulia Italian Bakery was still listed as "set to open this summer" at Alpharetta City Center on the CVB's September coming-soon page, with no new date since.
Nov. 20 and 21 Start the Holiday Season
After the market closes, downtown has five Saturdays in a row without it. The next big moment comes the following weekend, when two tree lightings land on consecutive nights a few blocks apart.
Friday, Nov. 20. The Hamilton Alpharetta's fourth annual Christmas tree lighting runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at 35 Milton Ave. The tree is lit at 6:30.
Saturday, Nov. 21. This one fills the whole day. The Arts Alpharetta Artist Holiday Market runs from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Alpharetta Arts Center, 238 Canton St., selling handmade gifts and art. Thirty minutes after it closes, the City's Season of Celebration Tree Lighting begins on the downtown main stage in front of City Hall and runs from 5 to 8 p.m. A gift-shopping afternoon on Canton Street can roll straight into the tree lighting, with dinner downtown in between.
Saturday, Nov. 28. The Saturday after Thanksgiving, the Alpharetta Symphony performs An Alpharetta Holiday from 3 to 5:30 p.m. at Innovation Academy, 125 Milton Ave. Since it's an afternoon show, there's room for a holiday-weekend dinner afterward.
In December, the Lights Move to the Alpha Loop
The fall calendar ends at Lights on the Loop, a free light display that runs nightly from Dec. 4, 2026, to Jan. 4, 2027, from 5:30 to 11 p.m. It sits on the Alpha Loop between Northwinds Parkway and Old Milton Parkway, with themed weekends Dec. 4 to 5 and Dec. 18 to 19. Opening night features a Holiday Music Showcase from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., listed at 2500 Northwinds Pkwy.
So the season's main free attraction runs for a month instead of a single evening, and it happens on the trail instead of the Town Green. A 5:30 start through 11 p.m. also leaves room for a weeknight walk after work. Avalon picks up the outdoor shopping thread too, with its Makers Market returning as a Holiday Market on Dec. 12.
The trail network itself is growing. The CVB's September development roundup describes a $15.99 million, one-mile Alpha Link extension approved to connect Encore Parkway to Morrison Lake. It's a planned connection, not something open this winter.
Here are the dates for your calendar: Oct. 17 for the last day of Restaurant Week, Oct. 22 for the final Food Truck Alley, Nov. 14 for the last farmers market, Nov. 21 for the holiday market and City tree lighting, and Dec. 4 for the first night of Lights on the Loop.
If this calendar has you wondering what it would be like to live within walking distance of Canton Street or the Alpha Loop, I'm happy to go through those parts of Alpharetta with you, one block at a time. That's the local knowledge I bring to every conversation at Mano Sells Homes. Let's connect.
