At 9 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5, the Buford Holiday Festival & Parade steps off from Tannery Row. One hour later, the doors open at the Buford Community Center for Christmas Traditions, the city's ticketed Santa morning. Nobody gets in before 10 a.m. on that ticket, and the next group can't enter until 11:30.
So two Santa events land on the same morning in the same small city. One is free and outdoors on Main Street. The other is indoors, costs $10, and lets you in only at the time printed on your ticket. The ticket is the one fixed point in the day, and it went on sale Monday, Nov. 2, at 9 a.m. Choosing a slot is really choosing how much of the parade you'll see, so the morning is easier to plan around the entry time than around the parade route.
Two hosts, two very different Santa visits
The parade and festival come from the Buford Business Alliance, and the event's vendor paperwork says it's presented by the alliance and the City of Buford together. The alliance says the event has brought "our community, families, and local businesses together for the holidays" for more than 10 years. According to its listing on Eventeny, the day includes the parade, food trucks, vendors, stage performances, a holiday dog costume contest, kids' activities and photos with Santa.
Christmas Traditions is a separate, city-hosted event inside the Community Center. Here's what the $10 covers:
- Professional photos with Santa, which you can download free after the event through a link sent to the email on your ticket order
- A hot chocolate bar and holiday sweets with Santa in the Grand Ballroom
- A screening of a holiday classic
- Face painting and a balloon artist
Admission is $10 per guest, adults and children alike, and children 2 and under get in free. Santa photos run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The city asks guests to put phones away during the Santa visit, since the professional photos come afterward.
That makes these two different kinds of Santa photo. On Main Street you get a festival photo in the middle of a street fair. At the Community Center you get a booked, staged portrait with no phones and a ballroom of cocoa. A family that wants both can have both, but only with the right ticket.
The morning, slot by slot
The city's page is strict about timing. "Guests may only enter at the time indicated on their ticket." Here's how each slot fits with the rest of Dec. 5:
- 9:00 a.m. The parade starts at Tannery Row. Last year it was scheduled for 9 to 10 a.m.
- 10:00 a.m. The first Christmas Traditions entry slot opens, the festival opens on Main Street, and Santa photos begin at the Community Center. If you hold a 10 a.m. ticket, you have to leave the parade before it ends to make your entry time.
- 11:30 a.m. The second entry slot opens. This is the slot that fits around the parade: watch it from start to finish, get a first look at the festival, then head to your Community Center entry.
- Afternoon. The festival on Main Street runs until 3 p.m., so families on either slot can go back downtown for food trucks and the stage after their visit.
The city's page carries one more warning: vendors are not being accepted for Christmas Traditions, and "any posts suggesting otherwise are scams." Vendors who want a spot on Dec. 5 should look to the Main Street festival, which takes applications through the alliance.
What last year's parade looked like
The alliance's 2026 listing gives the start point and times but not the full route. Last year's format gives a good picture of the day, as long as you read it as last year's plan. A community-submitted 2025 event post on Patch laid out this route: from Tannery Row at 554 W. Main Street, down historic Main Street to South Hill Street. The festival then ran from South Hill Street to Wilson Street and the amphitheater at 301 East Main Street. The same post expected more than 50 parade entries and more than 60 vendors, along with food trucks, stage performances, a free Kids' Zone and free Santa photos.
The 2026 listings give two addresses, 301 East Main St. on Eventeny and 304 E. Main St. on the alliance's page, so check the map pin before you set your GPS.
Dog owners have a reason to stay into the afternoon. In 2025, the city's all-in-one flyer set the dog costume contest for 1:45 p.m. on the amphitheater stage, with sign-ups at the festival starting at 10 a.m. Last year's entry was free, dogs had to be leashed and well-behaved, and the prizes included "bragging rights." This year's version is called the Paws and Claws Dog Costume Contest, and its application is linked from the alliance's event page. The 2026 time and rules haven't been published yet.
If last year's 1:45 time holds, a family with an 11:30 ticket could go from parade to Santa to costume contest without rushing any part of the day.
The three weeks before it, and the weeks after
Dec. 5 is the busiest day, but Buford's season starts three weeks earlier and keeps going past New Year's. The dates below build up to that Saturday and then carry the season on.
- Saturday, Nov. 14, 5 to 9 p.m. The Tree Lighting Ceremony at The Village at Mall of Georgia takes place at The Village Amphitheatre, with the Grinch, Papa Elf and Bubbles Over GA.
- Friday, Nov. 20, through Jan. 3, 2027. Magical Nights of Lights returns to Lanier Islands Resort, nightly from 5 to 10 p.m.
- Nov. 20 to 30. Give Back Nights at Magical Nights of Lights. Bring five cans of food to the front gate and get a $10 voucher for License to Chill Snow Island plus a $10 voucher at Game Changer. The donations go to the Georgia Mountain Food Bank.
- Sunday, Nov. 29. Santa makes his "Magical Arrival" at Magical Nights of Lights, and he's scheduled for other select nights too.
- Saturday, Dec. 5. The parade, the festival and Christmas Traditions.
A few practical points on the lights. The show is a drive through miles of animated displays, and guests can't leave their vehicles along the route. Tickets are priced per vehicle and vary by vehicle size and date, with a standard vehicle defined as up to 10 passengers. You can buy in advance or at the gate, and the resort's gate surcharge for the lights starts at 4 p.m. each night. The ticket portal lists parking at 7000 Lanier Islands Parkway, and the resort recommends planning at least 2.5 hours if you're adding Snow Island and Game Changer to the drive. The Give Back vouchers only apply from Nov. 20 to 30, and they're worth more paired with a Snow Island stop than with the drive alone.
The Community Center stage, before and after Dec. 5
The Buford Community Center is also hosting a run of evening concerts this season, and they fall around the Christmas Traditions date. Its events page lists:
- Larry Gatlin on Nov. 6 at 8 p.m.
- We've Only Just Begun: Carpenters Remembered on Nov. 13 at 8 p.m.
- Nashville Noel on Dec. 11 and 12
- Celtic Angels on Dec. 18 at 8 p.m.
The Gatlin show is the night after this post goes up, and the Carpenters tribute falls the night before the Mall of Georgia tree lighting. After Dec. 5, Nashville Noel and Celtic Angels take the season into the middle of the month, while Magical Nights of Lights runs every night through Jan. 3.
The one date on this calendar that can sell out on you is a 10 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. entry at Christmas Traditions. Every other event is a free gathering, a pay-at-the-gate drive or a concert ticket.
Holiday weekends like this are when Buford's downtown blocks are at their busiest, and they're also when a lot of homeowners start thinking about spring. If you're wondering how your home would show next year, Jamie Mock can tell you where it stands before the new year. Request your free home valuation.
