Looking for things to do in Atlanta this Fall?
Horror movies, Atlanta Pride, neighborhood festivals, drag dinners, spooky puppets, pumpkin patches, bookish side quests & enough Halloween chaos to keep your calendar aggressively booked.
Basically? October said pick a costume & a side quest. 🍂
Established circa 2019
Last updated on 09/25/2026TL;DR
October’s Vibe Check:
👻 Horror movies, haunted happenings & spooky shit everywhere
🏳️🌈 Atlanta Pride + drag getting delightfully unhinged
🎃 Pumpkin patches, fall festivals & neighborhood shenanigans
📚 Bookish nights, craft yaps & acquiring another hobby
🪦 Cemetery hangs because apparently that’s a normal October activity
💃 Costume parties, dancing & staying out past our bedtime
🍎 Apple season + fall road trips when Atlanta simply isn’t fall enough
P.S. Imitation? Cute. Execution? Never the same. 💅 ⭐ Main Character Energy
If you only do a few things this month… start here.
🎥 The Blair Witch Project — 10/01
📚 Decatur Book Festival — 10/02–04
🥧 Porch & Pies + Atlanta Indie Market — 10/03
💅 Mean Girls Drag Brunch — 10/03
🏳️🌈 Atlanta Pride Festival + Parade — 10/10–11
🎃 Little Five Points Halloween Festival + Parade — 10/17–18
🦪 Landlocked — 10/18
🏮 “Upside Down” Parade — 10/24
🎀 Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Halloween — 10/25
👻 Halloween, Horror & Spooky Sh*t
October understood the assignment.
👻 @marysatl
Scary Mary’s
Mary’s gets the spooky-season treatment. Come for the Halloween takeover, stay because October drinks taste better surrounded by a little Queer chaos.
🎥 @reelfriendsmovies @plazaatlanta — 10/01
The Blair Witch Project
Found footage, questionable decisions in the woods, & one very stressful corner. Start October properly with a horror classic on the big screen.
🩸 @atlantafilmseries @pitchforkretreta @7stages — 10/01–04
Atlanta HorrorFest (Tickets Required)
Four days of horror taking over Little Five Points. Horror nerds, your October homework has arrived.
🧛 @lore.atlanta — 10/06
The Glampire Chronicles
Vampires, but make them fabulous AF. Lore is bringing the glam to spooky season with a delightfully dramatic night out. You need this.
👽 @okmovieclub @plazaatlanta — 10/07
The Faculty
Aliens have infiltrated the school & the ’90s cast is stacked. Another perfectly normal October movie night at the Plaza.
👻 @centerforpuppetryarts — 10/07–31
The Ghastly Dreadfuls
Spooky puppetry returns for October with ghosts, ghouls & delightfully macabre storytelling. Your annual reminder that puppets can absolutely be creepy.
🧛 @sincerelyyoursbookstore — 10/10
Twilight + Flash Tat Pop-Up
Books + Twilight + flash tattoos. Say less, spider monkey.
🐈⬛ @lohspets @satiyogaatl @alltropesbookstore — 10/11
Spooky Stretchies Kitten Yoga
Yoga. Kittens. Spooky season. This may be the most efficient dopamine delivery system in Atlanta.
🧙 @wussyevents @plazaatlanta — 10/14
The Craft + Costume Contest (Tickets Required)
We are the weirdos, mister. The Craft hits the big screen with costumes encouraged because obviously we’re dressing for the occasion.
🎤 @wildasterbooks — 10/14
Spooky Literary Open Mic
Bring your eerie little stories, poems & spooky words to the mic. Costumes encouraged because regular literary readings simply weren’t October enough.
👻 @centerforpuppetryarts — 10/14–11/01
Spookhouse Annie | Ages 4+
A spooky-season puppet adventure for the tiny Halloween nerds. Proof that October weirdness can be family-friendly too.
🎃 @ivanacoquetu — 10/15
Electrolounge: Vampire Rave Burlesque/Aerial/Fire + Flow
Vampires, burlesque, aerial performers, fire & flow arts at Red Light Café. Apparently simply going to a bar in October wasn’t dramatic enough. You need this.
🪦 @oaklandcemetery — 10/15–18
Capturing the Spirit of Oakland (Tickets Required)
After-dark storytelling inside Historic Oakland Cemetery returns for spooky season. Atlanta history gets considerably more atmospheric after sunset.
💿 @nonsenseatl @529_eav — 10/16
Heyday: ’80s Halloween
Costumes + ’80s music + Halloween at 529. Stretch first because apparently we’re dancing through the season.
👹 @centerforpuppetryarts — 10/17 & 24
Monster Mash
The monsters are clocking in. Add some puppet-powered Halloween fun to the October calendar.
💿 @nonsenseatl @529_eav — 10/17
Hot Mess Dance Pop Halloween
Pop music, costumes & hot-mess behavior on the dance floor. Finally, an event title that sets realistic expectations.
🎃 @little5pointsofficial — 10/17–18
Little Five Points Halloween Festival + Parade
Costumes, weirdness & one of Atlanta’s most gloriously chaotic Halloween traditions take over L5P. This is not the weekend to dress normally. Be weird + wonderful! Don’t miss @gvgatl curating the market.
P.S. I can’t wait to show you my costume thisss year. Mwahaha.
📚 @bookishatlanta @liamariaaa — 10/20
Horror Book Club
For the readers who prefer their bedtime stories deeply unsettling. Come discuss horror with fellow people who willingly scare themselves for fun. It’s me.
🎹 @thefoxtheatre @cocacola — 10/20
Film Series: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Classic horror gets the Fox Theatre treatment. A delightfully old-school way to spend an October night.
📼 @thefoxtheatre @cocacola — 10/21
Film Series: The Ring
Seven days. One cursed videotape. A very large movie palace full of people voluntarily watching it. Excellent decision-making all around.
🪦 @oaklandcemetery — 10/22–25
Capturing the Spirit of Oakland (Tickets Required)
Another weekend of after-dark storytelling through Historic Oakland Cemetery. History, atmosphere & October are doing excellent work together here.
🏮 @chantellerytter @bseatl @atlantabeltline — 10/24
“Upside Down” Parade
Things are getting strange on the Atlanta Beltline. Chantelle Rytter brings another glowing parade to Atlanta, this time with a wonderfully upside-down October twist.
💀 @visitdecaturga — 10/25
Haints & Saints Day of the Dead Parade
Decatur celebrates the season with a parade honoring the dearly departed, community & the wonderfully strange overlap between spooky and sacred.
🍭 @virginiahighlanddistrict — 10/28
Candy Crawl
Costumes + candy + wandering Virginia-Highland. Tiny humans have been training all year for this.
🦇 @fernbankmuseum — 10/30
Fright Night
Science after dark gets considerably spookier for Halloween weekend. Fernbank is officially entering its fright era.
🔥 @ivanacoquetu — 10/31
Sunday School for Sinners: Sinners vs. Saints
Burlesque, fire & aerial performances collide for a saints-vs-sinners Halloween night. Pick a side or dress suspiciously somewhere in the middle. 😈
🪩 @nonsenseatl — 10/31
Nonsense Halloween Experience at The Garden Club
Halloween night belongs on the dance floor.
🍬 @poncecitymarket @poncecityroof — 10/31
Trick-or-Treat on the Roof
Take trick-or-treating several stories above Atlanta. Halloween candy apparently tastes better with a skyline view.
🌈 Drag, Pride, & Delightfully Unhinged (Obviously)!
October said costumes pronto… Because being normal is vastly overrated.
💅 @yutoya_leon @wussyevents @lore.atlanta — 10/03
Mean Girls Drag Brunch
On October 3rd, we wear pink. Mean Girls + drag brunch is perhaps the most historically important use of this date.
🏳️🌈 @atlantapride — 10/10–11
Atlanta Pride Festival + Parade
Atlanta Pride takes over Piedmont Park for a weekend of community, celebration, performances & one very colorful parade. Highly recommend.
🧹 @yutoyaevents @wussyevents @lore.atlanta — 10/14
Hocus Pocus Drag Dinner
The Sanderson Sisters are back bb, but considerably more fabulous. Drag + Hocus Pocus + dinner is exactly the kind of October math I understand.
👑 @houseofalxndr @kingmedrag @mysistersroom_msr — 10/17
House of ALXNDR x King Me Drag
Drag takes over My Sister’s Room for an October night out with House of ALXNDR + King Me Drag.
👻 @houseofalxndr @mysistersroom_msr — 10/24
Boo Bitch!
The name already told you this isn’t going to be a quiet Saturday night. House of ALXNDR always brings energy, but this time it’s Halloween to My Sister’s Room.
🎨 @houseofalxndr @wildheavenwestend — 10/25
Pride + Halloween Artist Market & Drag Party
Pride, Halloween, local artists & drag all sharing one Sunday? An impressively efficient use of your weekend.
🎀 @jvenrick2012 @lore.atlanta — 10/25
Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Halloween (Tickets Required)
Pee-Wee. Halloween. Lore. A deeply nerdy combo that requires absolutely no further sales pitch from me. A must-do.
🩸 @yutoyaevents @wussyevents @lore.atlanta — 10/25
American Horror Story Drag Dinner + Costume Contest (Tickets Required)
American Horror Story gets dragged into dinner with performances + a costume contest. Come appropriately unhinged… we know you love some Ryan Murphy.
🍂 Fall Fests & Neighborhood Shenangians
Atlanta has claimed your weekends.
🥧 @porchandpies @atlantaindiemarket — 10/03
Porch & Pies + Atlanta Indie Market
Pie & local makers in Adair Park? An extremely reasonable way to spend an October Saturday. Note: This event has moved to @mondaynightgarage in Lee+White.
🍂 @fallfestincandlerpark — 10/03–04
Candler Park Fall Fest
Music, art, neighborhood wandering & peak Atlanta fall-festival behavior take over Candler Park for the weekend.
🎶 @oakhurstporchfest — 10/10
Oakhurst Porchfest
Porches become stages & the neighborhood becomes the venue. Wander until you hear something good, then stay awhile.
🛍️ @ormewoodpark — 10/10
Makers Festival
Local makers, neighborhood wandering & an excellent excuse to buy something handmade you definitely weren’t planning on buying.
🎨 Festival on Ponce — 10/10–11
Festival on Ponce
Art, makers & fall wandering along one of Atlanta’s prettiest stretches. A low-stakes little weekend mosey.
🖍️ @chalktoberfest — 10/10–11
Chalktoberfest
Marietta Square becomes one giant canvas as chalk artists turn the streets into wildly detailed works of art.
🛍️ @nourishbotanica @atlloveslocal @wildheavenwestend — 10/11
Make + Market
Local makers, community & a little Sunday shopping at Wild Heaven West End. Your wallet has been warned.
🎉 @pushpusharts — 10/17
Block Party
PushPush Arts is taking the party outside. Add it to the growing pile of reasons October weekends apparently require cloning ourselves.
🚲 @atlantastreetsalive — 10/18
Atlanta Streets Alive: West End to Grant Park
The streets belong to people for the day. Walk, bike, skate & wander your way from West End to Grant Park.
🎃 @pinktigerfabrics — 10/18
Fall Fest
Artist market, kids’ crafts & pumpkin painting make this a cozy little fall afternoon for creative humans of all sizes.
🛒 More Fall Sh*t Has Arrived
Frolicking through the pumpkin patches & other fall fun in Atlanta. It’s still 80 degrees outside, but spiritually? We’re wearing sweaters.
🎃 @treesfortuition
Pumpkins at Trees for Tuition
Pumpkin season has officially entered the chat. Grab your fall porch decor while supporting a pretty damn good reason to buy another pumpkin.
🎃 @pittsburghcommunitymarketsq @pittsburghyards — 10/03
Pumpkin Patch
Pick a pumpkin, support the neighborhood, & officially begin your annual quest to bring home one that’s way too big.
🎃 Stone Mountain Park — 09/17–11/01
Pumpkin Festival
Pumpkins, fall activities, family fun, & enough autumn energy to temporarily forget Atlanta is probably still sweating.
OTP
🌽 @bufordcornmaze — Opens 09/11
Buford Corn Maze
Get lost in a giant corn maze, hop on a hayride, & embrace peak fall farm energy. Pumpkins join the party later in September.
🎃 @burtsfarm
Burt’s Pumpkin Farm
Rows & rows of pumpkins, fall treats, & the annual North Georgia pilgrimage for people who take pumpkin season very seriously.
🎨 Bookworms, Art Kids, & Creative Types (ILY!)
Touch some books. Touch some art. Touch grass respectfully.
🧂 @modaatl
Salt: A Design Story
Art, local galleries, & the perfect excuse to slow down for an evening.
🎨 @isawmothership @occasionalsuperstar
What It Was. What It Is. What It’s Gone Be.
Immersive art, Atlanta storytelling, & a little ATL creative weirdness? See ya there. 👀
🎨 @abvgallery @outerspaceproject @mondaynightgarage — 09/30
Drink & Doodle
Grab a drink & put pen to paper with ABV Gallery + OuterSpace Project. Consider it the artsy little pregame to October.
📚 @decaturbookfestival — 10/02–04
Decatur Book Festival
Authors, books, conversations, & permission to add several more titles to the TBR pile you absolutely promised you’d finish first.
🧶 @vhsstiching @sincerleyyoursbookstore — 10/03
Twi-Tober Craft & Yap
Hoa. Hoa. Hoa… Bring the crafts, bring the yap, bring whatever October project currently owns your personality. Cozy little creative night acquired.
🧛 @sincerelyyoursbookstore — 10/10
Twilight + Flash Tat Pop-Up
Books + Twilight + flash tattoos. Say less, spider monkey.
🎤 @wildasterbooks — 10/14
Spooky Literary Open Mic
Bring your eerie little stories, poems & spooky words to the mic. Costumes encouraged because regular literary readings simply weren’t October enough.
🎪 @deactur_arts_alliance — 10/16
Bread & Puppet Circus
Giant puppets, performance & the wonderfully unconventional world of Bread & Puppet Circus. Normal Friday night activities need not apply.
🪦 @archiveatlanta @cemetery_nerd — 10/18
How to Research Class
For everyone who has ever walked past an old Atlanta building or gravestone & immediately needed the entire backstory. Time to investigate your historical rabbit holes properly.
📚 @bookishatlanta @liamariaaa — 10/20
Horror Book Club
For the readers who prefer their bedtime stories deeply unsettling. Come discuss horror with fellow people who willingly scare themselves for fun.
🌙 @sincerelyyoursbookstore — 10/24
A Court of Splintered Harmony Midnight Release Party (Tickets Required)
Vendors, yoga, crafts, costumes & a midnight book release. Sleep schedules are temporary. New-book dopamine is forever.
📚 @wildasterbooks @bespokeeventsatlanta — 10/25
Books & Blooms (Tickets Required)
Celebrate beautiful fall with a NEW floral centerpiece. You should treat yourself.
🌙 @bellamarieballroom @eagleeyebooks @thefoxtheatre — 10/26
Night Court: Noble & Velaris (Tickets Required)
Fantasy readers, your formalwear has a purpose now. Step out of the mortal realm for a night inspired by Noble & Velaris at the Fox.
🎭 Movies, Theatre & Puppets Fun
For the film nerds, theater kids & puppet people. You know who you are… ILY
🏴☠️ @centerforpuppetryarts — 09/30–10/11
Everybody Loves Pirates
Pirates + puppets = already listening. A swashbuckling little adventure to kick off spooky season.
🎥 @reelfriendsmovies @plazaatlanta — 10/01
The Blair Witch Project
Found footage, questionable decisions in the woods, & one very stressful corner. Start October properly with a horror classic on the big screen.
👽 @okmovieclub @plazaatlanta — 10/07
The Faculty
Aliens have infiltrated the school & the ’90s cast is stacked. Another perfectly normal October movie night at the Plaza.
👻 @centerforpuppetryarts — 10/07–31
The Ghastly Dreadfuls
Spooky puppetry returns for October with ghosts, ghouls & delightfully macabre storytelling.
🧙 @wussyevents @plazaatlanta — 10/14
The Craft + Costume Contest (Tickets Required)
We are the weirdos, mister. The Craft hits the big screen with costumes encouraged because obviously we’re dressing for the occasion.
👻 @centerforpuppetryarts — 10/14–11/01
Spookhouse Annie | Ages 4+
A spooky-season puppet adventure for the tiny Halloween nerds. Proof that October weirdness can be family-friendly too.
🌙 @reelfriendsmovies @thetaraatlanta — 10/15
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Bella is sad. Edward is gone. The wolves have entered the chat. Time to revisit one of cinema’s most important cultural debates. Team Edward or Team Jacob?
🎪 @deactur_arts_alliance — 10/16
Bread & Puppet Circus
Giant puppets, performance & the wonderfully unconventional world of Bread & Puppet Circus.
👹 @centerforpuppetryarts — 10/17 & 24
Monster Mash
The monsters are clocking in for spooky season. Add some puppet-powered Halloween fun to the October calendar.
🎹 @thefoxtheatre @cocacola — 10/20
Film Series: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Classic horror gets the Fox Theatre treatment. A delightfully old-school way to spend an October night.
📼 @thefoxtheatre @cocacola — 10/21
Film Series: The Ring
Seven days. One cursed videotape. A very large movie palace full of people voluntarily watching it. Excellent decision-making all around.
🌭 Foodies Side Quests
Come hungry. Leave with zero regrets.
🍴 @o4wna — 10/08
Taste of the Fourth
Eat your way around Old Fourth Ward without having to pick just one restaurant. Decision fatigue officially defeated.
🦪 @visitdecaturga @oystersouth_ — 10/18
Landlocked
Atlanta may be hours from the coast, but the oysters have found us anyway. Decatur gets a briny little Sunday courtesy of Oyster South. Nomsss.
🍷 @sidetrackedwineco — 10/24
Wine Fest
A festival devoted to wine. Frankly, the concept does not require much additional convincing.
🍻 Willkomment! Come for the beer. Stay because someone put on lederhosen. Prost!
Oktoberfest & Deutsche Shenanigans
Prost! Come for the beer. Stay because someone put on lederhosen.
🍻 @halfwaycrooksbeer
Oktoberfest — 09/12-10/04
Halfway Crooks said why celebrate Oktoberfest once when you could simply make it your entire September personality?
🚗 @halfwaycrooksbeer — 09/29
Love the Autobahn🍪 @halfwaycrooksbeer — 10/01
Lebkuchenhers
👨👩👧👦 Family-Friendly Atlanta Events
Tiny humans deserve spooky side quests too.
🏴☠️ @centerforpuppetryarts — 09/30–10/11
Everybody Loves Pirates
Pirates + puppets = already listening. A swashbuckling little adventure for the whole crew.
🍂 @fallfestincandlerpark — 10/03–04
Candler Park Fall Fest
Music, art, neighborhood wandering & plenty to explore during a fall weekend in Candler Park.
🖍️ @chalktoberfest — 10/10–11
Chalktoberfest
Watch Marietta Square transform into one giant outdoor canvas packed with colorful chalk art.
👻 @centerforpuppetryarts — 10/14–11/01
Spookhouse Annie | Ages 4+
A spooky-season puppet adventure made specifically for the tiny Halloween nerds.
👹 @centerforpuppetryarts — 10/17 & 24
Monster Mash
The monsters are clocking in for spooky season. Add a little puppet-powered Halloween fun to the family calendar.
🚲 @atlantastreetsalive — 10/18
Atlanta Streets Alive: West End to Grant Park
Walk, bike, skate & explore when the streets open up for people instead of cars.
🎃 @pinktigerfabrics — 10/18
Fall Fest
Artist market, kids’ crafts & pumpkin painting make this an easy creative Sunday outing.
💀 @visitdecaturga — 10/25
Haints & Saints Day of the Dead Parade
A colorful Decatur parade bringing community, tradition & remembrance together for the season.
🍭 @virginiahighlanddistrict — 10/28
Candy Crawl
Costumes + candy + wandering Virginia-Highland. Tiny humans have been training all year for this.
🍬 Ponce City Market — 10/31
Trick-or-Treat on the Roof
Take trick-or-treating several stories above Atlanta. Halloween candy apparently tastes better with a skyline view.
🚗 Worth the Drive
Sometimes the side quest requires gas money.
🍎 @pickellijay — 10/10–11 & 10/17–18
55th Annual Georgia Apple Festival
Apple season calls for a North Georgia road trip. Head to Ellijay for two weekends of fall festivities & enough apple-related temptation to fill the trunk.
🪶 @firstvoicesatlanta — 10/29–11/01
Native American Festival & Pow Wow at Stone Mountain Park
First Voices brings Indigenous culture, community & tradition to Stone Mountain Park for four days spanning Halloween weekend.
💛 Community Corner
Caring… is bad b*tch power
Atlanta’s real magic is its people (& their pets)… & this month’s reminder:
Adopt. Volunteer. Donate at 🐾 @lifelineanimal @fultonanimalservices @dekalbanimals
Support local.
Buy from a maker.
Leave the city a little better than you found it.
👀 Coming Soon… Hi, I update this guide throughout thr month as new events pop up, so bookmark it & check back. If I missed something, send it my way!
🎃 Before You Go
If this guide helped you even a little:
Save it.
Send it to your group chat.
Actually, go make a werid lil fall memory this weekend.
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Atlanta’s Go-To Guide
— Messy Jesi