Ellijay's Christmas parade is on Friday, November 27, 2026, the day after Thanksgiving. The floats leave Ellijay Elementary School at 6 p.m., and Santa lights the town Christmas tree during the parade.
If you still think of the parade as something that happens in December, that's understandable. For years it did. Since the Gilmer Chamber launched Merry Mountain Town in 2025, the evening that opens the season has moved off an early-December Saturday and onto Thanksgiving weekend. The rest of the season has shifted with it. The parade, the tree lighting and the downtown decorating contest now all start on that Friday, so the dates left in December are mostly indoor shows at the new Gilmer Performing Arts Center and the Gilmer Arts Playhouse on Dalton Street.
Where the Parade Used to Sit
The older format was called Light Up Ellijay. In 2023, the Light Up Ellijay Parade started at 6 p.m. on Saturday, December 2. In 2024 it became the Light Up Ellijay Market & Parade on Saturday, December 7, and filled the afternoon before the 6 p.m. parade.
Merry Mountain Town took over in 2025 with a Friday date. The 2025 parade started at 6 p.m. on November 28 from Ellijay Elementary, and Santa lit the town tree along the route. This year's event is the second Merry Mountain Town, and it follows the same pattern.
| Year | Event | Date | Day | Parade start |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Light Up Ellijay Parade | December 2 | Saturday | 6 p.m. |
| 2024 | Light Up Ellijay Market & Parade | December 7 | Saturday | 6 p.m. |
| 2025 | Merry Mountain Town | November 28 | Friday | 6 p.m. |
| 2026 | Merry Mountain Town | November 27 | Friday | 6 p.m. |
Only the 6 p.m. start time has stayed the same. The 2026 parade falls ten days earlier in the calendar than the 2024 one did, and on a weeknight-style Friday instead of a Saturday. It now lands on one of the busiest shopping and travel days of the year, at the end of a holiday week when many families already have out-of-town guests. A parade that once closed out the first week of December now closes out Thanksgiving.
What the Black Friday Night Holds
The 2024 Light Up Ellijay schedule shows what the old Saturday held. A holiday market opened on Broad and Sand streets at noon. Santa took photos on the courthouse steps from 3 to 5 p.m. The Gilmer Schools Chorus sang on the Downtown Welcome Center porch from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Then came the parade, and afterward some floats parked behind the Welcome Center for a meet-and-greet.
Merry Mountain Town fits a similar daytime festival into Black Friday. The Gilmer Chamber describes Broad Street lined with arts and crafts vendors, face painting and seasonal treats. Santa takes photos with families and their pets for a $10 donation to the Friends of Gilmer Animal Shelter, and each session comes with a free plush toy. Admission to the festival and the parade is free, and the Chamber's home base for the day is the Downtown Ellijay Welcome Center at 10 Broad Street.
The festival hours are still being finalized. Downtown Ellijay's event page currently lists 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and says full details are on the way. If you're planning around a booth or a Santa slot, call the Chamber at 706-635-7400 in the days before.
The parade timing is settled. The Merry Mountain Town 2026 page on Eventeny, which the Gilmer Chamber hosts, lays out the route in order:
- Start at Ellijay Elementary School at 6 p.m.
- Travel along North Main Street.
- Go around the roundabout.
- Continue down River Street.
- Turn onto North Avenue.
- Return to Ellijay Elementary.
The same page says Santa lights the town Christmas tree during the parade. In the old format, the tree lighting and the parade weren't tied together on the schedule. Now they happen on the same evening. Anyone who wants to see the tree lit has to be downtown on Black Friday night.
The Decorating Contest Keeps Downtown Busy Past That Night
The parade lasts one evening, but the Black Friday kickoff doesn't end with it. The Gilmer Chamber says Merry Mountain Town also starts its decorating competition that day. You pick up a map at the Downtown Welcome Center, walk the window and light displays around downtown, then come back and vote for your favorite.
Because the contest opens on November 27, the decorated storefronts are up for the weekend after Thanksgiving. That's earlier than a parade on the first Saturday of December would have put them on display. A dinner on the square in early December now comes with finished displays to walk past. The map is the simplest way to see them, and the Welcome Center at 10 Broad Street is where you vote.
December Moves Indoors, to Two Stages
With the parade now in November, two dates that don't involve parade floats anchor Ellijay's December: one at the new performing arts center and one at the Gilmer Arts Playhouse.
December 6 at the Gilmer Performing Arts Center
The Gilmer Performing Arts Center opened this fall. The Gilmer Chamber reported that its ribbon cutting on Tuesday, September 15, 2026 brought together Gilmer County Schools, community leaders, students and educators. The Chamber called the building a purpose-built space for student music, theatre and community events. The school's facility listing gives a capacity of 950 seats, with a permanent stage, backstage space, stage lighting and ADA access.
The Gilmer Arts Community Chorus Christmas Concert is set for Sunday, December 6, at 4 p.m. in that theater on the Gilmer High School campus on Bobcat Trail. Gilmer Arts lists tickets at $10 for adults and $5 for students, sold through its event page. The program is holiday choral music led by conductors Charles Claiborne, Judith Rathbone, Jacob McVey and Lisa Lacey.
This will be the venue's first December. In 2024, the main public holiday music downtown was the Gilmer Schools Chorus singing on the Welcome Center porch during the parade afternoon. This year, a full Christmas choral concert has its own Sunday afternoon in a 950-seat hall.
December 12 at the Gilmer Arts Playhouse
The following Saturday, the season moves to the smaller Gilmer Arts Playhouse at 135 Dalton Street, which Gilmer Arts still uses for its theater events. Fa-La-La with Friends begins at 5:30 p.m. on December 12. Gilmer Arts' lineup for the evening:
- Santa
- The North Pole Star, a one-night show performed by young cast members
- A few songs from The Chamber Singers
- A few songs from JD Pearce
- Storytelling and reading
- A sing-along of Christmas favorites
- Cookies, mulled cider and wine
Gilmer Arts hasn't published ticket prices yet. It says more details are coming and that tickets will be "VERY reasonable so the whole family can come." December 12 is a Saturday, close to where Light Up Ellijay sat on the calendar in 2023 and 2024. Families who used to plan an early-December Saturday evening downtown can now spend it at a sing-along on Dalton Street.
How the Calendar Reads Now
Here is the season in order:
- Friday, November 27: Merry Mountain Town festival on Broad Street, Santa photos for a $10 donation to the Friends of Gilmer Animal Shelter, the 6 p.m. parade from Ellijay Elementary, the town tree lighting, and the start of the decorating competition.
- Weekend of November 28 and 29 onward: Decorated windows and light displays downtown, with maps and voting at the Welcome Center.
- Sunday, December 6, 4 p.m.: Gilmer Arts Community Chorus Christmas Concert at the Gilmer Performing Arts Center, $10 for adults and $5 for students.
- Saturday, December 12, 5:30 p.m.: Fa-La-La with Friends and The North Pole Star at the Gilmer Arts Playhouse, 135 Dalton Street.
Because the season now opens on Black Friday, the parade lands on the same weekend as Thanksgiving leftovers and family visits. If relatives are staying through Friday, they can see the parade and tree lighting before they leave. If you have December visitors, the concert and the Playhouse sing-along are the dates to plan around.
Our family lives and works in Ellijay, and Thanksgiving weekend on Broad Street is part of our year too. If you're new to town, or you're hosting someone thinking about a move to the mountains and want ideas for showing them Ellijay at its most festive, Kara Conrey and the Conrey Family Team are glad to help from our Craig Street office. Contact us anytime.
