North Fulton’s Home for the Holidays offers more events and experiences for the community

Avalon, Alpharetta’s $1 billion mixed-use destination and one of the top retail hubs in the country, has reimagined its Holiday Experience to offer more merry moments with smaller community gatherings. Among the changes in 2020, Avalon’s annual Tree Lighting, which last year drew more than 45,000 people, has been transformed into a 12-day celebration where guests can enjoy a variety of outdoor activations along the Boulevard, such as Avalon on Ice performances, stage fireworks shows, rooftop cocktails and pop-up concerts. Families are also invited to make appointments for photos with Santa in his open-air, North Pole-inspired cottage that has been redesigned to accommodate social distancing.

“Because this has been such a challenging year, it was important for us to find a way to host Avalon’s holiday festivities and give the community a variety of options for celebrating,” said Lauren Ness, marketing manager at Avalon. “The pandemic has canceled so many special moments in 2020, and we couldn’t let that happen to the holidays. We’ve spent the last several months rethinking our event programs and learning how to bring the community together, albeit with masks and more space. We’ve applied our learnings to this season’s lineup of holiday experiences, which we believe will bring more joy and merriment to the Boulevard than ever before. We’re proud for Avalon to be North Fulton’s home for the holidays, and we’re counting down the days until the community joins us for the magical holiday season ahead.”

Details on Avalon’s holiday happenings are outlined below.

• The Lighting of Avalon: A Twelve Day Celebration – In place of Avalon’s one-day tree lighting extravaganza, the mixed-use destination will host a 12-day celebration featuring a variety of outdoor activations along the Boulevard, including Avalon on Ice performances, rooftop cocktail hours, carolers, pop-up concerts and more. At 7 p.m. each night during the 12-day celebration, guests will be dazzled by a spectacular stage fireworks show around Avalon’s 40-foot tree.

• Holiday Market at Avalon – From Nov. 22 through Jan. 3, the holiday market will open at the corner of Avalon Boulevard and 1st Street, featuring 12 local makers and merchants as well as a festive pop-up bar. For more information and market hours, visit: www.experienceavalon.com/holiday-market-at-avalon.

• Avalon on Ice – Lace those skates because Avalon’s Rockefeller Center-inspired ice rink returns starting Nov. 22. General admission tickets are $18 and $14 per child under nine, including skates. Avalon on Ice will be limited to 50 skaters at a time and all participants will be required to wear a mask. For more details, visit: www.experienceavalon.com/avalon-on-ice.

• Santa at Avalon – Beginning Nov. 23, the jolly man in red will take up residence in an open-air, North Pole-inspired cottage in Palmer Plaza for another season of festive photo ops. For the safety of guests, photo sessions with Santa are by appointment only. Several preventive measures will be implemented in Old Saint Nick’s cottage, including digital-only photos, temperature checks and cleanings after each visit. Social distancing will be enforced and masks will be required until it's time for the photo. Parents will have the opportunity to personalize their visit by using Santa’s high-tech RFID tags prior to their scheduled session. Reservations for photos with Santa will open tomorrow, Oct. 8 at 10 a.m. To reserve a spot, visit: www.experienceavalon.com/santa-at-avalon. And, stay tuned for more special Santa experiences throughout the season.

In addition to the ongoing safety precautions taken at Avalon, several new preventative measures will be implemented for the holiday season. Each holiday experience will incorporate special safety protocols, such as pre-purchased tickets to control crowds, frequent cleanings and sanitization around property, encouraging the use of masks and more. The full list of safety precautions taken at Avalon can be found here: www.experienceavalon.com/safety-precautions.

For the latest event information, please visit www.experienceavalon.com. Guests are encouraged to share their festive experiences using #AvalonInsider and #AvalonHoliday2020. For more information

About Avalon:

Avalon is a new experience in the timeless art of living well. In the heart of Alpharetta, an affluent suburb north of Atlanta, this sustainably designed, 86-acre community features more than 500,000 square feet of retail, a 12-screen all premium theater, conference center and full-service hotel, Class A office, single-family residences and luxury rental homes. Avalon infuses resort-level hospitality throughout a walkable, seamlessly connected community of shopping, dining, entertainment, living and working. It’s more than just another place to go, it’s a place to be — a hub of activity that delivers the luxury of the modern South. At 2.4 million square feet and more than $1 billion, Avalon has disrupted the industry, defining a new standard for retail-driven mixed-use development.