The Best Festival Events in Atlanta Right Now

Festivals events in Atlanta hit different right now. The city feels wired in that specific way where your group chat has five overlapping plans and somehow they’re all good. This week alone, more than 6,000 people are poking at RSVPs, buying tickets, or at least pretending they’re "still deciding" on what to hit first. If you’ve been wondering why your feed is full of horror makeup, race bibs, hemp panels, and kids in marathon tees at the same time—welcome to Atlanta in full festival mode.

The mix is very… us. You’ve got Days Of The Dead Atlanta 2026 pulling in the horror superfans and cosplayers who treat the hotel lobby like a second stage. The 2026 Atlanta Skechers Hot Chocolate run is for the people who swear they "don’t run" and then show up for the medal and the mug anyway. Hemp World IV: 2026 – The Future of Hemp is where the wellness crowd, small-business grinders, and policy nerds all end up in the same conversation. Djoli Kelen Black History Fest 2026 is giving culture, drums, and real community energy, while City of Ink’s 17th Anniversary Show keeps the tattoo and art kids posted up and stylish as ever. And yes, the 2026 Publix Atlanta Kids Marathon is out here training the next generation of overachievers on sugar and enthusiasm.

The backdrop is classic Atlanta: games and big gatherings at Shirley Clements Mewborn Field, art-forward nights at Westside Cultural Arts Center (where half the crowd knows the DJ or the curator), and Mistora stepping in for the more intimate, niche-but-cool happenings. If you’re trying to decide what to actually do, here’s the move: horror and hemp for the die-hard fans, City of Ink and Djoli Kelen for the culture heads, Hot Chocolate and the kids’ marathon if you’re leaning more family-friendly or fitness-adjacent. It’s not about doing everything; it’s about picking the moments you’ll still be talking about next month—and right now, Atlanta’s making that pretty easy.