Things To Do in Atlanta This Weekend

By Discover Atlanta Editorial Team

Published May 22, 2023
Last Updated May 25, 2023

Here’s what’s going on in Atlanta this holiday weekend, May 26, 27, 28 and 29. See the full list of weekend events here.

Around Town

Take Five (or the Entire Weekend) to Enjoy Atlanta Jazz Festival at Piedmont Park

Memorial Day weekend in Atlanta means three days of jazz during the Atlanta Jazz Festival. (Did we mention that attendance is free?) Hear jazz legends perform, and swing to the beat of up-and-coming stars. Spread your blanket on the grass at Piedmont Park and settle in for some amazing tunes. You will, undoubtedly, get hungry at some point. In that case, consider these Must Try Places with Food Near Piedmont Park for the Atlanta Jazz Festival.

Cosplay Anyone? MomoCon Welcomes Fans to Georgia World Congress Center

Fans of anime, comics, video games and cosplay will descend on the Georgia World Congress Center this weekend to meet celebrities, designers and writers of shows, games and comics, and also to browse the exhibits during MomoCon 2023. The big convention welcomes fans Thursday through Sunday.

Atlanta Caribbean Carnival Celebrates in Westside Park

Visit the Atlanta Caribbean Carnival on Saturday at Westside Park to experience music, dancing and food. Bring the family as there will be activities for children.

Brew at the Zoo Returns to Zoo Atlanta

Zoo Atlanta hosts Brew at the Zoo Saturday night. Sip beer or wine as live music plays throughout the zoo. And know that proceeds benefit conservation initiatives. This event is for people age 21 and older.

Atlanta Gets Jazzed Ahead of Atlanta Jazz Festival

Memorial Day weekend brings the renowned Atlanta Jazz Festival to Piedmont Park. Ahead of the festival, the city of Atlanta presents 31 Days of Jazz throughout May. Friday’s two events include: The Blues and Its People featuring Russell Gunn & the Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra at 8 p.m. at Atlanta Symphony Hall, and Cocktails in the Garden featuring the KSU Jazz Combo from 5 until 8:30 p.m. at Atlanta Botanical Garden.

‘Flora, Fauna & Flight’ Opens at Fernbank Museum of Natural History

Fernbank Museum of Natural History opens an outdoor exhibit, “Flora, Fauna & Flight,” on Saturday. You’ll discover how plants and animals defy gravity through flight as you stroll the nature walkways in WildWoods and see sculptures of birds, bees, dragonflies, butterflies, dandelions, cattails, flying fish, bats and more. You’ll learn about the properties of flight, how plants and animals have evolved to fly and how their physical traits support the ability to soar through the air. The exhibit runs through Aug. 27.

Stone Mountain Park Honors the Military

Stone Mountain Park celebrates Memorial Day Friday through Monday by honoring the military. Highlights include performances by the Air National Guard Band of the South and the debut of the Music Across America Drone & Light Show followed by a special salute to the troops and a fireworks display. The park welcomes those who have served and their families with free and discounted admission. The Music Across American Drone & Light Show is a new immersive experience featuring the latest in digital video technology, sound and lighting.

Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame Opens New Exhibit

The Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame features a limited-run exhibit. Included are works from 12 renowned artists. The exhibit, “The Art of College Football” captures the passion, pageantry, traditions and memorable moments of college football. 

The centerpiece of the exhibit is a collection of four Arnold Friberg paintings commissioned in 1968 to celebrate the centennial of college football. The four paintings will remain on permanent display in the Andrea and James Clarke Family Gallery. Other artists represented in the exhibit include LeRoy Neiman, Mike Simpson, Joyce Ballantyne, Bill Williams, Herb Mott and Terrence Fogarty, among others.

Help for Ukraine

Buckhead Art & Company presents HelpingUkraine.us through June 17. This art exhibition features 30 works — 25 paintings and five sculptures — by contemporary Ukrainian artists and creatives who continue to fight back by choosing life and beauty. All works are for sale with a portion benefitting HelpingUkraine.us, a local humanitarian relief organization. 

Step Back into the 16th Century at Georgia Renaissance Festival

Weekends through June 4, the Georgia Renaissance Festival turns back the calendar to the 16th century. Treat yourself to a smoked turkey leg as you stroll among the artisan stalls, watch a jousting match and enjoy some entertainment. You may not want to return to the 21st century.

See Giant Trolls at Atlanta Botanical Garden

The exhibit, “Trolls: Save the Humans” by Thomas Dambo, is open at Atlanta Botanical Garden through Sept. 17. The exhibition, featuring six of the artist’s enormous folklore-inspired sculptures built from reclaimed materials, makes its world premiere at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. 

Last Chance to see Colors of Peace Exhibit at Jimmy Carter Presidential Library

The Colors of Peace exhibit brings together more than 270 artworks created by children from around the world. The exhibition is a celebration of the work of International Paint Pals and its peace-driven mission. Founded in 1995 as part of the Carter Center’s Atlanta Project, International Paint Pals started as a community arts initiative in south Atlanta. Since then, the organization has grown to work with more than 200,000 children in more than 125 countries. Combining a simple pledge – “For the rest of my life, I promise to do everything I can to bring peace into our world” – and the creativity and imagination of children of all ages, the organization and the work it supports is a grassroots realization of one of President Jimmy Carter’s initiatives, waging peace. The exhibit remains at the Carter Library through this weekend.

On Stage

Shakespeare Tavern Presents ‘As You Like It’

“As You Like It” is playing at the Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse through Sunday. In Shakespeare’s enchanted woods, Rosalind disguises herself as a man as Orlando litters the trees with love notes praising her beauty and virtue. Will the two lovers be united? Will Orlando survive the wrestling match? Will you have a great time? Find out Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse.

Family

Take a Family Outing to the New Museum of Illusions

Wait. Did I just shrink? No, I grew. Oh my gosh, I must be at the Museum of Illusions at Atlantic Station. The museum’s more than 80 immersive and interactive exhibits include optical illusions and mind-bending puzzles.

Children’s Museum of Atlanta Welcomes Kids to ‘Shaun the Sheep: Flock this Way’

“Shaun the Sheep: Flock this Way” is open at the Children’s Museum of Atlanta through Sept. 4. The exhibit is based on the film and television character and builds on problem-solving themes. Children will explore the antics of Shaun the Sheep and his friends on Mossy Bottom Farm. The exhibit is designed for children ages 3 through 9.

Immersive Disney Animation Invites you Inside your Favorite Films

Immersive Disney Animation takes the kiddos inside the greatest films of Walt Disney Animation Studios, from the very earliest features to today’s hit movies. It is open in Atlanta through September.  

Visit the All-New LEGO Discovery Center

North America’s first next-generation LEGO Discovery Center is open at Phipps Plaza. Kiddos can blast into the new Spaceship Build & Scan and see their LEGO rocket fly into outer space. The little ones can head to DUPLO Park and hop on a carousel. Children may join the Master Model Builder to learn how to build the fastest race car in the new Build Adventures zone.

Sports

Atlanta Dream Home Opener Set for Sunday

The Atlanta Dream’s home opener against the Indiana Fever at Gateway Center Arena is at 3 p.m. on Sunday. The Dream’s 16th season will feature a record 20 home regular season games during the expanded 40-game season. That schedule includes six Friday night games and 13 weekend games. Grammy Award-nominated artist Baby Tate will open the Atlanta Dream’s 2023 home slate with a halftime performance during the home opener.

The Atlanta Braves welcome the Philadelphia Phillies for a four-game series starting Thursday and continuing through Sunday. The Thursday night game begins at 7:20 p.m. and features an OutKast bobblehead giveaway. After the last out on Friday night (game time 7:20 p.m.) fans should stick around for Friday Night Fireworks. Saturday’s game begins at 4:10 p.m. And Sunday’s game, featuring a Blooper beach towel giveaway, begins at 7:10 p.m. The Braves are in the first place in the NL East, and the Phillies are in fourth place.

Music

Ed Sheeran brings his  +-=÷x Tour to Mercedes-Benz Stadium Saturday at 5:55 p.m. Julieta Venegas performs at the Fox Theatre at 7 p.m. on Sunday. Charlie Puth takes the stage at Cadence Bank Amphitheatre on Sunday at 8 p.m.

Attractions

Illuminarium Adds James Webb Telescope Experience

 Illuminarium has launched a new addition to its SPACE spectacle, an interactive James Webb Space Telescope Experience. The experience showcases cosmic views from the James Webb Space Telescope, the largest and most groundbreaking telescope ever built. Illuminarium’s high-tech animation systems and 360-degree fully immersive screens provide viewers with a never-before-seen perspective and scale of the James Webb imagery.

Art in the A

See Work of Bruce Onobrakpeya at High Museum of Art

The Mask and the Cross is the first solo exhibition at an American museum for sculptor and printmaker Bruce Onobrakpeya (born 1932), one of the fathers of Nigerian modernism. The exhibit, on view at the High Museum of Art through July 30, describes the artist’s creative phase from 1967 through 1978, during which he created numerous works marrying Nigerian tradition, folklore and cosmology with Catholic motifs and stories from the Bible.

Photography Exhibit on View at High Museum

The High Museum of Art presents Evelyn Hofer: Eyes on the City, a photography exhibit featuring landscapes and architectural views with portraiture, conveying the character and personality of urban capitals during a period of intense structural, social and economic transformations after World War II. The exhibit runs through Aug. 13.

Works by Ukrainian-American Artist on Exhibit at High Museum

The exhibit George Voronovsky: Memoryscapes is on view through Aug. 13 at the High Museum of Art. This exhibition marks the first major museum presentation of work by the late Ukrainian American artist George Voronovsky. Born in a small village in eastern Ukraine in 1903, Voronovsky immigrated to the United States after World War II. The exhibition showcases approximately 40 of his paintings alongside sculptures he created from materials discarded along the beaches in Miami.

Michael C. Carlos Museum Exhibits Tom Dorsey Photos

The photo exhibit, “A Very Incomplete Self-Portrait: Tom Dorsey’s Chicago Portfolio,” is open through July 16 at the Michael C. Carlos Museum on the campus of Emory University. The exhibition presents never-before-exhibited works by photographer Thomas Dorsey. Widely known for his intimate portraits of African American families in their homes in Chicago and Atlanta, Dorsey also photographed the streets, houses and buildings of his childhood neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side. This portfolio of black and white photographs, taken while Dorsey was enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago, reveals the barren infrastructure of an underserved community and the resilience and stark beauty that can be discovered amid bleak circumstances.

This article updates weekly with brand new things to do in Atlanta for the weekend. Feel free to bookmark it for next weekend. For more weekend events, check our calendar.