Things To Do in Atlanta This Weekend

By Discover Atlanta Editorial Team

Published March 15, 2024
Last Updated July 23, 2024

Here’s what’s going on in Atlanta this weekend, July 26, 27 and 28.

Around Town

Scream: Atlanta Ice Cream Festival Returns

It’s back. The popular (and tasty) Atlanta Ice Cream Festival takes over Piedmont Park from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturday. Admittance is free, but bring some cash because you’ll be wanting some ice cream. In addition to frozen treats, there will be food and non-food vendors, live music, fitness routines and wellness activities. Satisfy your sweet tooth and learn more about maintaining a well-balanced lifestyle.

It’s Time for the Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival

Westside Motor Lodge is where you’ll want to be on Sunday from 3 until 6 p.m. to celebrate that summertime favorite, the tomato, during the Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival. Expect tomato-themed food and cocktails.

Hungry? Buckhead Restaurant Week Continues

Buckhead Restaurant Week continues through Saturday. It’s your chance to indulge in the finest flavors in Buckhead. The neighborhood’s top restaurants offer exclusive menus and good deals. From upscale dining experiences to casual eateries, there’s something for every taste bud. 

Take a Walk on Peachtree Street (without the traffic)

Atlanta Streets Alive is at it again, opening Peachtree Street between 15th and Mitchell streets to pedestrians from 1 until 5 p.m. on Sunday. Wear your walking shoes, ride your bike, lace up your roller skates and see Atlanta’s most famous street like you’ve not experienced it before.

Phipps Plaza Pop-up Bubbles Over

Veuve Cliquot, the Champagne company, is sponsoring pop-ups at Phipps Plaza on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays throughout July. Enjoy live music and sparkling drinks from 4 until 8 p.m.

Fernbank Museum of Natural History Exhibits ‘Forest Forms’

A Fernbank Museum of Natural History exhibit brings 18 larger-than-life metal sculptures of flowers and animals to the nature trails in WildWoods. The exhibit, “Forest Forms,” features sculptures inspired by nature and created by Huelani Mei. The sculptures include a fox family, flowers, rabbits, a snake archway, a peacock and more. “Forest Forms” will be open at Fernbank through Sept. 29.

Visit High Museum of Art for Photography Exhibit and Outdoor Installation

The exhibit, “Tyler Mitchell: Idyllic Space” at the High Museum of Art, features the photographer and filmmaker’s works that center on Black self-determination and empowerment through scenes of love, leisure and camaraderie. Mitchell rose to global prominence in 2018 when he photographed Beyoncé for the September issue of Vogue as the first Black artist to shoot the cover in the magazine’s then 126-year history. See the exhibit through Dec. 1.

A new installation on the piazza at the High Museum is open. Panorama, as the installation is called, presents a new dimension for play as you are invited to interact with four kinetic pillars of glass, which subtly shift from a natural mirror effect to a deep orange hue. As the monumental structures rotate, they alter your perception and experience of your surroundings.

Navigate the Mirror Maze at Fernbank Museum of Natural History

“A Mirror Maze: Numbers in Nature” is on view through Sept. 9 at Fernbank Museum of Natural History. The exhibit features a life-size mirror maze that exposes the mathematical patterns that abound in the natural world. From the nested spirals of a sunflower’s seeds to spots on a giraffe, you will discover a unique perspective of daily surroundings. The exhibit also features an array of artifacts — Bighorn sheep antlers, honeycomb and an aluminum ant hill casting — that demonstrate examples of patterns in objects from the natural world. The crown jewel of the exhibit is an elaborate mirror maze where you can explore and navigate a seemingly infinite repeating pattern of mirrors. Interactive elements throughout the exhibit allow for hands-on learning to understand that math is all around us in everyday life. Can you find your way out?

Stop at Atlantic Station for Creator’s Market

Atlantic Station hosts Creator’s Market from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Saturdays and noon until 7 p.m. Sundays, every weekend through December. The market offers a shopping experience featuring more than a dozen vendors of hand-crafted products ranging from jewelry and home décor to soaps and candles. There also are tasty treats, artists and fun.

CDC Museum Exhibit Showcases the ‘Art of COVID’

Say what? The CDC Museum is exhibiting a multimedia exhibit showcasing works that were borne of the pandemic. Soon after people started isolating in March 2020, artists took to their studios, desks and Zoom to bear witness to and process the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the pandemic, they continued to serve on the frontlines of COVID-19 interpretation. Their works – visual, written and recorded – are the subject of a new exhibition at the David J. Sencer CDC Museum in Atlanta. See “Stand & Witness: Art in the Time of COVID 19” through Oct. 24.

Hammonds House Displays Works by Sam Middleton

Hammonds House Museum presents “Rhythm of Resilience: The Artistry of Sam Middleton” through Aug. 18. A master of collage, Middleton’s compositions weave together musical scores, photographs and graphic elements in a dance of color and form. His art is a testament to the enduring influence of jazz.

Alice in Wonderland Stars at Atlanta Botanical Garden; Saturday Brings a Queen of Hearts Takeover

Atlanta Botanical Garden presents “Alice’s Wonderland Returns” through Sept. 15. The exhibit features seven installations of 22 of the topiary-like mosaiculture pieces throughout the garden. The garden first introduced the sculptures in 2013 when it presented the United States’ first major exhibition of mosaiculture produced by International Mosaiculture Montreal.

Alice and company first debuted at the Garden in 2019’s “Imaginary Worlds: Alice’s Wonderland.” The exhibition returned in 2020 along with several new sculptures for a revival called “Alice’s Wonderland Reimagined.”

The sculptures are created through the centuries-old art of mosaiculture in which steel forms are covered in fabric, filled with soil and planted with thousands of living plants to form a colorful carpet.

For this new show, look for a towering Alice to twirl in Howell Fountain, the giant White Rabbit to hold court in the Skyline Garden pond and a colorful chess set to marvel at in the Skyline Garden’s event Lawn. The enormous Red Queen will dominate one edge of the Great Lawn, three giant Storybooks will greet you after you pass through the Visitor Center and the Cheshire Cat will keep an eye on it all from its perch in Alston Overlook. 

MODA Cooks Up Pasta Exhibit

MODA (Museum of Design Atlanta) is exhibiting “Al Dente: The Design of Pasta.” Visitors can explore the design of pasta shapes, mechanical and technical advancements in pasta making, pasta advertising, designer pasta and the future of pasta. Learn all about pasta through Sept. 1.

Atlanta History Center Features Hank Aaron Exhibit

“More Than Brave: The Life of Henry Aaron” is on view at Atlanta History Center. The exhibition features images and artifacts from the collections of the Aaron family, Atlanta History Center, the Atlanta Braves, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Emory University, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and personal collections from throughout the United States. Just about every Atlantan knows that on April 8, 1974, Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s record right here in Atlanta. See the exhibit through September 2025.

Family

Kids Step Up to Science at Children’s Museum of Atlanta

The Children’s Museum of Atlanta has opened its third installment of the Step Up to Science exhibit. There are opportunities to explore shadows, sources of light, color theory and vibrations. Children can guide laser beams through a maze, create colorful shadows and see sound frequency wavelengths.

‘Babble Lab’ on the Hertz Stage: Bring Early Learners

The Alliance Theatre’s Hertz Stage presents “Babble Lab,” a blubbering and blibbering exploration of spoken blurbbles as they spring forth in this one-of-a-kind, gee-gaw-filled laboratory. When an experiment unexpectedly goes awry, a concoction of sneaky, sprightly L E T T E R S takes over a weird and wondrous science lab. Watch them jump into jars, spring from drawers, bounce around the room and even play hide-and-seek as our scientist makes her surprising findings: Bluku terullala blaulala loooo! Rakete bee bee? Rekate bee zee! It is on stage through Sunday.

See ‘Sesame Street The Musical’

The Center for Puppetry Arts is showing “Sesame Street The Musical through Aug. 4. You are invited to join Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, Grover, Rosita, Bert, Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, The Count, Gabrielle and a whole host of Honkers, Martians and other Sesame Street favorites as they will appear onstage in their very own musical.  

Theater

Shakespeare Tavern Presents ‘As You Like It’

Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse is showing William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.” 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? See it through Saturday.

Sports

Tennis Fans Note: Atlanta Open Continues

The Association of Tennis Professional’s Atlanta Open continues through Sunday at Atlantic Station. Friday is Ladies Day and Quarterfinals Day. Saturday is semifinals and Volunteer Appreciation Day. Sunday is Champions Sunday.

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.