Free Christmas things to do in Blue Ridge, GA (2026)

The biggest Christmas event in Blue Ridge, Georgia is free. Light Up Blue Ridge, on Friday, November 27 and Saturday, November 28, 2026, is put on by community volunteers at no charge (Light Up Blue Ridge). Santa, the parade and the tree lighting are all part of it. Below is every other free or nearly free item we could source, with who publishes it.

Light Up Blue Ridge weekend

• Blue Friday, November 27: downtown merchant discounts, food vendors and live entertainment from noon to 5 p.m. Pictures with Santa run from noon to 4:15 p.m. in the downtown park.
• Light Up Saturday, November 28: entertainment on East Main Street from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Santa in the downtown park from noon to 4:15 p.m., the parade at 5:30 p.m. from Church Street and East Main, caroling from about 6:30 p.m. and the Great Tree lit at about 7 p.m.
• The shop windows: the Chamber says Light Up day includes a Window Decorating contest in downtown shop windows (Fannin County Chamber). Walking the windows costs nothing.
• Santa’s Mailbox: according to the Fannin County Chamber, children can write a letter to Santa and receive a pen keepsake and a handwritten reply by mail a few days later. The Chamber lists no cost, and the Light Up organizers have not posted a 2026 location.

Food from the vendors on Depot Street is not free, of course. Dates can change; confirm with Light Up Blue Ridge before you go. The Light Up Blue Ridge guide and the parade guide have the full detail.

The Gingerbread Village

The 14th annual Gingerbread Village opens to the public at noon on November 27 inside The Art Center at 420 West Main Street and stays open whenever the Art Center is open until noon on December 22, 2026 (Light Up Blue Ridge). The organizer does not list an admission fee. Art Center hours are Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Mondays. Visitors vote for two People’s Choice awards, and voting closes at noon on December 22. More on the Gingerbread Village page.

Free holiday markets

• Handmade for the Holidays, a local artisan market, is Saturday, November 7, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Fannin County Schools Agriculture Facility, 43 Station Road. Admission is free (Fannin County Chamber).
• St. Luke’s Annual Christmas Bazaar and Silent Auction is Saturday, December 5, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 7 Ewing Street. The Chamber listing says admission and parking are free, it is indoors and handicap accessible, and it takes cash and checks.
• The Art Center’s Annual Holiday Market runs November 20 to December 20, with special dates December 5 and 12 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. No admission fee is listed.

McCaysville: a tree lighting, a parade and the state line

• Light Up McCaysville is Friday, November 27, 2026, from 5 to 7 p.m., with the tree lighting at dusk and Santa at the Riverwalk Shops, 100 Blue Ridge Drive (Fannin County Chamber). It is a separate event from Light Up Blue Ridge, with different organizers. Blue Friday’s daytime program in Blue Ridge ends at 5 p.m., the hour McCaysville’s starts. The Chamber lists no admission.
• The McCaysville and Copperhill Christmas Parade is Saturday, December 5, 2026. Float judging is at noon and the parade starts at 2 p.m., with a rain date of December 12. The Copperhill Kiwanis Club hosts it, and no admission is listed.
• The Blue Line: in McCaysville you can stand in Georgia and Tennessee at once on the painted state line with Copperhill (Fannin County Chamber).

Free outdoor stops

• Toccoa River Swinging Bridge: a 270-foot footbridge built in 1977 by the USDA Forest Service and the Appalachian Trail Club, on the Benton MacKaye and Duncan Ridge trails. The Chamber says you reach it on about 3 miles of rough gravel Forest Service Road 816 off GA-60 south of Morganton (Fannin County Chamber). No fee is listed. In winter, go in daylight and skip it after heavy rain or ice.
• Blue Ridge Lake and the dam: TVA’s Blue Ridge Dam is 175 feet high and 1,553 feet long, completed in 1930, with an overlook above the dam. The lake runs lower in the holiday season, because its level normally varies about 22 feet between summer and winter (TVA). Morganton Point Recreation Area on the lake charges a day-use parking fee, so it is not on this list.

• Santa

  Downtown Blue Ridge City Park (gazebo/pavilion)

  Downtown park where Light Up Blue Ridge Santa photos (gazebo/pavilion) and the Great Tree lighting take place; also the Turkey Trot hub. OSM names it 'Downtown Blue Ridge Park'.

  • Free
  • Downtown Blue Ridge, between Depot Street, West Main Street and the Art Center

  Source: Fannin County Chamber, checked Oct 17, 2026

• Event venue

  The Art Center (Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association)

  Arts center in the circa-1937 former Fannin County Courthouse; hosts the Gingerbread Village and the Annual Holiday Market of member art.

  • Tue-Sat 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; closed Mondays; closed Dec 23-Jan 10 for Christmas break
  • 420 West Main Street, Blue Ridge, GA 30513
  • (706) 632-2144

  Source: The Art Center (BRMAA), checked Oct 17, 2026

• Landmark

  The Blue Line (Georgia-Tennessee state line)

  Spot in the twin towns where visitors can stand in Georgia and Tennessee at once; the train's 4-hour trips lay over here.

  • Free
  • Downtown McCaysville, GA / Copperhill, TN

  Source: Fannin County Chamber, checked Oct 17, 2026

• Outdoors

  Toccoa River Swinging Bridge

  270-foot 1977 footbridge on the Benton MacKaye and Duncan Ridge trails, reached by about 3 miles of rough gravel road.

  • Off FS Road 816 via GA-60 south of Morganton, Fannin County, GA

  Source: Fannin County Chamber, checked Oct 17, 2026

• Outdoors

  Blue Ridge Dam (TVA)

  175-foot TVA dam built 1925-1930, with a scenic overlook above the dam.

  • Toccoa River, Fannin County, GA

  Source: Internet Archive copy of the official page, checked Oct 17, 2026

Nearly free

• The Blue Ridge Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning costs $30, but children 11 and under walk or run free with a registered adult.
• Mountain Country Christmas in Lights in Hiawassee charges $12 per person for the walk-through, with children 12 and under free and free parking. See Christmas lights.

The paid side of the season is short: the 1-Hour Holiday Express is $56.99 for ages 13 and up and $46.99 for ages 2 to 12 before fees, and theater tickets go through Etix. Planning with children? Start with Christmas with kids.

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