"Collaborate / complement and avoid events that compete." That was the instruction the city's Recreation and Parks Advisory Committee gave in the spring, according to a May 11, 2026 staff memo to the Johns Creek Mayor and City Council. City staff could see a conflict on the calendar. Medley was opening at McGinnis Ferry Road and Johns Creek Parkway in late October and had previewed community events of its own. Two of the city's fourth-quarter events, Diwali and the Holly Jolly Block Party, landed in almost the same spots on the calendar.
The memo set out ways for the city to merge, shift or scale back. The calendar the city published shows something else. Both city events kept their original dates, and both kept their main attractions. Johns Creek's first holiday season with Medley open has two centers about a mile apart on one trail. Each has its own night, its own audience and its own tree.
What the city weighed in May
The options are worth reading in full, because they explain why this season looks the way it does. For each of the two events that overlapped with Medley, staff gave a recommendation and at least one alternative:
- Diwali. Staff recommended moving the city's celebration from Saturday, Nov. 7, to Sunday, Nov. 8. That was the night Medley's team was then planning a restaurant-focused evening event. The alternatives were to scale back to static light displays around the Boardwalk, or to "ramp up" by running later into the evening and adding a drone and light show.
- Holly Jolly Block Party. Staff recommended that the city join Medley's tree-lighting event on Nov. 27 as a sponsor and keep lighting its own displays at Newtown Park and the Boardwalk. The alternatives were to "differentiate" by building the Dec. 4 event around a small-town feel, with elementary school choruses on the Boardwalk stage, or to switch to static lights for the season.
The memo also described Medley's Nov. 27 tree lighting as, next to its grand opening, "planned to be their biggest event of 2026." Staff recommended that the city put its support behind that night as a sponsor and still light its own displays. The city's current event page also lists a separate Dec. 4 block party with its own tree lighting.
Diwali stayed on Saturday and grew
The city's Diwali Celebration page lists the event for Saturday, Nov. 7, from 4 to 8 p.m. at The Boardwalk at Town Center, 11362 Lakefield Drive. It's free and includes retail vendors, food, performances and a drone and light show at 7 p.m. That is close to the "ramp up" version from the May memo. The original plan ran from 2 to 7 p.m. The schedule now starts later, runs past dark, and ends with the sky show staff had listed as the more ambitious choice.
The same Saturday starts at Newtown Park. Honoring Our Veterans runs from 9 to 10 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial Walk inside the park at 3150 Old Alabama Road, and it is also free. Nov. 7 is the busiest day on the city's November calendar, with a morning ceremony on Old Alabama Road and an evening festival behind City Hall.
Two tree lightings, one week apart
The Holly Jolly decision shapes the rest of the season. Medley's Merry Medley is listed for Friday, Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving, starting at 4 p.m. on Medley Boulevard. The event page lists a holiday concert, performances, the opening of the ice rink and a fireworks finale. When the May memo was written, Medley's plans also included a visit from Santa, a boulevard of children's activities and the lighting of a new giant Christmas tree.
One week later, the city holds its own event. The Holly Jolly Block Party runs Friday, Dec. 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Boardwalk. It's free, with a visit from Santa, hot cocoa, local choirs and the lighting of the city's 40-foot Christmas tree. The city's version uses parts of two options from the memo. It kept the tree lighting that staff had proposed handing to Medley, and it added the local choirs from the "differentiate" option.
| Merry Medley | Holly Jolly Block Party | |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Friday, Nov. 27 | Friday, Dec. 4 |
| Start | 4 p.m. | 6 p.m., ending 8 p.m. |
| Where | Medley Boulevard | The Boardwalk at Town Center, 11362 Lakefield Drive |
| Host | Medley | City of Johns Creek |
| Listed features | Holiday concert, performances, rink opening, fireworks | Santa, 40-foot tree lighting, hot cocoa, local choirs |
| Cost | Not listed | Free |
Merry Medley is timed for the start of holiday shopping. Holly Jolly comes a week later and is built around neighborhood choirs. A family could go to both without either night feeling like a rerun.
The mile between them
The two sites are connected by the city's elevated trail. According to the city's public works page, the Boardwalk trail runs about one mile north from Johns Creek Parkway to McGinnis Ferry Road and connects to 14 Town Center sidewalks. Urbanize Atlanta reported in April that the trail also connects to Medley. Medley sits on 43 acres at the corner of McGinnis Ferry Road and Johns Creek Parkway, as Appen Media's Johns Creek Herald described it.
A few details matter on event nights:
- Boardwalk hours. The park is open from 6 a.m. to midnight, so a walk after Holly Jolly fits well within park hours.
- Boardwalk parking. Public and ADA parking is at Johns Creek City Hall, 11360 Lakefield Drive. On foot, take the path to the left of the City Hall front entrance.
- Medley parking. Medley offers daily self-parking in its deck and in surface lots on the north side, and valet costs $12 per car.
- Crossing SR 141. The Medlock Bridge Pedestrian Tunnel runs under Medlock Bridge Road and connects Town Center to shops and restaurants on the west side of the road.
The setting near City Hall is worth knowing before Dec. 4. The Boardwalk wraps around a pond and a constructed wetland. It has terraced seating and an amphitheater with a deck over the water, and the North Pond loop is about half a mile. The city's tree and the choirs will be on that stage, with the pond in front of them.
The rink outlasts both nights
The tree lightings are single evenings. Medley's Skate the Plaza rink opens Nov. 27 and stays open through Feb. 7, 2027, which makes it the longest-running part of the season. The posted hours change through the season:
- Regular weeks: Monday through Thursday, 3 to 10 p.m.; Friday, 3 to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- School holidays: Nov. 27 and Dec. 21 through Jan. 4, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
- Holidays: Christmas Eve, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Christmas Day, 3 to 10 p.m.; New Year's Eve, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; New Year's Day, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Some earlier coverage gave Nov. 23 as the rink's opening date. Medley's current event page says the grand opening is Nov. 27. Weekday hours start at 3 p.m., so on most school nights the rink is an after-school or after-dinner outing. Weekends open at 11 a.m.
The restaurants around the plaza make the rink easy to build an evening around. Medley's announced grand-opening lineup included Summit Coffee, Five Daughters Bakery, Amorino Gelato, Minnie Olivia Pizzeria, Rena's Italian Fishery & Grill, 26 Thai Kitchen, CRÚ Wine Bar & Bistro and STIR. Fadó Irish Pub, Fogón and Lions, and Tabla were announced to open in the following months. Trader Joe's, the first tenant, has been open since June.
The rest of the calendar is at Newtown Park and the churches
Town Center's two hosts split the big nights. Most of the season's other events are spread across the city, along Old Alabama Road and Medlock Bridge Road.
- Holly Days Holiday Market, Thursday, Nov. 12, 6 to 9 p.m., with a Sip 'N Shop evening, and Friday, Nov. 13, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Saint Brigid Catholic Church Parish Life Center, 3400 Old Alabama Road. It's free, with vendors and crafts, according to its Patch calendar listing.
- Johns Creek Literary Fair, Saturday, Nov. 14, 3 to 7 p.m., at Johns Creek United Methodist Church, 11180 Medlock Bridge Road. Attendee registration is free, and VIP tickets cost $45. The May memo explains the registration step. It said a keynote author's requirements meant tickets had to be issued, even free ones, to confirm headcount. Staff also floated moving to a larger non-city indoor space "such as a large church."
- Breakfast with Santa, Saturday, Dec. 12, at Park Place at Newtown, 3125 Old Alabama Road. Breakfast seatings are at 9 and 10:30 a.m., Santa snack sessions are at 1:30 and 3 p.m., and registration is required.
The memo also noted that the city planned to keep lighting its own holiday displays. Those include the tree and dreidel at Newtown Park and the tree at the Boardwalk. If that plan holds, the season will have lights at Newtown Park, at the Boardwalk and on Medley Boulevard.
If a December evening between the Boardwalk and Medley has you thinking about how Town Center is changing your part of Johns Creek, Dawn Camarda Group would be glad to talk it through. Book a complimentary market consultation, and we'll share what we're seeing on the streets around City Hall and McGinnis Ferry Road.
