In 2024, the City of Cumming's Christmas parade notice said "there will be no festival following the parade at the Fairgrounds this year" and sent people to the Christmas tree lighting at City Center instead. The 2025 registration form said almost the same thing: "There will be no Christmas Festival at the Cumming Fairgrounds following the 2025 Christmas Parade." For two Decembers in a row, the parade ended at the Fairgrounds and the evening ended there too.
The 2026 parade registration form says something different:
"A new event called Nights of Lights will be held from Nov. 20th to Dec. 27th. Following the 2026 Christmas Parade, this event will be going on in the upper area of the Fairgrounds."
This year, the calendar at 235 Castleberry Road runs from the last day of the fair on Oct. 18 to a parade night on Dec. 12 that keeps going after the floats arrive.
The Fair Closed Sunday, and the Calendar Kept Going
The Cumming Country Fair & Festival ran Oct. 8 through Oct. 18, 2026, with the James H. Drew Exposition midway and a Native Indian and Heritage Village on the grounds. The fair's daily attractions page billed the Zerbini Family Circus as "New for 2026." The circus shared the lineup with Rosaires Royal Racers, Oscar the Robot, the North Georgia Petting Zoo and the Four Scythes Haunted Attraction.
Six days later, families are back in the parking lot. Forsyth County's events calendar lists a Fire Department Trunk or Treat in the Fairgrounds parking lot on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 6 p.m. The same calendar puts the Boo Bash Trunk or Treat at Central Park at 10 a.m. that morning, so one Saturday has two trunk-or-treats at two county locations. Two days earlier, on Oct. 22, Cumming City Center runs its Haunted Cruise-In Halloween Edition from 6 to 8 p.m.
November Belongs to Small Engines and Smaller Racecars
Once Halloween is over, the Fairgrounds goes back to its regular users, and two of them get the first half of November.
The first is the North Georgia Quarter Midget Association. The NGQMA is a NASCAR Youth Series club for drivers ages 5 to 17, and it names the Cumming Fairgrounds as its home track. Quarter midgets are small open-wheel cars raced on oval tracks. The Fairgrounds calendar lists NGQMA races on Saturday, Nov. 7, and Sunday, Nov. 8, each from 5 to 8 p.m.
The next weekend is older equipment. The Cumming Antique Power Association hosts its 25th annual Cumming Steam, Antique Tractor & Gas Engine Exposition on Friday, Nov. 13, and Saturday, Nov. 14. The group's stated mission is preserving antique power equipment, and it invites owners to bring their own tractors and engines to show. Hours vary by listing. CAPA's site gives 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, and the Fairgrounds calendar lists 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you're planning an afternoon visit, check CAPA's posted hours.
Both events are a good fit for the grounds as they normally run: the infield, the track and the open lots. The next event uses the hill.
Nights of Lights Takes Over the Upper Fairgrounds
Nights of Lights opens Friday, Nov. 20, and runs through Sunday, Dec. 27. On its attractions page, the operator calls it Cumming's "all-new walk-through Christmas lights attraction." Its About page says, "We can't wait to bring the magic to Cumming, Georgia, in 2026." The city's parade form places it in the upper area of the Fairgrounds.
The operator describes a path about a quarter mile long on paved, wheelchair-accessible surfaces. The route starts at a 65-foot Christmas tree and passes more than 200 LED displays, with a life-size igloo you can walk through along the way.
Here's what the operator's prices page lists for 2026:
- Ages 16 and up: $10
- Ages 5 to 15: $7
- Ages 4 and under: free
- Early-bird price, Oct. 19 through Oct. 31: $5 for all ages
Admission covers the walk-through lights, the igloo and Santa's Village. Santa photos are free on select dates. The skating rink, carnival rides, bounce attraction, pony rides and petting-zoo feed cost extra. The site notes that attractions can change from year to year. It's open 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The early-bird window is open during the week this post comes out, and it closes before the lights turn on. A family of four with two kids between 5 and 15 would pay $34 at regular prices and $20 at the early-bird price.
December 5 Is the Biggest Race Day of the NGQMA Year
The quarter midgets come back before the parade. NGQMA's Cotton Classic is set for Saturday, Dec. 5. The club calls it its biggest race of the year and the finale of the Dixie Shootout Series. The day runs on heat races, and passing points set the lineups for the lower mains and the feature. NGQMA says heat racing begins at 9 a.m. The Fairgrounds calendar shows a shorter 11 a.m. to noon block that day, so go by the club's schedule if you want to see the heats.
That means on Dec. 5, racing on the track during the day overlaps with Nights of Lights, which opens on the hill at 5 p.m.
Parade Night, Hour by Hour
The City of Cumming Christmas Parade is Saturday, Dec. 12, and the city's 2026 form calls it a lighted parade. In both 2024 and 2025, the night ended when the floats arrived. Here's how this year's evening is scheduled:
- By 4 p.m.: Parade participants gather at Forsyth Central High School.
- 5 p.m.: The parade starts. Nights of Lights opens for its usual Saturday hours at the same time.
- 6:30 p.m.: The Fairgrounds calendar lists the parade ending.
- Until 10 p.m.: Nights of Lights stays open in the upper area of the Fairgrounds after the parade. Saturday hours there run until 10 p.m.
The city hasn't published a 2026 route, road-closure schedule, theme or grand marshal yet. The 2025 route and closure times aren't a safe guide for this year, so watch the City of Cumming news page as the date gets closer. Groups that want to enter have until 5 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 7, to return the registration form, and there's no entry fee.
City Center Gets Its Own Holiday Night, Three Weeks Earlier
The new Fairgrounds event also changes City Center's role in December. In 2024 and 2025, City Center was where the city sent people after the parade. This year, the Cumming City Center Winter Market & Tree Lighting has its own date, Saturday, Nov. 21, at 423 Canton Road, the day after Nights of Lights opens. The event page lists more than 100 vendors, Santa, live holiday music and a kids' zone. The city's calendar adds a holiday concert and the lighting of City Center's Christmas tree after the market. The listings don't agree on when the market closes. The event page says 6 p.m., and the city's parade form says 7 p.m.
With the tree lighting on Nov. 21 and the parade on Dec. 12, Cumming now has two holiday nights in two places instead of one. Nights of Lights' last night is Sunday, Dec. 27, when it closes at 9 p.m.
Here at Candler Real Estate, we track details like these across North Georgia because a town's weekly routine says more about it than any listing can. If you live in Cumming and you're thinking about your next move, or you'd like to talk about how this part of Forsyth County is changing, we'd be glad to hear from you. Contact Us.