Candlelight Shopping wraps up at 8 p.m. on Friday, November 13. At 7:30 the next morning, runners line up at the steps of the historic Cobb County Courthouse for the Veterans Memorial 5K. That leaves eleven and a half hours to turn a shopping evening into a civic morning. By 11:11 a.m. on Saturday, a parade of marching bands, JROTC units and military vehicles will be coming up East Park Square past Glover Park.
These are two separate events with separate organizers, separate causes and very different moods. Back to back, though, they make the Square's real opening of the 2026 holiday season.
Friday Belongs to the Shops
Candlelight Shopping is the Square's commercial event. It's free and open to browse from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, November 13, centered on Historic Marietta Square at 50 N Park Square. The 2026 lineup has a few specific draws worth planning around:
- Australian Bakery Cafe is hosting a bluegrass jam.
- Lenny's Hair Salon has a Tiki Holiday theme with live music from 6 to 8 p.m.
- The Holiday Cookie Crawl, presented by the Georgia Symphony Orchestra, starts an hour early at 4 p.m. and runs to 8 p.m.
The Cookie Crawl is the one part of Friday that costs money. Passports are $40, and each comes with a festive collectible shopping bag and a route through 12 participating businesses on the Square, with a cookie from local bakeries at each stop. The money goes to the Georgia Symphony Orchestra's performances and education programs, and passports are sold through the Marietta.com Candlelight Shopping page. Passport holders get a full hour on the route before Candlelight Shopping officially begins at 5.
Dinner can stay on the Square, too. Glover Park Kitchen at 72 Atlanta St. serves Southern cooking with Gulf Coast influences. Fin and Feathers, which opened at 16 Atlanta St. with a soft opening on August 6, serves a Southern soul food menu. Both places will be in their first holiday season on the Square.
Eleven and a Half Hours Later, the Square Changes Jobs
Saturday, November 14 is organized around one moment. American Legion Horace Orr Post 29 and the City of Marietta time the Veterans Day Parade to reach the Square at 11:11 a.m. Hoodline reported that this year marks the parade's 22nd annual run. Everything else that morning is scheduled around that arrival.
| Time | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 7:30 a.m. | 12th Annual Veterans Memorial 5K starts | Steps of the historic Cobb County Courthouse |
| 8:30 a.m. | Tot Trot | Marietta Square |
| 10:40 a.m. | Parade steps off | Roswell Street Baptist Church, 774 Roswell St. |
| 11:11 a.m. | Parade's target arrival | Marietta Square |
| Noon | Veterans Day ceremony | Glover Park |
The 5K starts and finishes at the courthouse steps and loops around the Square. Registration on Post 29's race page is $40 through November 13 and $50 on race day. The proceeds help local veterans and military families. They support the Shepherds Men SHARE Initiative, the Georgia National Guard Family Support Foundation, United Military Care and the Post 29 Service Officer program.
Here's what that means for Friday night. Anyone who picks up a Cookie Crawl passport at 4 p.m. Friday and registers for the 5K is back on the same pavement less than 12 hours after the shops close. For many households the easiest way to do both days is to make Friday an early evening.
Where the Parade Meets the Square
The parade starts on Roswell Street and reaches the Square from the east. According to the City of Marietta's parade listing on Marietta.com, the route runs:
- West on Roswell Street from Roswell Street Baptist Church
- North on East Park Square, past Glover Park
- To its end at the intersection of Cherokee Street and Lawrence Street
The Square gets the end of the parade, so East Park Square is where the 11:11 timing pays off. It's also right next to Glover Park, where the ceremony begins at noon with guest speakers, a gun salute and the playing of Taps. Organizers expect more than thirty entries plus a display of military vehicles, with bands and JROTC units from both Marietta and Cobb County schools. Families who come for a student in the band can watch them march past Glover Park and then stay on the lawn for the ceremony.
The listing sends spectators to the general Marietta Square parking page for parking. Groups marching in the parade get their staging map, parade number and arrival time by letter from Post 29, as described in the parade guidelines. Questions go to the City's communications office or to [email protected].
The Saturday Before Sets Up Both Days
This post goes up on Thursday, November 5, so the weekend in between has its own version of the same pairing.
On Saturday, November 7, the Marietta Square Farmers Market runs from 9 a.m. to noon at 41 Mill Street. The Marietta Square Artisan Market runs alongside it on Mill Street from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. as an open-air market for local art. Both are on Visit Marietta's event calendar. For anyone shopping early for the holidays, the Artisan Market is the low-key start to what the Square makes official on Candlelight night.
The same day, Cobb Salutes holds Say Their Names at Marietta National Cemetery, an all-day event listed on Cobb County's events calendar. That calendar also lists Veterans Day observances across the county during the week, and county offices close on Wednesday, November 11. The parade on the 14th caps that week, so Marietta's veterans' tribute begins on November 7 and ends on November 14.
What Follows the Weekend
The Square's next openings happen at the tables. Brasserie Genevieve, a French bistro and bar, is going into 45 West Park Square, the space that was Piastra for a decade and then briefly Asher & Rose. It comes from Salem Makhlouf and Georganne "Gigi" Rose, who also run Three Roses Tavern and L on North. The owners are aiming for an initial opening the week before Thanksgiving with 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. hours, and dinner will follow once a liquor license is in place. Breakfast is planned around croissants, French pastries, omelets and quiche Lorraine. The dinner menu lists French onion soup, beef bourguignon, mussels and roasted chicken.
The holiday season's other big event is set for Thursday, December 3, when the Marietta Square Christmas Tree Lighting and Santa's Arrival fills Glover Park from 4 to 8 p.m. The schedule:
- Holiday performances start at 4 p.m.
- The Ugly Holiday Sweater Walking Parade steps off at 5 p.m.
- Santa arrives at 5:15 p.m.
- The tree is lit at 6 p.m.
The noon Veterans Day ceremony on November 14 and the 6 p.m. tree lighting on December 3 take place on the same Glover Park lawn, three weeks apart.
If you're making plans around the Square this month, from Candlelight Shopping on the 13th to the 11:11 parade on the 14th, the consultants at BOULEVARD are glad to share what they know about this corner of Marietta. And when you're curious what your own home near the Square is worth this season, Request Your Home Valuation and we'll put together a clear, locally informed answer.
