Who Hosts Marietta’s October Events?

On Friday, October 2, shops, galleries, and restaurants around Marietta Square put an Art Walk banner in the window, and a local artist set up outside each participating storefront from 5 to 9 p.m., rain or shine. The Art Walk is in its 20th year of First Fridays. Each participating venue serves as its own host.

The three events that follow each have one. A museum runs the second weekend, the city's parks department runs the third, and a single block of neighbors runs a festival a mile north of the Square on the same day as the city's. The host decides what costs money, where you park, what closes, and whether the day suits a stroller or a tasting cup. Knowing who is hosting tells you most of what you need to plan a weekend.

Friday: The Storefronts Do the Hosting

The Marietta Square Art Walk works because each venue takes responsibility for its own piece of the evening. Restaurants, galleries, museums, and boutiques host the artists, and participating venues display an official banner. Guests get free admission to the Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art. Shops and galleries stay open late, and patio dining is part of the evening.

Because the Square's own businesses run it, the footprint stays modest. The kids-zone inflatables that appear at larger festivals go on Atlanta Street between South Park Square and Anderson Street, the block that holds Johnnie MacCracken's Celtic Firehouse Pub, Lucky Draw Tattoos, and The Marietta Local. An ordinary first Friday leaves that block alone. The next Art Walk after October 2 is November 6.

October 10 and 11: A Museum Hosts, and the Ticket Sits on One Afternoon

The Marietta Cobb Museum of Art created Chalktoberfest in 2013 as a fundraiser, and the fundraising still shapes the schedule. Chalk artists work on the streets around the Square on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. That part is free. It includes live entertainment, an artists' market, food trucks, and activities. An amateur chalk competition is part of the weekend.

The ticket applies to one window only. The Craft Beer Festival runs Saturday, October 10, from noon to 5 p.m. It offers unlimited samples of more than 120 craft beers and 25 varieties of wine from Total Wine, plus a souvenir cup, and all proceeds support the museum. The festival stops serving at 5 p.m. regardless of when you arrive, so a 4:15 arrival buys you very little pouring time. Tickets are sold online ahead of the event at a lower price than at the gate, and the festival sold out last year. Pricing is on the Chalktoberfest site, so check it there.

A few practical details come from the festival's visit page. Pets are welcome in every area except where the artists are working and inside the beer festival. Some roads close for the weekend. The museum's own visitor page lists where to park:

• Two parking decks, at Waddell and Haynes Street
• A deck at Mill Street and North Marietta Parkway
• Curbside spaces around the railroad tracks

Private lots around Marietta may charge a fee.

October 17: The City Hosts on the Square, and Neighbors Host a Block Away

The city's HarvestFest runs Saturday, October 17, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Marietta Parks and Recreation sponsors it each fall. The HarvestFest Market fills the day with handmade goods from artists and craftspeople around the Southeast. Around it sit the Halloween Happenings Kids Festival, Touch-A-Truck, and a college football watch area called Cornerback's Coop on East Park Square.

The contests have fixed times. Costume contest entrants should arrive by 1:30 p.m. for a contestant number, and the judging starts at 2 p.m. with the youngest participants. A pet costume contest closes the program at 3 p.m. The pie-eating contest is free for anyone 6 or older and is run with Pie Bar on the Square. Scarecrows in the Square takes over Glover Park, where schools, clubs, businesses, and nonprofits show their entries. Prizes go to Best in Show and to first place in each of the School/Club, Business, Government, Non-Profit, and Best Overall categories.

The Marietta Square Farmers Market happens to fall on the same morning, but it is not part of the festival. It sets up nearby from 9 a.m. to noon.

The same Saturday has a second host. The Cherokee Heights Arts Festival runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Freyer Drive NE between Etowah and Chicasaw Drives. Cherokee Heights is a 1924 National Register subdivision about a mile north of the Square. For many years its residents held an invitation-only art show for friends. In 2009 they moved it outdoors and opened it to everyone, and it now shows the work of more than forty neighbors and friends for one day a year.

Admission is free and so is street parking on Freyer Drive, Seminole Drive, and the side streets. From the Square, follow Cherokee Street toward the hospital and turn right onto Freyer Drive. The festival is one block down. The 2025 edition put music on two stages at either end of the block, offered a kids' craft table from the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, and had beer on tap. Confirm the 2026 details on the festival's site.

Because HarvestFest runs until 5 p.m. and Cherokee Heights until 4 p.m., the two overlap almost the whole day. One workable order is the Saturday farmers market and the HarvestFest market first, then Freyer Drive after lunch.

What Changes When the Host Changes

Drinks are the clearest example of a rule that follows the host. The Square has an entertainment district where licensed restaurants, bars, and breweries sell drinks in clear plastic cups that guests can carry around. The council made the district permanent in 2021 and dropped the original day and hour limits, so the only limit is when the businesses themselves can sell alcohol. Its boundaries run north to Polk Street, west to Marietta Parkway, and south to South Marietta Parkway. Its eastern edge follows roughly Atlanta Street, East Park Square, and Cherokee Street.

Glover Park and the sidewalks bordering it sit outside the district. Drinking in the park is allowed for certain special events such as festivals and concerts. The Chalktoberfest Craft Beer Festival is set on West Park Square. On October 17 the Scarecrows in the Square display is in Glover Park, and the drinks rule depends on the day. Signs at the edges are the reliable guide, and they may differ from what you did on an ordinary Friday.

The farmers market is the one fixture that has no October host. It runs Saturdays year-round and averages around 65 vendors. Sources disagree on the exact closing time and the exact lot, with some listing noon and others 1 p.m., and some pointing to the Mill Street lot while others say North Park Square. Plan for a morning visit around 9 to noon in the Mill Street area, and check the market's page for that week. The Artisan Market that sits next to it follows a different calendar in the fall. Its schedule shifts to select dates from October through December, so confirm before making it the reason for the trip.

A November event ends the run. The Marietta Veterans Day Parade steps off on Saturday, November 14, at 10:40 a.m. from Roswell Street Baptist Church and arrives at the Square.

Questions about how the Square's Saturdays fit into the way you want to live? Work With Us at Zotique International Realty.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.