Garden Lights Returns Next Door, and This Year the Botanical Garden Is Also Growing Toward the BeltLine

Along Piedmont Avenue, just north of the Atlanta Botanical Garden's main gate, several commercial buildings are gone. The Garden bought them and took them down, and crews are preparing the steep site for construction. It will become part of nearly 8 acres of new garden. Just south of that site, inside the gates, the Garden has been getting ready for Garden Lights, Holiday Nights presented by Invesco. The show opens to the public Saturday, Nov. 14, and runs nightly through Jan. 10, 2027.

Ansley Park has had both of these on its doorstep for years: the holiday show and the plan to expand. This is the first season they share the same block of Piedmont Avenue. The Garden is keeping the lights on later than before, and it has started the work that will give it a second entrance facing the BeltLine. For the neighborhood next door, the 2026 season is the first sign that the Garden will soon open in two directions.

Tonight is the member premiere. Saturday is opening night.

Garden members have their own night first. The members-only premiere is tonight, Thursday, Nov. 12, from 5 to 10 p.m., and the Garden says it carries the lowest ticket price of the season. After tonight, membership still pays: members get $5 off every Garden Lights ticket all season, and membership includes free admission during regular daytime hours.

Everyone else can go starting Saturday. The Garden warns that Garden Lights sells out often, so it asks guests to buy ahead online, by phone or in person. Online and phone orders carry a $5 processing fee. General admission has to be bought before the day you go.

The show now runs until midnight

The biggest change for anyone within walking distance is the new closing time. Garden Lights now stays open every night until midnight, with last entry at 11 p.m. The Garden is selling that late window at a discount. Night Light tickets cover entry after 9:30 p.m. and start at $19.95 for adults. Availability is limited, and Premium and Flex Tix upgrades can be added.

Compared with last year, the late window is now open every night of the run. For the 2025 season, Atlanta on the Cheap reported that late admission started at 9 p.m. and only on Value Nights and Regular Nights. This season the discount starts half an hour later but applies every night. Someone who lives on The Prado or Peachtree Circle can walk over after dinner on a December weekend and still get in at the lower price.

The ticket options this season:

The Holiday Hideaway is new this year. It is a private area for Premium Plus guests with fire pits, restrooms, seating, music, lawn games and a s'mores kit, according to 365 ATL's 2026 season guide. For other ticket types, the Flex Tix add-on lets you move your visit to another date if the weather turns.

What changed inside the gates

The later hours bring a few new displays with them. The Garden lists three changes for the 2026–27 season:

• More lights along Flower Walk
• The return of the Imaginary Worlds mosaiculture dragon in the Skyline Garden
• A new light show for Nature's Wonders, which the Garden calls the world's largest curtain of light and sound

Some of the setup reached past the outdoor paths. The Garden closed the Fuqua Orchid Center Atrium from Oct. 19 to Nov. 6 for construction tied to Garden Lights.

Getting in from the Ansley Park side

The Garden is clear about the busiest nights. The SAGE Parking Facility is shared with Piedmont Park, fills up during Garden Lights, and can have delays of up to 30 minutes. Parking there is $20 per vehicle, debit or credit card only. If you drive, the Garden lists these options in order:

1. Piedmont Avenue at The Prado. This is the main Garden entrance to the SAGE garage. Garden visitors park on levels 4 through 6, and Piedmont Park visitors use levels 1 through 3. Clearance is 6 feet 8 inches.
2. Monroe Drive. When the Piedmont Avenue entrance backs up, the Garden sends drivers to its Monroe Drive entrance at 1320 Monroe Drive.
3. Colony Square. Paid parking there is about a 20-minute walk from the Garden.

The Garden also suggests rideshare, taxis and transit. If a parking backup makes you late, 365 ATL reports that your timed ticket will still be honored. If you can walk, the 9:30 p.m. Night Light window avoids the busiest part of the evening entirely.

North of the gate, the second entrance

The cleared ground north of the main entrance is the start of the Garden's biggest physical change in years. In its August 25 expansion announcement, the Garden said it planned to break ground in September on a nearly 8-acre addition that will connect it directly to the Atlanta Beltline, with a second entrance on the 22-mile trail. Garden President and CEO Mary Pat Matheson described it in that release:

"The start of construction marks a defining moment in the Garden's history. Our expansion and new Beltline entrance will create an entirely new way for visitors to experience the Garden while expanding our capacity to educate, inspire and connect people with the natural world."

The numbers in the same release show the scale. The Garden will grow by nearly 30 percent and is aiming to finish in 2029. Crews will remove about 200 trees, many of them dead, diseased, invasive or small "weed trees." The Garden will plant more than 800, over half of them native species, for a net gain of nearly 400,000 square feet of tree canopy. About two dozen of the new trees will line a new green strip along Piedmont Avenue. That is the stretch Ansley Park residents pass on every drive to the garage.

The Garden's campaign page describes what will go inside. It starts with a Beltline Plaza outside the gates for free public programs. Next comes a visitor center facing the BeltLine, with an indoor/outdoor cafe, gift shop and bike parking. From there, a central Grand Axis climbs past Water Terraces and a Walled Garden to a Fountain Garden at the top of the site, with a glass-fronted Orangerie at the upper end. The Atlanta's Garden Gateway campaign has a $165 million goal and has raised more than $149 million.

What a two-entrance Garden means next door

Today, the Garden's main entrance and its garage entrance for Garden visitors are both on Piedmont Avenue at The Prado, and that is where the Garden warns of entry delays on busy nights. A BeltLine entrance with its own visitor center and bike parking will give walkers and cyclists from the trail a way in that never touches Piedmont Avenue. The Garden says it will be the first major arts and cultural institution you can reach directly from the BeltLine.

The neighborhood has been following the project from the start. On its website, the Ansley Park Civic Association says its zoning committee has been reviewing the expansion with other neighborhood groups, with particular attention to traffic and parking in Ansley Park. The civic association also keeps a list of nearby projects, including the 15th Street corridor work. Neighbors following Midtown changes along with the annual Tour of Homes will find both on the same page.

Until 2029, the Garden's front door stays on Piedmont Avenue, and this season it stays open until midnight. Night Light entry starts at 9:30 p.m. every night through Jan. 10. On the walk to the gate, you can see the new garden taking shape north of the entrance along Piedmont Avenue.

The Garden at the edge of Ansley Park is one of the neighborhood's best-known neighbors, and its expansion will shape the Piedmont Avenue side for years. If you want to talk through how the Garden's growth fits into your plans in Ansley Park, Mary Stuart Iverson would be glad to hear from you. Schedule a Free Consultation.