The Brookhaven International Festival spent its first three Octobers on the Peachtree Creek Greenway, beside the office buildings of Corporate Square and close to Buford Highway. This Saturday it opens on Peachtree Road instead. The fourth annual festival runs Saturday, Oct. 17, and Sunday, Oct. 18, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Brookhaven Park, 4158 Peachtree Road NE. The City of Brookhaven calls it "the event's new location."
The festival moved, but one piece stayed behind. The 5K that opens Sunday is still on the Greenway at 1793 Briarwood Road, so this is the first year the festival weekend happens at two separate places. The festival now sits in a park the city rebuilt over about 15 months of construction. Its old grounds are waiting on a $605 million redevelopment that hasn't broken ground yet, as far as public records show. You'll plan your weekend around both facts.
Three Years on the Greenway
The festival began on the Greenway. The 2023 event ran Oct. 21–22, and the city describes it as its first major event along the Buford Highway Cultural Corridor. In 2024, Rough Draft Atlanta placed it on the Greenway near the 1801 Corporate Blvd. trailhead. That year drew about 5,000 people.
Last year nearly brought the move early. The city first announced Lenox Park for 2025. Then, as Rough Draft Atlanta reported in September 2025, it moved the event back to 1801 Corporate Blvd. because redevelopment of the site had not begun. The city hasn't said why it chose Brookhaven Park for 2026. What it has said is mostly about the park itself.
The Park the City Finally Gets to Show Off
Council Member Madeleine Simmons represents District 3, where the park sits. In the city's festival announcement, she said "Brookhaven Park is ready to show off some of its amazing improvements to a wider audience since the City became its official owner!"
The city's ownership and the rebuild came in four steps:
- April 2022. City Council approved a settlement and intergovernmental agreement with DeKalb County that transferred the park's eastern section to Brookhaven for $1, Rough Draft Atlanta reported.
- July 2023. Major capital work began. The city's budget recap lists groundbreaking, site work, rock removal and grading.
- August 2024. Playground installation started Aug. 15, according to a city report. Rough Draft Atlanta later reported that poor soil at Brookhaven Park was part of the reason for delays.
- October 2024. The park reopened with a new playground, a synthetic-turf play area, two pavilions, restrooms, a dog-park pavilion with restrooms and a patio, and a dog splash pad.
Two years later, the park hosts the city's largest cultural festival. Festivalgoers will find the permanent restrooms and two pavilions from that rebuild. The city still asks people to bring water, chairs or blankets, sunscreen and bug spray.
Saturday Fits a Market, a Festival and a Dinner
Saturday's lineup has two acts confirmed. Cumbiatron headlines with a cumbia dance party. Olly Sholotan also performs. He is a singer, songwriter and producer who mixes pop, R&B and hip-hop with Afrobeats, and he plays Carlton Banks on Peacock's Bel-Air. Expect live cultural performances, art installations, international food, a Kidz Zone and a global marketplace.
The 11 a.m. start leaves room for the morning. The Brookhaven Farmers Market runs Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon, rain or shine, at 1375 Fernwood Circle. Its 2026 season ends Oct. 31, so only three market Saturdays are left. The market is about a mile from Brookhaven Park, roughly a 22-minute walk via Dresden Drive and Peachtree Road NE.
The festival ends at 6 p.m., and the free shuttle helps with the evening. Shuttles run from Apple Valley Road, behind the MARTA parking lot. SIREN is on the same road at 2700 Apple Valley Road #65. It opened Aug. 18, serves seafood with a raw bar and wood-fired dishes, and is open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m., What Now Atlanta reported.
| Saturday, Oct. 17 | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Brookhaven Farmers Market | 1375 Fernwood Circle | 9 a.m.–noon |
| International Festival, Day 1 | Brookhaven Park, 4158 Peachtree Road NE | 11 a.m.–6 p.m. |
| Festival shuttle pickup | Apple Valley Road, behind the MARTA lot | During festival hours |
| SIREN dinner | 2700 Apple Valley Road #65 | 5–10 p.m. |
One more opening falls on the same weekend. Swig, a drive-through for customizable sodas, opened Oct. 1 at 3510 Ashford Dunwoody Road. It's the chain's first metro Atlanta shop, and its grand-opening celebration is set for Oct. 16–17, according to Atlanta Magazine.
Sunday Runs on Two Sites
The split shows up on Sunday. The 5K walk/run opens the day on the Peachtree Creek Greenway at 1793 Briarwood Road. It benefits We Love Buford Highway, a nonprofit that works to preserve the corridor's multicultural identity. The race money supports the group's free after-school Buford Highway Orchestra Program. Executive Director Lily Pabian said in the city's announcement that 96 young musicians have taken part. The course is USATF-certified and counts as a qualifier for the Northside Hospital Peachtree Road Race. It uses the Greenway and nearby parking lots.
The festival opens at 11 a.m. at Brookhaven Park, on a different road in a different part of the city. DROP headlines that afternoon. They're a five-member K-pop group whose digital single Booster came out Jan. 23, 2026. If you're running, plan on getting from the race to the park, not just walking over from the finish line the way you could on the old site.
Some details were still open when the city last updated its announcement on Sept. 29. The city said more performers would be announced. The festival's Eventeny listing showed parking as "TBD." The city hasn't posted a 5K start time or a road-closure notice in the material we reviewed. The city posts updates at BrookhavenGA.gov/intl-fest.
What the Old Festival Grounds Are Waiting On
Developer Third & Urban bought the former Corporate Square office park and renamed the project Northbend, a 30-acre mixed-use plan. Urbanize Atlanta puts it at $605 million. City Council unanimously approved the rezoning on April 22, 2025, Rough Draft Atlanta reported. The plan calls for tearing down the existing office buildings to make room for new infrastructure and better road connections.
The project website describes five acres of public space, including green space, a retail plaza and linear parks. It also lists 10,000 square feet of restaurants and shops around a one-acre public plaza, with direct access to the Peachtree Creek Greenway. The site still says "Construction Begins: Summer 2026" and gives 2028 for first deliveries. The city's latest monthly report, dated Sept. 15, 2026 and covering August, listed Corporate Square–Northbend in land-disturbance review, with no land-disturbance permits issued or approved in that section. Public records we reviewed don't confirm that construction has started.
For now, the old festival grounds are a site in permitting, while the festival's new home is a park the city has already finished. If Northbend's plaza is built as described, the Greenway will have a public gathering space of its own again. That's still years away.
After the Festival, the Calendar Spreads Across Smaller Parks
After the festival, the fall calendar moves to neighborhood parks across the city:
- Oct. 31: Registration deadline for the Holiday Tinsel Trail from Explore Brookhaven, which places decorated trees at Blackburn Park 2, Skyland Park, Langford Park and the Police Department side of the Peachtree Creek Greenway. Trees go in Nov. 16–Dec. 1.
- Nov. 7: Paint the Park, moved because of weather, runs 11 a.m.–2 p.m. at Lynwood Park, 3360 Osborne Road.
- Dec. 3: Light Up Brookhaven, 6–9 p.m. at Blackburn Park, 3493 Ashford Dunwoody Road.
- Dec. 5–6: The Holiday Farmers Market, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. at 4001 Peachtree Road NE.
Whether you know the Corporate Square block from three years of festivals or know Brookhaven Park from the dog park, Northbend's permitting and the park's rebuild are both shaping what's next near your street. David Huang Group follows these projects and can explain, in English or Mandarin, how they figure into a home's value. Schedule a Free Market Consultation whenever you'd like to talk it through.
