Brookhaven's fourth annual International 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 calls it the event's new location. For three years the festival set up beside the Peachtree Creek Greenway. This year it moves to a park the City owns outright and has spent years rebuilding. The Sunday 5K stays on the Greenway, so the weekend now sits partly on Peachtree Road and partly in the corridor where the festival began.
Three Octobers Beside the Greenway
The festival started in 2023 along the Peachtree Creek Greenway, and the City described it as its first major event along the Buford Highway Cultural Corridor. In 2024 it was back on the Greenway, beside the overlook bridge near the trailhead at 1801 Corporate Boulevard.
The 2025 festival almost moved, and how that played out explains this year. The City first announced Lenox Park as the 2025 site. In September it switched back to Corporate Park at 1801 Corporate Boulevard because redevelopment of the Lenox Park site had not begun. Third & Urban had bought that office park to turn it into residential, retail, restaurant and recreation space. By then the event was big enough that its location mattered. Rough Draft Atlanta reported that the 2024 festival drew 5,000 people.
So in its first three years, the festival's home depended on the Greenway's layout and on a private developer's schedule. The City has not explained why it picked Brookhaven Park for 2026. The council members' comments focus on two things the new site has: transit access and a finished renovation.
A Park the City Finished Claiming in 2022
Brookhaven Park hasn't always been entirely the City's. Brookhaven already owned the western section, but the front section along Peachtree Road was the subject of an ownership lawsuit with DeKalb County. On April 26, 2022, the City and the County approved a settlement that transferred that eastern parcel to Brookhaven for $1 and ended the suit. As part of the deal, the City set aside $1.6 million toward DeKalb County's new Brookhaven library, to be paid when the County starts construction.
Rough Draft Atlanta reported that the major renovation began in July 2023 as an $8.8 million project. The plan included three pavilions, a dog park with a splash pad, an expanded playground with restrooms, a walking path, a stage, lighted parking, and changes to the stormwater system. Several of those pieces matter for a two-day festival with live music: a stage, restrooms, covered pavilions, and parking lit after dark. Corporate Park was a trailhead next to an office park. Brookhaven Park now has much of what an outdoor festival needs already built in.
Council Member Madeleine Simmons, whose District 3 includes the park, put it this way in the City's announcement:
"Brookhaven Park is ready to show off some of its amazing improvements to a wider audience since the City became its official owner!"
Mayor Pro-Tem and District 4 Council Member John Funny pointed to access. He described Brookhaven Park as "easily accessible via MARTA and our provided shuttles."
Who Is on the Stage
The City's lineup has three acts so far. Saturday's headliner is Cumbiatron, a cumbia music and dance act. Olly Sholotan, a singer and producer who blends pop, R&B and hip-hop with Afrobeats, also performs Saturday. He is known on screen as Carlton Banks in Peacock's Bel-Air. Sunday's headliner is DROP, a five-member K-pop group whose digital single Booster came out January 23, 2026. The City says more performers will be announced. Both days also include international food, art installations, a Kidz Zone and a global marketplace. Updates are posted on the City's festival page.
Sunday Now Has Two Addresses
The 5K hasn't moved. It starts the festival's Sunday as it has for four years, along the Peachtree Creek Greenway at 1793 Briarwood Road. This year the race and the festival are at separate sites, and getting from one to the other is part of the day.
The race has its own draw. 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, which keeps it open to runners and walkers of any ability. Proceeds go to We Love Buford Highway, a nonprofit that works to preserve the corridor's multicultural identity. The money funds its Buford Highway Orchestra Program, a free after-school music program. Executive Director Lily Pabian says 96 young musicians have taken part so far.
Since the festival left the Greenway, the 5K is now the part of the weekend that physically stays in the corridor where the event started. A full Sunday looks like this:
- Morning 5K on the Peachtree Creek Greenway, starting at 1793 Briarwood Road. Registration is through the City's festival page.
- Travel to the festival. Free shuttles leave from Apple Valley Road behind the MARTA parking lot.
- Festival grounds at Brookhaven Park open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with DROP headlining.
The Shuttle Starts on Apple Valley Road
The City is running free shuttles to the festival from Apple Valley Road, behind the MARTA parking lot. It's an outdoor festival on a lawn, and the City asks attendees to bring a few things:
- Water
- Chairs or blankets
- Sunscreen
- Bug spray
Saturday Ends Near the Shuttle Stop
The shuttle street has a new dinner option. SIREN, Michel Arnette's coastal seafood restaurant, opened August 18 at 2700 Apple Valley Road NE, Suite 65, next door to Arnette's Chop Shop. Rough Draft Atlanta's August roundup later confirmed it was open. Chefs Stephen Herman and Matt Swickerath run a menu built around oysters, crudo, raw-bar dishes and wood-fired cooking. The restaurant is open Tuesday through Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m.
On Saturday, Oct. 17, SIREN opens an hour before the festival closes at 6, on the same street as the shuttle pickup. It isn't open Sundays, so Sunday festival-goers will need to plan dinner somewhere else. Arnette's group, Word of Mouth Restaurants, also runs Haven, Valenza and Vero Pizzeria.
Brookhaven Park's Calendar After October
The International Festival is the first of several City events at Brookhaven Park this fall. The City calendar lists Santa Paws there on Sunday, Dec. 20, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The renovation's dog park and dog splash pad make it a natural fit for a pet event.
Other City events have been rescheduled or are coming up elsewhere:
- Paint the Park was planned for Oct. 4 at Blackburn Park and was postponed for weather. It's now Saturday, Nov. 7, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Lynwood Park, 3360 Osborne Road. Supplies and canvases are first come, first served, and artists can bring their own. King of Pops and face painting will be there. Prizes are awarded in three age groups: 7 and under, 8 to 13, and 14 and up. Winning pieces appear in the City's annual Paint the Park calendar.
- Light Up Brookhaven is listed for Thursday, Dec. 3, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Blackburn Park, 3493 Ashford Dunwoody Road.
- City Centre Santa is listed for Saturdays Dec. 5, 12 and 19, from 9 a.m. to noon at 4001 Peachtree Road NE.
The International Festival's earlier sites were the Greenway, a trailhead next to an office park, and a Lenox Park plan that fell through. In its fourth year it opens on Oct. 17 at a park the City has owned outright since April 2022.
If you're thinking about how events like this, and investments like the Brookhaven Park renovation, shape life on your street, the agents at Home Luxury Real Estate follow Brookhaven closely and are glad to talk it through. Contact Us anytime.
