In December 2024, the Alpha Loop Foundation strung Christmas lights through a new tunnel, parked a food truck selling hot chocolate nearby and invited Alpharetta out for two evenings, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. This year Lights on the Loop runs every night from Dec. 4 through Jan. 4, 2027, from 5:30 to 11 p.m., along a full mile of trail between Northwinds Parkway and Old Milton Parkway.
That growth happened quickly, and it has changed what the event is. Lights on the Loop started as a way to get people onto a new piece of trail. Two years later it has become one of the city's holiday traditions, and the cost of running it has City Council talking about making the trail itself ready for events.
The first event had a narrow job. Phase 3 of the Alpha Loop opened on June 1, 2024. It runs from the Atley neighborhood south along a wooded creek corridor to Westside Parkway, where a new tunnel carries the path into the Northwinds Summit district. Six months later, Appen Media reported that the Foundation was holding a free two-night celebration, Dec. 13 and 14, at the bridge and tunnel between Old Milton and Westside Parkway, to encourage residents to explore the trail. Parking was free at 2500 Northwinds Parkway.
That parking address is still the event's home base. The scale has changed around it.
By December 2025, the event had become a month-long light display along a one-mile stretch of the Loop, with gatherings on several weekends that brought artisan vendors, live music, food and drinks. Karen Richard, a Foundation board member and former City Council member, told Appen Media that about 800 visitors came out on the first weekend of December.
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length of run | Two nights, Dec. 13 and 14 | Month-long | Nightly, Dec. 4 to Jan. 4 |
| Footprint | Bridge and tunnel between Old Milton and Westside Parkway | One-mile stretch | One mile, Northwinds Parkway to Old Milton Parkway |
| Extras | Food truck with hot chocolate | Weekend gatherings with vendors, music, food and drink | Two themed weekends and the Lights & Delights Village |
Once the event lasted a month, the power bill got big enough for City Council to notice. At its Dec. 8 meeting last year, the council discussed permanent electrical service along the Alpha Loop. City Administrator Chris Lagerbloom said Lights on the Loop had spent $17,000 on lighting that season, and that permanent power would cost about $20,000. "If you pay $20,000 once, and it's done, the return on that investment is in one year," he said. Councilman Fergal Brady asked staff to consider putting the project in the city budget.
Councilman Doug DeRito said in the same discussion that permanent power could also serve everyday trail users outside of events. He went further:
"It's one of those things that Alpharetta is probably going to be known for."
That quote comes from Appen Media's report on the council discussion.
For two seasons the lights depended on temporary power. The council conversation shows the city now sees this mile of trail as a place to hold events.
The lit stretch runs between Northwinds Parkway and Old Milton Parkway. That's the same corridor the trail has run through since its early phases. True North 400, the business improvement district, put $250,000 into designing the section between Northwinds Parkway and Old Milton Parkway, and the overall project cost $12.5 million. The 2024 celebration was held at the tunnel and bridge between Old Milton and Westside Parkway.
The details for the 2026 run, from the official Lights on the Loop page:
The two themed weekends:
The setup costs matter because of who pays them and what the event funds. The Alpha Loop Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and Lights on the Loop is its largest fundraiser of the year. The money goes toward the "continued growth and activation of the Alpha Loop." The city builds the trail. The Foundation raises money for public art, lighting, wayfinding, events and other trail amenities. In other words, a month of holiday lights helps pay for lighting the trail the rest of the year.
The art is already on the trail. About 300 feet east of the Alpharetta Branch Library, two bridge murals by Alice Stone-Collins show koi fish and birds against lavender clouds. The Alpharetta Convention and Visitors Bureau is one of the Foundation's supporters. So are developers and property owners who gave land and money early on, including Providence Group, developer of Chelsea Walk and The Atley, and Brookdale Group, owner of the Northwinds development.
Much of Alpharetta's holiday calendar happens in the commercial centers. The Hamilton Alpharetta's annual tree lighting is Nov. 20 at 25 Milton Ave., from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., with the tree lit at 6:30. The city's Season of Celebration lighting is downtown on Nov. 21, 5 to 8 p.m. The Lighting of Avalon follows on Nov. 22, 2 to 7:30 p.m. Avalon on Ice opens the same day at 400 Avalon Blvd. and runs through Jan. 18, 2027.
The Loop's opening weekend overlaps with the busiest Saturday on the downtown calendar. On Saturday, Dec. 5:
The following Saturday, Dec. 12, the Makers Market street fair runs at Avalon from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Alpharetta Winter Parade moves down Canton Street from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and features local youth, civic organizations and the Rotary Club of Alpharetta. The Loop's display stays lit that night until 11.
The trail is also bigger than when the lights started. As of September 2026, the Foundation says more than 7 miles of the Alpha Loop are open, connecting Downtown, Avalon and Northwinds, with nearly 5 more miles under construction, in design or planned. The first phase, a mile-long path between Downtown Alpharetta and Avalon, was finished in April 2020. Phase 2 runs south from Old Milton Parkway through Chelsea Walk and The Atley to the Maxwell mixed-use district.
The next pieces push south and east. In October 2025, the city approved an agreement with the True North 400 district to build a connector at Lakeview and Morrison parkways, toward The Gathering mixed-use project and the North Point Eco District. Design work continues on connections to Kimball Bridge Road, Encore Parkway and the 26-mile Big Creek Greenway. On Aug. 17, City Council approved a $15.99 million design-build contract for Alpha Link, according to Connected Alpharetta. CBS News Atlanta reported the same contract. That trail would run from the Alpha Loop near Morrison Lake and Haynes Bridge Road to the Big Creek Greenway at Encore Parkway, with construction expected to take about 18 and a half months. The city also plans to extend the Loop north to Webb Bridge Road and Academy Street.
Every new segment is a possible place for future events, and Lights on the Loop is the Foundation's main way of raising money for them. This year the display goes on at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 4, with free parking at 2500 Northwinds Parkway, the same lot the first event used two years ago.
If you're curious how the Alpha Loop is changing the parts of Alpharetta it connects, from Chelsea Walk and The Atley to the Northwinds corridor, Margaret Sallee is glad to share what she's seeing along the trail. Contact Margaret to get started.
Whether buying or selling, Margaret represents each of her clients with a high degree of professionalism and personalized care that delivers optimal results.