Franklin County doesn't hold one holiday festival. It holds about a dozen small ones, and each belongs to a single town. Carnesville, Royston, Lavonia and Canon each set their own dates, and the 2026 calendars barely overlap. Halloween runs three nights in a row, starting in Carnesville on Thursday and ending in Lavonia on Saturday. Christmas parades are spread across two weekends and three towns.
So in practice the season is a sequence you can follow from one town to the next. Halloween is 19 days out, and most of the 2026 dates are already posted on the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce calendar and the Lavonia Downtown events page. Here is the full schedule, followed by the parts that haven't been announced yet.
The 2026 schedule
| Date | Town | Event | Time and place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu., Oct. 29 | Carnesville | Halloween in the Park | 5 to 7 p.m., 919 Hull Ave. |
| Fri., Oct. 30 | Royston | Downtown Trick or Treating | 4 to 5:30 p.m., 684 Franklin Springs St. |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Royston | Monster Mile | 9 a.m., Royston Wellness Park, 81 Skelton St. |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Lavonia | Trick-or-Treat at the Gazeboo | Downtown Lavonia, time not yet posted |
| Tue., Nov. 24 | Lavonia | Christmas Tree Lighting & Market | Downtown Lavonia |
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Royston | 5K Turkey Trot and 1-Mile Fun Run | 7:30 a.m., Royston Wellness Park |
| Sun., Nov. 29 | Canon | City of Canon Tree Lighting | 295 Depot St. |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Lavonia | Indoor Christmas Market | Downtown Lavonia |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Canon | City of Canon Christmas Parade | Lineup on Depot St. behind the railroad tracks |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Lavonia | Lavonia Christmas Parade | Downtown Lavonia |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Royston | Royston Nighttime Christmas Parade | 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., Church St. |
Only two dates have more than one event. On Oct. 31, Royston's race is in the morning and Lavonia's trick-or-treat is downtown later in the day. On Dec. 5, Canon's parade shares the date with Lavonia's indoor market, which ran 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. last year. Every other event on the list gets a night to itself.
Halloween runs Thursday, Friday, Saturday
The Halloween order is the clearest example. The City of Carnesville starts things off with Halloween in the Park, 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 919 Hull Avenue. Royston follows the next afternoon with Downtown Trick or Treating, 4 to 5:30 p.m. Friday at 684 Franklin Springs Street. That window ends early enough for a family to be home for dinner.
On Halloween itself, Royston starts first. The Monster Mile is a one-mile costume race at Royston Wellness Park at 9 a.m. Saturday. Every participant gets a T-shirt and a finisher's medal, there's a costume contest, and prizes go to the top three male and female finishers in each age group. Lavonia Downtown's 2026 calendar puts Trick-or-Treat at the Gazeboo on the same day. The name plays on Lavonia's downtown gazebo, the same spot where the Christmas parade announcer sits in December. Lavonia hasn't posted a start time yet, so check the downtown page as Halloween gets closer.
A family with kids in costume could go to three trick-or-treat events in three towns on three nights without leaving Franklin County.
Thanksgiving week is when the lights come on
The pattern continues in November, and Lavonia's dates show it best. In 2025, the Lavonia Christmas Tree Lighting & Market was on Tuesday, Nov. 25, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The 2026 calendar puts it on Tuesday, Nov. 24, which again is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The date changed but the slot stayed the same.
Lavonia hasn't posted 2026 details. Last year's event ran 5 to 7 p.m. and the tree was lit at 6. It had Santa and Mrs. Claus, Christmas music on the square, children's activities, marshmallow roasting, free cookies and hot cider, and the Holiday Coca-Cola Lighted Christmas Truck. Treat that as the expected format, not a promise.
Royston's tree lighting has fallen on the same week. In November 2025, WLHR 92.1 reported that Royston's annual tree lighting was part of "Christmas in Royston" and would start at 6 p.m. downtown on the Monday after the article ran. That put Royston's lighting one night before Lavonia's. Royston hasn't posted a 2026 tree lighting date yet.
Royston's 2026 date that is posted is Thanksgiving morning. The second annual 5K Turkey Trot and 1-Mile Fun Run runs 7:30 to 10 a.m. on Nov. 26, starting and finishing at Royston Wellness Park. The fun run stays inside the park. The 5K is a 3.1-mile route, open to walkers and runners, through the streets of downtown Royston, with one water station on the course and another at the finish. Anyone registered by Nov. 11 is guaranteed a T-shirt and a finisher's medal.
Canon lights its tree three days later, on Sunday, Nov. 29, at 295 Depot Street. The Chamber lists it as an annual event and hasn't posted a time.
The parades are spread over two weekends
December is where the spacing matters most, because parades close streets and use up an afternoon or evening.
- Canon, Saturday, Dec. 5. The City of Canon Christmas Parade lines up on Depot Street behind the railroad tracks. The Chamber says more information is coming as the date gets closer.
- Lavonia, Sunday, Dec. 6. The Lavonia Christmas Parade is on the 2026 downtown calendar for that Sunday. Last year's parade was also on the first Sunday of December, Dec. 7, at 3 p.m., with lineup from 1 to 2 p.m.
- Royston, Saturday, Dec. 12. The Royston Nighttime Christmas Parade runs 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Church Street, according to the City of Royston's event listing. The Chamber's homepage lists the same parade on Dec. 13, so confirm the date with the city before you plan around it.
The three parades also happen at different times of day. Lavonia's has been a Sunday afternoon parade, and Royston's is held after dark. If you go to both, you see a daylight parade one week and a lighted one the next.
Lavonia also changed its route last year. The 2025 parade started at Lavonia City Hall on Augusta Road and Highway 17, turned right onto Grogan Street, turned left onto West Main Street, continued down West Main onto Highway 59, turned right onto East Main Street, and ended near Morgan Hardware. Organizers said the new route was meant to improve safety and keep the candy tradition going. Spectators were asked to stay on the sidewalks so participants could hand out candy safely. The 2025 theme was "A Classic Christmas in Lavonia." The float competition awarded first, second and third place, and winners were announced at the Christmas Celebration downtown after the parade. Lavonia hasn't said whether 2026 uses the same route.
The day before Lavonia's parade, the Lavonia Indoor Christmas Market is set for Saturday, Dec. 5. Last year it was called "Deck the Depot" and was held at the historic Lavonia Depot. A selection committee chose local artisans and crafters who sell handmade goods, and the market didn't accept permanent jewelry, T-shirt, crochet or pottery vendors. With the market on Saturday and the parade on Sunday, Lavonia fills one full weekend, and Canon's Saturday parade lands in the middle of it.
What hasn't been announced yet
Several dates are still missing, so plan the rest of the season around these gaps:
- Carnesville's Christmas event. No 2026 date has been posted. In 2023, WLHR 92.1 described Carnesville's Christmas in the Park as a 6:30 p.m. evening with a bonfire, Christmas music, a message, Santa photos and a tree lighting, followed by a community meal. That's the most recent description available.
- Franklin Springs' tree lighting. No 2026 date has been posted. An earlier Franklin County Citizen Leader report described the tree lighting at City Hall with carriage rides, marshmallow roasting, children's crafts, Santa photos, and cookies and desserts.
- Royston's 2026 tree lighting. The 2025 event started at 6 p.m. downtown the Monday before Thanksgiving. The 2026 date hasn't been posted.
- Start times for Canon's tree lighting and parade, Lavonia's Gazeboo trick-or-treat, and every 2026 Lavonia Christmas event.
If Carnesville and Franklin Springs schedule their events on nights that are still open, the calendar keeps the one-town-per-night pattern. If either one lands on Dec. 5, the first Saturday of December will be the busiest day of the season.
Downtown Lavonia between events
Downtown Lavonia has a few new things to see between events. In June, WLHR 92.1 reported on the ribbon cutting for the "Love You to Lavonia and Back" mural on West Avenue. The mural is part of the city's streetscape beautification work. The plan is to extend it down the alley and add outdoor seating and hanging Edison lights for nearby restaurants and Gumlog Brewery. The station noted the mural still needed tweaks, and nothing published since confirms the seating and lights are in. Gumlog Brewing Company opened at 5806 West Avenue in November 2023, and WLHR reported then that it planned to be open for that year's tree lighting.
On West Main, the Chamber will hold a noon ribbon cutting on Friday, Oct. 16, at Vintage Home Collective, 157 West Main Street, to celebrate the store's new owners. For more on what's changing in Lavonia and Royston this fall, see our post on Lavonia's Food Lion opening and Royston's wait. For more about the county, visit our Franklin County page.
If you own land or a home in Franklin County and want to know what it's worth before the year ends, Cann Realty works across Carnesville, Royston, Lavonia, Canon and the land between them. Request a free property valuation, and we'll give you a straight answer in time to plan for the new year.
