Things To Do in Atlanta This Weekend

By Discover Atlanta Editorial Team

Published January 6, 2025
Last Updated January 7, 2025

Here’s what’s going on in Atlanta this weekend, Jan. 10, 11 and 12.

Around Town

Discover Boating Atlanta Show Docks at Georgia World Congress Center

The annual chance to think about warm weather out on the lake starts Thursday when the Discover Boating Atlanta Show opens at Georgia World Congress Center. Through Sunday, sun lovers can shop boats, marine gear and accessories and dream about summer days. There’s plenty to do, including the Lake Life Lounge, surfing simulator and fishing seminars.

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Performs Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”

Hear the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra perform Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” Friday and Sunday at Atlanta Symphony Hall. David Coucheron conducts. The program begins with Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings in E major.

New Exhibit Opens Saturday at Fernbank Museum of Natural History

The exhibit, “X-Ray Vision: Fish Inside Out,” opens Saturday at Fernbank Museum of Natural History. You can peek beneath the scales to explore the bony skeletons of fish, stingrays, eels and seahorses through black-and-white X-rays. You’ll discover the secrets of fish evolution, anatomy and the impact of environmental changes on aquatic species in a level of detail reminiscent of fine engraving. Find out the important role these creatures have played in shaping our world.

Fernbank After Dark January Set for Friday Night

Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s monthly event for adults, Fernbank After Dark, is set for 7 p.m. Friday. Enjoy themed cocktails and test your electrical knowledge with activities such as using a Van der Graaf machine and learning some electrifying party tricks.  

WildWoods: Aglow Invites Visitors to a Nighttime Experience

Fernbank Museum of Natural History once again brings WildWoods: Aglow to Atlanta. It is on exhibit through Feb. 23, 2025. The multi-sensory experience immerses visitors in the wonders of nature through a blend of the real environment and glowing displays curated to highlight the native flora and fauna within WildWoods. WildWoods: AGLOW uses glowing scenes and original music compositions to immerse guests into a nighttime wonderland of biodiversity. Highlights include an interactive tulip poplar pod, projections of nocturnal wildlife, glowing native plant species, larger-than-life incandescent mushrooms and more. New this year, guests will discover large dandelions, fluttering dragonflies, swarming bat displays and glowing garden towers.

High Museum of Art Exhibits Georgia O’Keeffe

The Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit, “My New Yorks,” is on display at the High Museum of Art. Famed for her images of flowers and Southwestern landscapes, Georgia O’Keeffe spent several years exploring the built environment of New York City. She moved to the Shelton Hotel in 1924 for a five-year period of experimentation. She created street-level compositions capturing the city’s monumental skyscrapers from below and suspended views looking down from her 30th-floor apartment. She called these works her “New Yorks.” The High is the exclusive venue in the Southeastern United States for this exhibition, open until Feb. 16, 2025.

The exhibit, “Giants from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys” is open at the High Museum of Art through Jan. 19, 2025. Musicians, songwriters and producers Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Dean) and Alicia Keys have lived their ethos of “artists supporting artists,” acquiring a world-class collection of paintings, photographs and sculptures by diverse, multigenerational artists. The exhibition illuminates the renown and impact of legendary and canon-expanding artists.

Museum of Design Atlanta Explores Typography

The exhibit, “Characters: Type in Action,” is open at MODA (the Museum of Design Atlanta) through Jan. 20, 2025. The exhibit delves into the impact of typography on social justice, examining its history and its role in today’s movements. This exhibition showcases typefaces created by Tré Seals, a Black designer from Washington, D.C., and founder of Vocal Type, whose work captures the spirit of social justice movements. Typefaces remind us that a just and equitable world embraces diverse voices in our daily lives. Through the stories of historical figures, the exhibit reveals how typography can be wielded as a tool for both oppression and liberation. .

Holiday Happenings

Enjoy Winter Wonderland at Fernbank Museum of Natural History

“Winter Wonderland: Celebrations & Traditions Around the World” is open at Fernbank Museum of Natural History through Sunday. Enjoy the holidays and other celebrations through two floors of decorated trees and display cases that highlight cultural objects, events and traditions from around the world. “Winter Wonderland” tells stories about the more than 25 countries represented from across the globe. Some of this year’s cultural partners represent countries such as Argentina, Canada, Germany, Ghana, Norway, Japan, India, Mexico, Peru, Turkey, the Philippines, Switzerland and more.

Experience Garden Lights, Holiday Nights at Atlanta Botanical Garden

Atlanta Botanical Garden’s annual lighting extravaganza, Garden Lights, Holiday Nights continues through Sunday.

Back for its 14th year, Garden Lights, Holiday Nights shines bright with an upgrade to its curtain of synchronized light and sound, Nature’s Wonders. Expect new music and choreography with more vertical lights than ever. There will be several giant plant sculptures from the “Alice’s Wonderland Returns” exhibit, dramatically lit and including the Skyline Garden’s White Rabbit and nearby Chess Set as well as the Cheshire Cat.

IllumiNights Brightens Zoo Atlanta

Zoo Atlanta’s annual IllumiNights showcases vistas of brilliantly illuminated wildlife and captivating sights that celebrate the wonders of nature. This year, the zoo introduces new lanterns and experiences, transforming Zoo Atlanta into a nighttime wonderland. IllumiNights continues through Jan. 19, 2025.

Family

Children’s Museum of Atlanta Welcomes Families to ‘Wallace & Gromit: Get Cracking’

Children’s Museum of Atlanta’s featured exhibit, “Wallace & Gromit: Get Cracking,” is open through Sunday.  Inspired by the film and television characters, this interactive exhibit invites visitors to engage in creative, hands-on activities that promote problem-solving and resilience. Created in collaboration with Aardman and the Minnesota Children’s Museum, the exhibit will educate and entertain kids through Sunday. Designed for children ages 3 through 9, the exhibit invites little inventors into Wallace’s world, where inventions and contraptions often go terribly — but hilariously — wrong.

Sports

Atlanta Hawks Play at Home on Saturday

The Atlanta Hawks play the Houston Rockets at 3 p.m. Saturday at State Farm Arena. It’s Kids Day at the arena, which means there will be family fun including Harry the Hawk and the ATL Dancers. The first 5,000 kids who enter get a Harry Squish Pillow Plush. The Hawks are ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference; the Rockets are ranked second in the Western Conference.

College Games

The Georgia State Panthers men’s basketball team plays the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at 4 p.m. Saturday at the GSU Convocation Center. The Georgia State women’s basketball team plays the Troy Trojans at 1 p.m. Saturday at the GSU Convocation. Center.

This article updates weekly with brand new things to do in Atlanta for the weekend. Feel free to bookmark it for next weekend. For more weekend events, check our calendar.