Canton Lights Two Christmas Trees This Year, and They're on Different Calendars

Canton has two holiday tree lightings this year. They happen ten days apart, in two different places, and two different organizers run them.

Downtown, the City of Canton lights its tree at Cannon Park on Wednesday, November 18. Ten days later, on Saturday, November 28, The Mill on Etowah holds its own tree lighting program on Reformation Parkway. Each lighting kicks off its own run of markets, Santa visits and evening events, and once you lay the two schedules side by side, they hardly ever land on the same night. Planning the season gets much simpler once you think of it as two calendars instead of one.

Two Lightings, Two Different Evenings

The City's Holiday Tree Lighting and Drone Show runs from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on November 18 at Cannon Park, 130 East Main Street. Because it's on a Wednesday, it's an easy after-work outing downtown.

Christmas at The Mill is a weekend festival instead. This is its 6th year, and it runs Friday and Saturday, November 27 and 28, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. with more than 85 vendor booths, football on the big screen, and photos with Santa. The tree lighting program starts at 6 p.m. that Saturday. Jazz singer Joe Gransden performs, Chicka Elloy of Canton City Lifestyle hosts, and Santa arrives for the official lighting.

So downtown gets a weeknight evening and The Mill gets the Saturday after Thanksgiving. If you'd like to see both trees lit, you don't have to pick one.

Both Calendars, Week by Week

This table covers the stretch from publish day through mid-December. The left column is downtown, mostly at Cannon Park and Canton Theatre. The right column is The Mill on Etowah.

The table splits in half. Through November, the activity is almost all at The Mill. In December, downtown takes over, while The Mill settles into a steady routine built around the rink.

November Belongs to The Mill, With One Shared Wednesday

The Mill fills November almost by itself. Next up is the Makers Market on Saturday, November 14, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Explore Canton also lists free outdoor yoga at The Mill on Wednesdays from 6 to 7 p.m., with November 18 and 25 still ahead.

Wednesday, November 18 is the one evening the two calendars overlap. Yoga at The Mill starts at 6, and the Cannon Park lighting starts at 6:30. You'll have to choose one that night. The only other yoga date still ahead, November 25, has no downtown event competing with it.

Downtown stays quiet the rest of the month, so The Mill's regular tenants carry most November evenings. The Mill's winter-hours directory lists Reformation Brewery, Whitetail Coffee, Fermented Wine Boutique, Giggle Monsters Craft Donuts, Sweet Joy Ice Cream, Nava Taqueria and Magnolia Villa for food and drink. For shopping, it lists Cotton Mill Exchange, the Shoppes with Be Brand, Whole Soul, Flower Shoppe, M&M Mercantile and Alpine Leather, plus Nomadic Flow Outfitters and Mayberry at The Mill–Photo Depot. The events green is where The Mill hosts live music, movies and sports, which is why football on the big screen is part of the Christmas festival.

The Rink Keeps The Mill Open Through Downtown's December

When the Cannon Park calendar fills up in December, The Mill doesn't stack up rival events. It keeps the rink running.

Rink on the River opens Saturday, November 21, and closes January 18. Admission is $15 per person, which includes skate rentals and a wristband for same-day re-entry, with no time limit during open hours. Regular hours are:

• Monday: closed
• Tuesday through Thursday: 4 to 8 p.m.
• Friday: 4 to 9 p.m.
• Saturday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Sunday: noon to 8 p.m.

There are a few exceptions to that schedule. During opening week, the rink opens at 1 p.m. on Monday through Wednesday, November 23 to 25. It's closed on Thanksgiving Day. Over Christmas at The Mill weekend, it runs 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday, November 29. School-break hours are 1 to 8 p.m. on December 21 through 23 and 4 to 8 p.m. on December 28. Every skater has to complete a waiver, and for anyone under 16, a parent or legal guardian signs, even when they're only dropping off. The Mill also asks visitors to check for updates, since weather or special events can change rink hours.

Those regular hours fit right around downtown's December. On both Mistletoe on Main Thursdays the rink is open from 4 to 8 p.m. On the Merry Market Saturday it's open until 9, three hours past the parade's 6 p.m. start.

December Belongs to Cannon Park

Downtown packs most of its season into two back-to-back weeks. Mistletoe on Main wagon rides run at Cannon Park from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, December 3, with live reindeer, and again on Thursday, December 10. Santa visits the Cannon Park gazebo from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, December 5 and 12.

A block or so away, "A Dickens' Christmas Carol" plays at Canton Theatre, 171 E. Main Street, on two weekends. Shows are at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, December 4 and 5, with a 2:30 p.m. matinee on Sunday, December 6. The second weekend repeats the schedule on December 11, 12 and 13.

The second weekend is the busiest stretch of the whole season. Christmas in Canton fills Cannon Park from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, December 11. Saturday, December 12, plays out in this order:

1. The 39th annual Downtown Canton Merry Market opens at Cannon Park at noon, with small-business vendors, downtown shops and food.
2. Santa is at the gazebo from 2 to 5 p.m.
3. The market closes at 6 p.m., and the Canton Christmas Parade starts downtown at 6.
4. The curtain goes up on "A Dickens' Christmas Carol" at Canton Theatre at 8 p.m.

That single Saturday has more on the downtown schedule than all of November did.

West Main Street Links Them, the River Does Not Yet

West Main Street is the route between the two. The City calls it a heavily trafficked pedestrian corridor between downtown Canton and the shops and restaurants at The Mill. A planned upgrade would add a 10-foot sidewalk, angled parking, landscaping, lighting and benches, and the City lists that project as "In Design – Utility Permitting." The river crossing is further behind. The River Mill District Pedestrian Bridge, which would connect The Mill across the Etowah to a trail on the far bank, is still listed as "In Design." For now, the riverside parks are a separate stop from The Mill.

If you'd like a walk by the river before skating, there's one parking change to know about. As of November 2, the City closed the Heritage Park parking lot on the Canton Mill Drive side for work on Alum Pond. The City estimates the project at four to six weeks, weather permitting, which puts the finish between late November and mid-December. The restrooms stay open, and you can reach them on the trail from Etowah River Park. Etowah River Park is at 600 Brown Industrial Parkway. Its half-mile concrete walking trail connects to the Etowah River Trail and Heritage Park, which has its own one-mile concrete trail. Dogs are welcome on the Etowah River Trail on a short leash, as long as owners pick up after them.

Some names show up on both sides of the season. Damsel Romantic Bookstore, Confessions Coffee and Canton Cigar Bar are all in this year's Christmas at The Mill vendor lineup, so local shops you might usually find elsewhere will be at Reformation Parkway for the weekend after Thanksgiving.

If you're mapping out Canton's season and also thinking about whether your next home should be closer to Cannon Park or The Mill, I'd love to talk it through with you. With Kelley Lowrimore, you'll get a neighbor's view of how each part of Canton feels in real life, holiday weekends included. Let's Connect.