Hoschton's Holiday Calendar Now Runs Into December, and Every Stop on It Is Outdoors

At a December 2025 meeting, the Hoschton Downtown Development Authority worked through a short list for the year ahead. It included an archway over the alley on City Square St. that leads to a city-owned porch behind Hoschton Coffee Company, a possible art market on City Square St., a return of the farmers market and a plan to sell the old Larry's Garage building to a developer for restaurant and retail use. MainStreetNews covered that meeting, along with a vote that same night to partially demolish the garage's interior.

Ten months later, the outdoor items on that list are done, and the holiday season depends on them. The garage is the only item still waiting. Its sale contract fell through in September, and the building is back on the market. That split shapes downtown Hoschton from Halloween through mid-December. Every event on the calendar happens on a green, a square or a lit alley, and the building that was supposed to give those events a permanent indoor anchor is still empty.

The six weeks, by date

The big weekend has already happened. The Hoschton Fall Festival filled downtown October 2 through 4, and MainStreetNews reported about 200 vendors, rides, a kids zone and a parade on October 3. The rest of the season is smaller and more spread out. It's listed on the DDA's September 30, 2026 agenda and the market schedule.

The last row is new. When the art and farmers markets launched together on March 14, the published schedule ran on second Saturdays and ended with Nov. 14. The December 12 market showed up on the DDA's September minutes and its September 30 agenda, which pushes the market season a month past its original end.

Two greens and a crosswalk

The November market sits on both sides of Hwy 53. Farmers set up on the city's depot green at 4272 Hwy 53, and the art market sets up across the highway on the Meek Realty green space at 4397 Hwy 53. When the series launched, DDA Chairperson Jessica Martin described the layout to MainStreetNews:

"It will be a big, walkable area."

In the same article, she said shoppers could use the flashing crosswalk on Hwy 53 to move between the two markets.

The art side is coordinated by Cat Cordell of Rustic Revival Art Market together with Martin. At launch it was planned around 20 artists plus a live painting, and the series announcement said every date would have music and food trucks. In March, Martin told the paper she hoped the markets would "strengthen the need to make our downtown even more walkable" and attract more tourism-based businesses downtown.

The two Friday events stay on City Square, off the highway. That puts them right beside the other project from the December list.

The alley that got its lights

According to the DDA's July 2, 2026 minutes, the Back Porch alley project is finished. The board added plants, irrigation, string lights and an archway to the alley that leads to the Back Porch, and the minutes say the board has "heard positive feedback from residents." The porch is city-owned space behind Hoschton Coffee Company, and the archway sits on City Square St. at the mouth of the alley.

This will be the alley's first holiday season with string lights. Both Trunk-or-Treat on October 30 and Jingle Mingle on November 20 start around dusk on City Square, a few steps away.

The 2026 Jingle Mingle program hasn't been posted yet, so only the date, time and City Square location are confirmed. For reference, MainStreetNews described last year's edition as a tighter downtown footprint along City Square Street and Bell Street, with food trucks, fire pits, Santa, a raffle and a tree lighting. That was 2025, and this year's lineup may be different.

Trunk-or-Treat is still taking volunteers. At its September 3 meeting, the DDA reported that Martin was working on getting trunkers. In August, the minutes noted that organizers were also looking for DDA volunteers to staff a s'mores table.

Where to warm up between events

Because every event on the calendar is outdoors, a few nearby indoor stops matter for the in-between hours.

• Hoschton Coffee Company, 73 City Square St. Its website lists hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. It has been downtown since April 2021. On the two market Saturdays, the market runs noon to 5 p.m. and the café is open the whole time. On Jingle Mingle night, the café's posted closing time is 6 p.m., half an hour after the event begins.
• Juke N Jive Creamery, 4162 Hwy 53, Suite 120. This retro-themed ice cream parlor serves ice cream, shakes, fudge and cakes. Its posted fall hours run 1 to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 1 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and it's closed Sunday. If those hours hold, it'll still be open after Trunk-or-Treat ends at 8 p.m. on October 30. The DDA approved a lease agreement with Juke n Jive for that suite in July 2026.

Both are open storefronts today. The building the DDA has wanted to add to that list for four years is not.

The one item still on the list

The old Larry's Garage sits at 29 Broad St., which MainStreetNews gives as 29 West Broad Street. The building dates to the early 1900s, and the city has owned it since 2022. The plan has always been the same: sell it to someone who will turn it into a restaurant and retail space. Here is the timeline as MainStreetNews laid it out:

1. About seven months after buying the building, the city agreed to sell it to a developer. That deal never materialized.
2. In 2024, the city partnered with a local developer, and drawings for a concept called "The Garden" were shown at a public meeting. That agreement expired without the project moving forward.
3. In 2025, the city council handed the project to the DDA.
4. In November 2025, the DDA hired a commercial real estate agent to find a buyer.
5. In December 2025, the DDA approved a $47,993 bid from Garland and Associates for a partial interior demolition. The work would gut the front half of the building, where wood-paneled walls from the 1970s stood, to make the space more appealing to buyers.
6. On September 3, 2026, Martin announced that the contract had fallen through.

Only a few months earlier, at the July meeting, the deal was described as "still moving forward and on target to close." In September, Martin told the board, as MainStreetNews reported, "Unfortunately, we do not have a contract anymore. That fell through, and it is back on the market." When asked about new interest in the building, she said the board would discuss that in closed session. The garage was on the September 30 agenda again as an update item.

What the DDA is building in the meantime

The rest of the DDA's fall business is all small, outdoor and paid for in small amounts. The September 3 minutes cover three items:

• Free library boxes are being built, and the DDA is looking for an artist to paint them.
• Board member Clay Meek reported pricing for a restroom trailer for future events, and the board will look for donations to help cover the cost.
• The DDA received a donation check from the It's Happening in Hoschton group to help with downtown beautification.

MainStreetNews put that donation at $6,698.

A restroom trailer only makes sense for a town that plans to keep holding events outdoors, and the added December 12 market fits the same pattern. The DDA's next meeting is Thursday, November 5, at 9 a.m. at the Hoschton Community Center, 65 City Square. That falls between Trunk-or-Treat and the November 14 market, and it's the next chance for a public update on the garage.

If you own near downtown Hoschton and want to know how this year's changes affect your home's value, Platinum Key Realty of Georgia will give you a straightforward read. Request a free home valuation, and we'll keep you posted on the garage as the DDA's updates come in.