By Zoe Seiler, contributor

Avondale Estates, GA – Christmas in Avondale Estates will look a little different this year. The city usually does a Christmas tree lighting, a holiday market and a Christmas tour of homes. Those events are still taking place this year but with a slight twist.

Instead of the Christmas Tour of Homes, where residents and visitors can walk through the inside of decorated homes, the planning committee decided to do a tour of lights.

About six to eight homes will be featured with over-the-top decorations and the committee is encouraging residents to decorate the outside of their homes to light up the city, said Margaret Lunsford, chairperson of the Avondale Estates Christmas Tour of Homes.

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“We’ve always had the Christmas tour of homes. This would be the 28th annual tour. We thought we would just cancel it because of COVID and then I got sad about that so we decided we would have a Christmas tour of lights,” Lunsford said.

Featured homes include a 1926 Avondale Original on Clarendon Place will be decorated like a fairy tale castle with a slow cascading twinkle of lights. Another similar home on South Avondale Road is creating a winter wonderland with white lights, air-blown Christmas figures and greenery, Lunsford said in an email.

The tour of lights will be on Sunday, Dec. 13, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and tickets will be available for sale and will include descriptions and maps of the tour. Tickets can be purchased at Garage Door Studio, Finders Keepers Consignments and online.

“We are hoping everyone in town will decorate outside with lots of lights, including lighting up the trees on the verge!  To add a little interest for the kids, we are hoping that everyone will add Santa somewhere in the décor, so children will be able to play “Where’s Santa?” as they ride through the city,” Lunsford wrote on the Avondale Estates Christmas Tour of Homes website.

Lake Avondale will be decorated with the floating Christmas tree and luminaries surrounding the lake to create a “winter walk,” Lunsford said. She also hopes restaurants and stores will be open during the tour for those who wish to stop for a bite to eat or shop.

The holiday market is also going on currently but is virtual this year. Normally the holiday market is hosted at the Avondale Community Center but the 33 vendors are available online, including Trees Atlanta and Pine Street Market.

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“This year it’s a virtual holiday market, and we have most of our same vendors and they’re online. You can order anytime between now and Dec. 18. So it’s open right now. There is the availability for pickup for some of the vendors and the pickup of the at Avondale Community Club on Dec. 13,” Lunsford said.

Other Christmas activities in Avondale include a live-streamed tree lighting and the poinsettia fundraiser supporting the Avondale Elementary School Education Foundation.

The city usually kicks off the winter season with carolers, hot chocolate, cider, donuts and a visit from Santa Claus but that is canceled this year and is not deemed safe due to COVID-19. The virtual tree lighting will be on Monday, Nov. 30, at 6 p.m. and will include messages from elected officials, staff and more, according to the city’s e-news.

The Christmas tree at the intersection of South Avondale Road and Clarendon Avenue will be light nightly throughout December.

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