Special Holiday Program Shines a Light on the Power of Placemaking

By Lauren Bohn, Project Manager, Urban Design at Midtown Alliance

There’s something magical about experiencing the holidays in the heart of the city. Bustling sidewalks. Holiday performances. The recent Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Christmas Parade. Midtown Alliance is celebrating with a festive addition to Peachtree Street: hundreds of thousands of LED lights and an array of larger than life three-dimensional stars.

Back for its eighth year, “Midtown Bright” is one of the largest publicly accessible lighting displays of its kind in the Southeast. 

It’s a powerful winter placemaking program that serves everyone: employees, residents and visitors alike. All can enjoy the uplifting atmosphere, whether treating the family to an evening of “The Christmas Carol” or simply heading home from the office. 

Activating the public realm with art and other elements that can be experienced for free — and on foot — is a vital part of Midtown Alliance’s work. The beauty of these temporary installations lies in the opportunity to transform the corridors people travel along every day so there is always something new to discover. 

Through the holiday season, key intersections along Peachtree Street will glow with more than 250,000 LED lights in 10 different colors. This year’s display includes 99 trees wrapped in this kaleidoscope of hues, a color scheme introduced last year to reflect Midtown’s distinctive brand identity.

The concentration of trees along Peachtree creates a mystical, immersive experience that’s punctuated by over 20 giant, bright white stars, ranging in size from 3 to over 20 feet in height. This year we’re thrilled to showcase a star on top of the Fox Theatre roof that shines brightly over the intersection of the Ponce de Leon and Peachtree. In addition to the Fox Theatre District, you can find installations stitched along Peachtree Street where it intersects with 7th, 10th and 15th Streets, as well as with West Peachtree Street at Pershing Point Park.

Midtown is known as the Southeast’s “heart of the arts,” and we’re proud to host many favorite holiday traditions. Our lighting program is intended to knit together these arts and cultural venues by way of an exceptional sidewalk experience, which we hope will also become a part of your holiday memories.