"It was a group of residents from Inman Park and Candler Park, a group of business owners and a couple of commercial property owners who were really just frustrated with what they saw as kind of the sad state of Findley Plaza, which was the heartbeat of Little 5 Points." That was Lauren Welsh, executive director of the Little 5 Points Alliance, speaking to SaportaReport this past February as the renovation of that concrete triangle neared its end.
Last October, the Little Five Points Halloween Festival worked around a chain-link fence on that triangle. On October 17 and 18, 2026, it gets the finished plaza for the first time. A redesign planned for programming is now hosting the event that pays for most of the neighborhood's programming.
The Fence That Shrank for the Crowds
Findley Plaza is the triangle between The Porter Beer Bar and Little 5 Pub, near Criminal Records and the Pray for ATL mural at Moreland and Euclid. The Little 5 Points Alliance broke ground on July 30, 2025. The plan was to finish the hardscaping before the 2025 Halloween Festival.
That plan slipped. Welsh told SaportaReport that problems with the streetlights brought in Georgia Power, the Georgia Department of Transportation and the City of Atlanta, which delayed construction. The festival then made its own demand. The fenced work zone was cut down to make room for Halloween crowds, and that change, plus a week of bad weather, paused the work and pushed the finish date back again.
So the festival didn't just put up with the construction. It helped set the schedule. The neighborhood held its biggest weekend partly inside a work zone and accepted a slower build in return.
A Decade Measured in Milestones
The fence was only the last stretch of a much longer project. This is how it went, according to SaportaReport's reporting and the Alliance's own records:
- 2015. Friends of Little Five Points Parks forms and soon receives a $100,000 grant from Park Pride.
- Early years. Little Five Alive leads the early fundraising, later formalized with sponsorship from the Little Five Points Community Improvement District.
- 2018. The Little 5 Points Alliance is created to connect the CID, the Little Five Points Business Association, the Candler Park Neighborhood Association and the Inman Park Neighborhood Association.
- July 30, 2025. Groundbreaking.
- October 2025. The Halloween Festival takes place around a reduced construction zone.
- February 6, 2026. Benches and bike racks are in, and the pedestal for a sculpture by local artist R. Land is in place.
- April 17, 2026. Official ribbon-cutting.
Funding was not what slowed it down. "There's not typically a shortage of funds for some of these infrastructure projects. It's just this inertia of getting them done that I think is hard," Welsh said, adding, "We're now on our third city council member since this started." Rachel Parish, creative director of Little Five Alive from 2016 to 2018, explained why. The plazas were "part public works, part private property, and part Department of Parks and Rec," so no one body clearly handled maintenance, permitting or control.
At the April ribbon-cutting, the Alliance hosted the Atlanta Department of Transportation, the City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation, Park Pride, Mayor Andre Dickens, Councilmembers Liliana Bakhtiari, Kelsea Bond and Matt Westmoreland, R. Land, King of Pops, the Seed & Feed Marching Abominable, and Ruby Velle & The Soulphonics. R. Land's sculpture, made with metal artisan Neil Carver, was installed by then and has been described as a tribute to the neighborhood's history and culture.
What the New Plaza Was Built To Do
The redesign called for open event space, new trees along the edges, benches, bike racks and better access to electricity for programming. A star set into the paving shows how the major roads once met in Little Five Points, and donors' names are engraved on the pavers around it. SaportaReport also reported that The Porter planned to extend its patio onto the plaza with seating for 40. That patio has not been confirmed as open, so check in person before you plan a table around it.
Electrical access and open space for events are what a festival needs. For the Halloween weekend, the official schedule places much of the family programming on Findley Plaza itself.
Where the Weekend Lands
The City of Atlanta's event listing describes the footprint as the L5P Community Center, Findley and Davis Plazas, and Moreland Avenue to Euclid Avenue. According to the official festival page, here is how the two days break down:
| When | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sat. and Sun., Oct. 17–18, noon to 7 p.m. | Festival hours | Across L5P |
| Sat. and Sun., noon to 6 p.m. | Artist Market | Euclid Ave by GVG |
| Sat., Oct. 17, noon to 5 p.m. | Monster Sticker Hunt, maps at the L5P merch booth | Findley Plaza |
| Sat., Oct. 17, noon | Howloween costume contest | Findley Plaza |
| Both days | Live music | Euclid Yard |
| Festival weekend | Pumpkin smashing by Trees for Tuition | Euclid Yard |
| Sun., Oct. 18, 1 p.m. | Halloween Parade | Moreland Ave |
The sticker hunt uses monster art by Little Art School students. Organizers say the sticker books sold out last year and are taking orders now. Buskers from Media Res will perform around the district, and a ticketed BOOOOzy Ghost Tour, Queens of the Crypt with ALT3R, is on the program too.
The parade time has changed. Atlanta News First reported that the 2025 parade was set for noon on the Sunday. This year it starts at 1 p.m. Some visitor guides still show older times, so go by the official page.
Who Pays for a Free Parade
The festival page states it directly: "It takes over $50K to produce a parade." Next to that line is a donation link. Admission is free, so the money comes from elsewhere. In 2023, SaportaReport described the festival and parade as the Little Five Points Business Association's main fundraiser of the year, supported by donations and sponsorships, and said it helps pay for other neighborhood events such as the Mardi Gras parade and the April Fool's festival.
The Business Association has organized the event since 2001, and SaportaReport described it as a year-long effort run by volunteers and a group of business owners. Melanie Rabb, the association's secretary and owner of the Little Five Points Corner Tavern, said the weekend lifts sales for local businesses in what she called a slow season.
The 2026 sponsor list includes WRFG, Tullamore D.E.W., Creature Comforts, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Tito's Vodka and Espolòn, among others.
There's also a newer producer this year. The 2026 volunteer page says the Business Association, now more than 66 years old, co-hosts the event with the L5P Cultural District, which it describes as "a new non-profit" focused on arts and culture. Proceeds go toward marketing the district, arts and culture events, the L5P Oral History Project, public safety work and business advocacy with the city. This work connects to a cultural-preservation effort the Atlanta Regional Commission began in August 2024 with the Little 5 Points CID. That project looked at how to protect the neighborhood's identity under development pressure. Its project team included Kelly Stocks of the Business Association and Cultural District and Carmen Halagahu of Turtle Island Trading. In August, the Cultural District held an open social hour at Little 5 Pub and listed its work as events, Halloween, public art, plaza programming, history, fundraising and volunteer projects.
Plaza programming appears on that list next to Halloween. The group that produces the fundraiser now also programs the plaza where much of the fundraiser happens.
Practical Notes for the Week Before
- Permit status. As of early October, the city's calendar listing still said "EVENT PERMIT PENDING," so the dates above are scheduled, not final.
- Inman Park parking. The volunteer sign-up includes posting no-parking signs in Inman Park for parade lineup and delivering road-closure notices to L5P mailboxes and businesses. If you live along the lineup streets, expect paper notices before the weekend.
- Volunteering. The 2026 sign-up covers dates through October 18. The festival page also links to applications for the volunteer committee and parade entries.
- A shop to visit while it's open. Wish Atlanta, the streetwear and sneaker boutique, plans to close permanently on December 28, 2026. Founder Lauren Amos told the AJC the decision came from personal life changes, not business trouble.
- The next weekend on the calendar. 7 Stages lists the First Voices Festival 2026 for November 20 through 22.
Neighborhoods are often defined by a few shared places and the volunteers who keep them going, and Findley Plaza is one of those places. If you're thinking about how a corner like this fits into your plans for the next few years, Connie Morelle would be glad to talk it through with you, calmly and on your schedule. Let's Connect.
