Sandy Springs spends the last week of summer doing what it does best: putting people outdoors on the lawns that anchor the city. Between Monday, August 31 and Tuesday, September 8, 2026, the calendar fills in around City Springs and Heritage Green with a Saturday market, a free film under a thirty foot screen, a Labor Day weekend soul concert, and a standing morning practice on the grass. Labor Day falls on Monday, September 7, which gives the long weekend room to breathe. Four gatherings stand out for residents and for anyone getting to know this stretch of north Fulton.
Sandy Springs Farmers Market
Why It Stands Out
The market sets up on the City Green at 1 Galambos Way, the open lawn ringed by the Performing Arts Center, City Hall and the restaurants along Sandy Springs Circle. It runs Saturday mornings from 8:30 a.m. to noon, rain or shine, and the Saturday inside this window is September 5, the front edge of the long weekend. Vendors rotate week to week, so the mix of growers, bakers and prepared food makers is never quite the same twice. A weekly vendor map goes up online before each market.
What to Expect
Farm produce sits alongside artisan pantry goods and ready to eat items, with live music adding a low hum to the lawn. The scale is civic rather than sprawling, which is the point: you can walk the full circuit, talk to the people who grew or made what you are buying, and still be home before eleven. Bring a tote and small bills.
Timing and Planning
Arrive close to 8:30 a.m. for the best produce and the easiest parking in the City Springs decks. By ten the lawn is busy and the coffee line lengthens. Because September 5 opens Labor Day weekend, expect a heavier turnout than a typical Saturday, and plan on a slower exit from the garage around noon. Details, directions and the current vendor list live on the City Springs farmers market page.
Movies by Moonlight: Spy Kids
Neighborhood Angle
Heritage Green, at 6110 Blue Stone Road, is the older, leafier counterpoint to the polished City Springs district a few blocks north. Its amphitheatre lawn steps down in tiers toward the stage, which means sightlines stay generous even when the grass fills in. On Friday, September 4, the city screens the 2001 family caper Spy Kids on a thirty foot outdoor screen. Admission is free, and subtitles run on screen.
Best For
Families with elementary aged kids get the most out of it, but the tiered lawn also suits couples who want a low commitment Friday and neighbors who would rather meet outdoors than over a table. Newcomers find it an easy way to see the community without buying into anything.
Insider Tip
Gates open at 7:00 p.m. and the film starts after sunset, so the window between is the real event: concessions sell popcorn, hot dogs, candy and a signature Moonlight Mocktail listed at five dollars. Blankets and low backed lawn chairs are welcome; tall chairs are not, out of respect for the rows behind you. Service animals only, and the site is smoke free. Claim your patch of grass by 7:30 p.m. if you want to be centered on the screen.
Concerts by the Springs: R&B, Inc.
What to Expect
The free outdoor concert series returns to the Heritage Amphitheatre on Sunday, September 6, the night before Labor Day, with R&B, Inc. taking the stage at 7:00 p.m. The nine piece Atlanta band works through classic rhythm and blues, soul and funk, fronted by vocalist Keith Eatmon and backed by the Sugar Hill Horns. It is a full band sound in a compact outdoor room, and the horn section carries well across the lawn.
Timing and Planning
Gates open at 5:00 p.m. and the Low Co Sandwiches food truck starts serving at 5:30 p.m., so the two hours before downbeat function as a picnic. Lawn admission is free; reserved tables can be booked in advance through the box office and are the move for a group that wants a fixed base. Parking requires QR code registration across several nearby lots, which is worth sorting out before you leave the house rather than at the gate. Blankets, chairs and umbrellas are permitted. Outside tables and tents are not, and lighting must be battery powered. Complimentary earplugs are available near the restrooms. Full logistics sit on the city event page.
Best For
Friend groups and couples, mostly, with enough room at the back of the lawn for families who want to dance without an audience. A Sunday night start works precisely because Monday is a holiday, which makes this the most relaxed evening of the nine day stretch.
Tai Chi on the City Green
Why It Stands Out
Not everything worth putting on the calendar is a festival. Twice a week the City Green turns into an open air studio for tai chi, taught by Florin Szondi of the USA Chen Taiji Center in partnership with Sandy Springs Recreation and Parks. Inside this window the sessions land on Wednesday, September 2 at 10:00 a.m. and again at 5:00 p.m., and Friday, September 4 at 10:00 a.m. The practice is slow, low impact and genuinely open to all ages and fitness levels.
Insider Tip
Register ahead through the USA Chen Taiji Center rather than turning up cold; the City Springs listing prices a session at twenty five dollars, and scholarships are available through the city recreation office. Flat soled shoes beat running shoes on grass. The 5:00 p.m. Wednesday session is the one to choose if late summer heat is a factor, and it pairs neatly with dinner on Sandy Springs Circle afterward.
Neighborhood Angle
The City Green is the clearest expression of what Sandy Springs built when it created a downtown from scratch: a walkable civic block where a Saturday market, a weekday class and a weekend concert all use the same lawn. Spending an hour on it midweek tells you more about daily life here than any tour would.
Event Q&A
Which of these are free?
The Movies by Moonlight screening on September 4 and the Concerts by the Springs performance on September 6 are both free for lawn admission. The farmers market costs nothing to enter. Tai chi is the one paid item, registered in advance.
Where exactly is Heritage Green?
The Heritage Amphitheatre sits at 6110 Blue Stone Road, a short drive or a pleasant walk from the City Springs district. Both the film and the concert use that lawn, so if you attend one you will already know the layout for the other.
How busy will Labor Day weekend be?
Busier than an ordinary weekend, particularly the Saturday market and the Sunday concert. Both draw from surrounding neighborhoods and from Buckhead and Dunwoody. Early arrival solves nearly every version of the problem, and the structured parking around City Springs absorbs more volume than first time visitors expect.
Can I do more than one in a single day?
Friday, September 4 is the obvious double: a 10:00 a.m. tai chi session on the City Green, then the outdoor film at Heritage Green that evening. Saturday the fifth and Sunday the sixth also stack well, with the market in the morning and the concert lawn the following night.
What should I bring?
A blanket or low chair for both lawn events, cash for market vendors, and layers for the evenings, when early September in Atlanta finally cools after dark. The Agency Atlanta keeps close track of how these neighborhoods actually live, and this week is a good sample of it.
