Off Meadow Church Road, a concrete stairwell is going up in one of the existing Gas South District parking lots. In late August the Gwinnett Daily Post reported that the stairwell was already rising, that the rest of the deck was starting to take shape, and that the structure should be finished early next year. The same report said demolition had started that week on the plaza in front of Gas South Arena.
So the 2026 holiday season will run on a campus that is also a job site. For Sugarloaf Country Club households, who live closer to the arena, theater and convention center than nearly anyone who buys a ticket, this is the season when the date you pick decides the outing more than the show does. A few days put two venues in use at the same time. One weekend in December puts all three in use.
What Is Different on the Campus This Year
On Sept. 3, 2026, Gas South District held a groundbreaking for an investment of about $175 million in the arena and the surrounding campus. The project is expected to be finished by early 2028. The plans include a new 1,000-space parking deck, plus new loge seating, private suites and a premium club. The Daily Post reported that the ticket windows will move to a freestanding building in the plaza, with new fencing and permanent security screening.
"At the heart of these improvements is our commitment to making the guest experience better, from accessibility and arrival to the services patrons receive once they walk through our doors," Gas South District President and CEO Stan Hall said in the groundbreaking release.
Arrival is the part that will improve later. The 1,000 new spaces are still concrete and rebar this season. Gas South has not published which surface lot the deck sits on or a list of event lots closed for construction. What the venue does publish is its standard parking map, which explains why overlapping events matter:
- Gas South Arena: Lot A and Deck 2
- Gas South Theater: Lot C and Deck 1
- Gas South Convention Center: Decks 1 and 2
The district notes that parking options and opening times can change by event. Under the standard map, the convention center uses both decks that the other two venues rely on. When an expo runs at the same time as an arena show and a theater performance, all three crowds share the same structures.
The Overlap Calendar
The table below lists the holiday dates where published schedules put events in more than one venue at once. Gladiators hockey times come from the team's 2026–27 schedule, and the team says all dates and start times are subject to change.
Date | Gas South Arena | Gas South Theater | Gas South Convention Center |
|---|---|---|---|
Sat., Nov. 21 | Gladiators vs. Indy, 7:10 p.m. | Festival of Trees, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. | |
Sun., Nov. 22 | Gladiators vs. Indy, 3:10 p.m. | Festival of Trees, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. | |
Fri., Nov. 27 | for KING + COUNTRY, 7 p.m. | Festival of Trees, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. | |
Sat., Nov. 28 | Gladiators vs. Jacksonville, 7:10 p.m. | Festival of Trees, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. | |
Sun., Nov. 29 | Gladiators vs. Jacksonville, 3:10 p.m. | Festival of Trees, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. | |
Sat., Dec. 5 | Martin Lawrence, 8 p.m. | Nutcracker, 3 and 7 p.m. | |
Sat., Dec. 12 | The Arrival, 7 p.m. | Nutcracker, 3 and 7 p.m. | Boat Show opens 10 a.m. |
Sun., Dec. 13 | Trans-Siberian Orchestra, 3 and 7:30 p.m. | Nutcracker, 3 p.m. | Boat Show opens noon |
Wed., Dec. 16 | Gladiators vs. South Carolina, 7:10 p.m. | ASO Holiday Showcase, 7:30 p.m. | |
Fri., Dec. 18 | Gladiators vs. Greenville, 7:10 p.m. | Nutcracker, 7 p.m. | |
Sat., Dec. 19 | Gladiators vs. Greenville, 7:10 p.m. | Nutcracker, 3 and 7 p.m. | |
Sun., Dec. 20 | Gladiators vs. Greenville, 3:10 p.m. | Nutcracker, 3 and 7 p.m. |
November follows one pattern. The Georgia Festival of Trees fills the convention center during the day, and the overlap comes when a hockey crowd arrives before the festival closes. December follows another. Gwinnett Ballet Theatre's 45th annual Nutcracker, with live orchestra, holds the theater for most of the month, so any arena booking creates an overlap.
Dec. 12 and 13: All Three Venues
On the weekend of Dec. 12 and 13, the North Georgia Boat Show adds the convention center to an arena show and a ballet. The boat show runs Thursday through Sunday, opening at 11 a.m. on Dec. 10 and 11, at 10 a.m. on Saturday and at noon on Sunday. The district's December calendar places it in Gas South Convention Center. Its listing gives opening times but not closing times, so check the show's own hours before assuming it will still be running when the afternoon performances begin.
On Saturday, the boat show opens in the morning and the Nutcracker's matinee follows at 3 p.m. The evening is the tightest window. The Nutcracker's 7 p.m. performance and The Arrival's 7 p.m. arena show start at the same time, with both crowds arriving on the same roads.
Sunday's pressure comes earlier. The boat show opens at noon. Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Ghosts of Christmas Eve: The Best of TSO and More" begins its first arena performance at 3 p.m., which is also when the Nutcracker matinee starts next door. TSO plays a second show at 7:30 p.m. Arena event parking rates usually begin two hours before an event. Counting back from those times, the arena lots shift to event mode around 1 p.m. on Sunday, an hour after the boat show opens.
For anyone headed elsewhere, the quieter option that same week is Friday, Dec. 11. The only performance is the Nutcracker at 7 p.m., and the boat show opens that morning at 11 a.m.
Dec. 5 Pulls Downtown In Too
The first Saturday of December has a different kind of overlap. On campus, the Nutcracker opens with performances at 3 and 7 p.m., and Martin Lawrence plays the arena at 8 p.m., joined by Nate Jackson, Desi Banks and others. Meanwhile, the City of Duluth holds Deck the Hall in downtown Duluth from 2 to 7 p.m. The city lists live entertainment, kids' crafts, a real snow playground and snow slide, photos with Santa, a holiday market and holiday light installations.
That puts a downtown festival and two evening shows on Sugarloaf's side of Gwinnett on the same afternoon. Deck the Hall closes at 7 p.m., just as the second Nutcracker begins and an hour before the arena show. Families planning both Deck the Hall and a Nutcracker performance that day have one realistic combination: the matinee first, then downtown afterward.
The Quiet Windows Are on the Same Schedules
The Festival of Trees has the clearest low-traffic days of the season, and they appear on the festival's own schedule. The festival runs Nov. 21 through 29 and closes Nov. 25 and 26 for Thanksgiving. It is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. most days, opens at 9 a.m. on Nov. 23 and closes at 4 p.m. on Nov. 29. The Gladiators' published home schedule has no games on Monday, Nov. 23, or Tuesday, Nov. 24. Nov. 27 has no hockey either, but for KING + COUNTRY plays the arena that evening. That leaves Nov. 23 and 24 as the only open festival days with nothing listed in the arena.
Both days also have their own programming:
- Monday, Nov. 23: Physical and Developmental Disabilities Day, with special sensory hours from 9 a.m. to noon. Admission is complimentary for people with physical or developmental disabilities and one caregiver or support person.
- Tuesday, Nov. 24: Senior Day, with complimentary admission for adults 62 and older and appearances by the Coca-Cola Polar Bear and the Hug Machine.
Gas South District's event listing describes the festival as hundreds of designer trees with holiday attractions and live entertainment. It is produced by Unto the Least of These, Inc., and its charity partner is Street Grace. The ticket FAQ lists online general admission totals of $23.70 for adults and $19 for children 3 to 12 and seniors 62 and older. Children 2 and under are free. The same page lists a $22.95 door price, so check the current price when you buy. The tree and holiday décor auction runs alongside the festival, with bidding ending at 6 p.m. on Nov. 28.
The evening before the festival opens, Nov. 20, is listed as the Gwinnett Glows Tree Lighting, but its hours were still marked TBD as of early October. The Gladiators also have a home game against Indy that night. The team lists a 7:10 p.m. puck drop, and the district's event listing shows 7 p.m.
In December, the Thursday Nutcracker on Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. and the Sunday matinee on Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. are the theater performances with nothing else listed in the arena at the same time.
How Getting In Works This Season
The campus is cashless. Parking and venue purchases take debit or credit cards and Apple Pay or Google Pay. The venue's older parking pages list different rates, so the event's own listing is the reliable place to check the price for a specific night.
- Buy parking with the ticket where you can. Prepaid passes are sold through Ticketmaster or on the event's page at gassouthdistrict.com. Each pass covers one vehicle and works in print or on a phone.
- Know when prepaid sales end. For the Nutcracker, prepaid parking closes four hours before curtain, and as of early October the listing said it would go on sale soon. For the Festival of Trees, prepaid parking can be bought until the event starts, and paid on-site parking is available by card.
- Match the lot to the venue. Arena guests use Lot A and Deck 2, and theater guests use Lot C and Deck 1. On the Dec. 12–13 weekend, the convention center draws on both decks.
- Check where rideshare pickup is. One official page places rideshare staging in arena-side Lot A5. Another says pickup is on Arena Drive near the front surface lots, where the plaza work is underway.
The 1,000-space deck near Meadow Church Road is expected to open early next year, which should put it in service for the 2027 holiday season. For 2026, the published schedules show the Dec. 12–13 weekend as the one time every venue on the campus is booked at once.
The arena renovation is scheduled to continue into early 2028. At Floyd Real Estate Group, we follow how projects like this change daily routines for Sugarloaf Country Club neighbors. If you'd like to talk through how the next phases around Gas South District could affect your home or your plans, we'd be glad to arrange a private consultation.
