Not local to Serenbe + Chatt Hills? Around Here is a subsection of Life at Play, my way of keeping our local community connected. It goes out the first week of the month. If it’s not your thing, you can update your email preferences at the bottom anytime.
Hello helloooo. October showed up and brought everything with it at once: pumpkins, bats, a Showhouse, a banana race, movies on the green, and one of my personal favorite days of the year, now officially on the calendar: Porchfest.
This is one of the BEST, busiest months around here. So buckle in b/c this one is longer than normal, and there is an additional section just for Spooky season around here.
Let’s get into it.
Around Here is brought to you by… (this could be you)
In case you didn’t know, this little section is for sale. Not in a sellout way. In a “local businesses keep this thing free and keep me caffeinated” way. If you’ve got something your neighbors should know about, let’s talk.
Another way to support my work is to become a free or paid subscriber.
A Few Things I’d Tell You If We Ran Into Each Other
Porchfest Date Announced: Saturday, November 7 | Grange Hamlet, near The General Store | Free The 6th annual Chatt Hills Porchfest is back. For one day, porches in Serenbe turn into stages, lawns fill with neighbors, and you wander toward whatever sounds good. You’ll find musicians, food trucks and local artists. IMO it’s the best day of the year here. If you’ve been, you already know. If you’re new, this is your official invitation. Clear the whole day. Save it to your calendar
The lineup isn’t out yet. When it is, you’ll hear it here and i’ll update the calendar.
A very fancy longevity resort just opened its first door, right outside Chatt Hills. Preserve Life in Douglasville is 1,200-plus wooded acres with three spring-fed lakes, and the plans are big: Kengo Kuma-designed sleep suites, a biomarker lab, and 25 lodge residences that are invitation only (so most of us won’t be getting the call). Almost all of that is still being built. The part you can visit now is Nutrition Nest, in soft launch: a health-food market, café, clinic, and teaching kitchen under one timber roof. I’m headed over soon and will report back, but tours run daily at 10, 2, and 4. → Book a tour
If You Leave the House, Start Here
Friday nights, the Grange Green turns into a movie theater. Center Stage at Serenbe is running free outdoor movies every Friday in October at 7:15, with the General Store food truck parked nearby. Bring chairs and blankets. The lineup is Coco (Oct 9), Orion and the Dark (Oct 16), Teen Wolf (Oct 23, the 1985 Michael J. Fox one), and Nightmare Before Christmas on Oct 30, the night before Halloween. Perrrrfect timing.
Sat Oct 10 | Brandon’s back, and he brought friends. Brandon Phillips & Friends takes over Gainey Hall, with a full lineup of comics, a DJ, and a bar for a spooky-funny night out. Get the sitter. Doors at 8, show at 8:30, $50. → Tickets
Sun, Oct 11 | Selborne Hamlet Day, from 12 to 3, the whole hamlet does a Sip, Shop & Stroll: start at The Wine Shop and wander shop to shop for specials, sips, and activities, with Paper Lantern Parade playing all afternoon. They’re closing the road so you can walk it. Every participating business is chipping in to a Selborne basket giveaway, and one lucky neighbor takes the whole thing home. Bring the kids, bring a friend, stay awhile.
Know about something I missed? Submit it here. That’s how this gets better.
🎃 Navigating Halloween in Serenbe 2026
Halloween in Serenbe isn’t a night. It’s a whole damn season. People start planning porch themes while it’s still 85 degrees out, every hamlet gets its moment, and golf carts start looking suspiciously like floats.
This year comes with one big change (more on that below), and it falls on a Saturday. There’s a lot to fit here, so for every detail as things evolve, head to the Serenbe + Chatt Hills Events Calendar.
The month leading up
-
Pumpkin Hollow at The Good Place Farm. Pumpkins are $1 a pound on the honor system (weigh, Venmo, done), with mums, corn stalks, and the brand-new Pumpkin House for photos. Open 8am to 8pm at 7770 Barnes Rd.
-
Corn Maze + Hayrides. Little Bit Farm’s (just next door to Good Place) corn maze and hayrides run weekends through Nov 1, Saturdays 10 to 6 and Sundays 1 to 6.
-
Movies under the stars. Free Friday movies on the Grange Green in Serenbe at 7:15. Nightmare Before Christmas on Oct 30, the night before Halloween.
-
Madoween hasn’t announced details yet, but I hear it’s happening. Last year brought a spooky cocktail showdown, a DJ, a kids’ craft zone, and inflatables. I’ll share on the calendar once info drops
-
Pet costume Parade I assume the Serenbe Farmers market will have their yearly pet costume parade but no details yet.
-
Serenbe House Decoration Contest: TBD. Usually happens every year but I havent heard anything yet.
Whew, I’m out of breath!
The Day of Halloween
The big change: there’s no parade this year. It got so big that half of us couldn’t see it, so The General Store is trying something new. Everyone gathers in front of the General Store at 4pm for community performances and a costume showcase, and then trick-or-treating kicks off from there. (Thank you, Nadine and The General Store, for making it happen again!)
-
Want to perform? Past years gave us Thriller, a troupe of Mahjong tiles, a K-pop number, and the Louvre heist thieves. This year they’re floating a squad of Dolly Partons doing “9 to 5,” and that’s my official request. Pitch your act to nadine@generalstoreatserenbe.com.
-
Yes, adults dress up. I’d still say 70%.
-
Pro tip: park behind the General Store, or better yet, walk or cart it.
-
The City’s Fall Festival runs noon to 3:30 that same day, free. That leaves you time to get everyone’s costume back on straight before trick or treating. → Details
Trick-or-Treating in Serenbe
It starts around 5:30, right after the gathering and winds down around 8:30.
-
The HOA limits car access, so it’s safe-ish for kids (and adults with wine tumblers). But be freakin’ careful out there!
-
If you live on a main street, plan for 250 to 300 pieces of candy.
-
Hot zones: Grange and Mado.
-
Stops you won’t want to miss:
-
Pirate’s Cove in Mado on Anders is BACK after a year off, and word is they’ve been working on it all year long!
-
Hamlin’s Witches’ Cauldron in Selborne is a forever favorite.
-
The walk from Hills & Hamlets Bookshop across the bridge to the Swan Ridge cobblestone strip is still my fav. On Halloween night it feels like you’ve been dropped into halloween in Harry Potter world.
-
Austin’s after-party. Austin’s 3rd Annual Halloween Party on Halloween night. Expect a live DJ, costume contest with prizes, and a lineup of spooky craft cocktails
-
What am I missing?! Have a house or business doing something special Halloween night? Reply and I’ll add it.
-
And then get some sleep. Once the candy coma wears off, you’ve got exactly one week until Porchfest, Saturday, Nov 7.
If You Missed It
-
One day you might be able to walk from Serenbe to the BeltLine. Neighbors got a first look at a proposed trail along the Chattahoochee that would tie a 32-mile river corridor, ten existing parks and all, to the Proctor Creek Greenway and on into Atlanta’s BeltLine. It’s still a plan, not a shovel in the ground, but the map alone is worth a look. And our Neighbor Jessica put this overview together.
-
Local farms got signs. The Chatt Hills CVB funded new signs for 11 local farms. Keep an eye out on your next drive. And the Conservancy wants to know who’s missing.
-
The Serenbe Designer Showhouse is here. More than twelve designers took over a four-bedroom house in the Overlook hamlet. Open Thursday through Sunday, 10 to 4, through Oct 25, plus Sip & Strolls every Friday.Tickets and details
-
The Women’s Network at Serenbe is rebuilding itself, and on Sunday, Oct 25 they’re hosting a brainstorm on what Women’s Network 2.0 should be, with social time, idea time, and your opinions wanted. RSVP for Women’s Network 2.0
-
There’s a new trail by the river, and it’s almost done. The City’s Wheel Beautiful trail at New RiverLands Park is in its final stages. It’s a smooth, accessible surface built for every age and every set of wheels, with a covered viewing platform overlooking the landscape. The City expects it finished this month.
-
A flock of birds moved into the woods. Art Farm at Serenbe hung a Flock of Birds installation in the Deer Hollow Art Park, and it’s up through January. Go stand under it and look up.
-
Calling every artist, including the four-year-olds. Community Brickworks’ Wild at Art show is free, not juried, open to all ages and all mediums, and the theme is animals, real or imagined. Submit by Nov 9 at 5pm. The reception is Nov 14, 1 to 3. → Submit here
-
Halsa is buying local, and changed its oils. They’re cooking with ghee for most sautéed dishes, with an avocado and olive oil blend if you ask (or say vegan). Frying oil is now highly refined peanut oil. Their gluten-free bread now comes from Yana at La Bolla Bakery, and the cold brew is from Birdhouse Market.
-
Piano lessons. Kim Bracey teaches kids and grown-ups, beginner through experienced, and builds lessons around music you want to play. + the first consult is free. → braceykim@gmail.com
-
Christmas minis are booking (yes, already). Ruth Allie Photography has Christmas truck and tree forest sessions, and Santa’s coming. → Book here
-
Dirty Sheets Gravel Race on Oct 17 Gravel, climbs, backroads, and multiple distances. If a lot of bikes pass you on Hutcheson Ferry that day, now you know why. Details
-
Serenbe Farms’ Fall CSA gets you 10 weeks of certified organic produce, with weekly pickup at the farm. $380. → Details
-
Order a box of bats. Bear Creek Nature Center’s $45 Bat Box (T-shirt, stickers, framed bat print, no live bat included) funds local bat education. donorbox.org/BCNC-bat-box
Lucky Links
Links to the unknown.
Enjoy!
Pace yourself out there! A lot happening the next 30 days.
See you on the trails,
xx, Gina
Stay in the Know 📅 Browse Full Local Event Calendar •📍Explore the Local Directory
Want in? ➕Add an event • 🗞 Send a Scoop or Update • 🧾 Get Listed • 🤝 Partner
