Marietta's biggest October daytime events all end by 5 p.m. Chalktoberfest closes at 5 on Saturday and Sunday, HarvestFest runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the Saturday farmers market packs up at noon. The places that opened in and around Marietta this summer mostly keep the opposite schedule. One opens at 4 p.m., one at 9 p.m., and one stays open until 2 a.m. on weekends.
So the city now runs a day shift and a night shift, and they barely overlap. A fall Saturday works best when you plan both: the festival in daylight, then one of the new places once the street booths come down.
The handoff, by the clock
Here is how the newest places line up against the daytime calendar.
| Place | Address | Doors open | Last call or close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antika | 34 Powder Springs St. SW | 4 p.m. daily | Midnight Mon–Sat, 10 p.m. Sun |
| Satellite Restaurant and Arcade Bar | 3372 Canton Road | 4 p.m. Tue–Fri, 11 a.m. Sat–Sun | 2 a.m. Fri–Sat |
| Terminus 72 | Polk Street | 9 p.m. Tue–Sat | 5 a.m. |
Antika lists its hours on OpenTable as 4 p.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday and 4 to 10 p.m. on Sunday. Satellite's hours, as printed by the Marietta Daily Journal, are 4 p.m. to midnight Tuesday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. It is closed Monday. Terminus 72 opens at 9 p.m. and closes at 5 a.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
Put the table next to the event schedule and the timing is clear. On a Chalktoberfest or HarvestFest Saturday, Antika opens about an hour before the festival ends, Satellite has been open since 11 a.m. and stays open until 2 a.m., and Terminus 72 opens four hours after the last booth closes.
The night shift, room by room
Antika opened this summer at 34 Powder Springs St. SW with Mediterranean tapas and cocktails. In May the owners were aiming for mid-June, depending on a state liquor license. A Business Debut roundup listed the restaurant as open by June 22. It takes reservations through OpenTable, which helps on festival weekends when the Square is full by late afternoon.
Fin & Feathers brought Southern soul food to 16 Atlanta St. SE on the Square. Its soft opening was Thursday, Aug. 6, at 5 p.m., according to the East Cobb Beacon. Regular hours had not been posted when it opened, so check before you go on a busy night.
El Jalisco opened Aug. 25 at Marietta Square Market, 68 N. Marietta Pkwy. NW. It has Mexican food, a full-service bar, and a patio. October patio weather fits it well.
Terminus 72 keeps the latest hours of any new place, and it doesn't serve alcohol. Ika Xiao, who moved to the U.S. from Shanghai, opened it on Polk Street in early July, a block from the Square. She calls it an "experimental cafe" meant to showcase Chinese culture in Marietta. The name combines Terminus, Atlanta's original name, with July, the month it opened, and Xiao's July 2 birthday.
The room seats 24, and there's no outdoor seating. Drinks are made by hand on a manual espresso machine, a French press, or a pour-over: iced lattes, Chinese oolong, and Japanese sencha. The food menu is split into "quickies" like curry ramen and "experimental" dishes like the Slam-Dump Shanghai, which is vegan dumplings in broth. You take a number, find a seat, and order when you're ready. Rough Draft Atlanta reported that some people take 20 to 30 minutes before they get to the counter. On the night Rough Draft visited, the crowd included college students studying, EMT workers on break from runs to Kennestone Hospital, and friends meeting after work.
Satellite Restaurant and Arcade Bar is the newest of the group. It opened Friday, Sept. 18, at 3372 Canton Road, according to the Marietta Daily Journal. It has a sci-fi and cyberpunk arcade theme, a full kitchen, and cocktails. It's off the Square, but it's the one place on this list that stays open until 2 a.m. on both weekend nights.
Two earlier openings this year cover the daytime side. TACO T Mexican Restaurant had its grand opening April 24 at 682 Powder Springs St. Ike's Café & Grill held its ribbon-cutting May 8 at 724 Cherokee St. NE and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The day shift: October, date by date
Most of the daytime calendar is on Saturdays, so pairing it with the night shift is mostly a Saturday question.
- Friday, Oct. 2: Marietta Square Art Walk, 5 to 9 p.m. It happens on the first Friday of every month, and it's one of the few calendar events that runs into the evening.
- Saturday, Oct. 3: The Georgia Ballet's Moonlight Masquerade, 21 and up, 6 to 8 p.m. at Brumby Hall & Gardens, 472 Powder Springs St. The Strand also has its Wicked Sing-Along that night.
- Sunday, Oct. 4: A free Revolutionary Patriots observance at 2 p.m. at Marietta National Cemetery.
- Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 10–11: Chalktoberfest on the Square.
- Saturday, Oct. 17: HarvestFest on the Square, plus the Marietta History Center's Haunted History Pop-In.
- Saturday, Oct. 31: Hocus Pocus at the Strand.
- Nov. 6–22: It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at the Strand.
Chalktoberfest weekend
The Marietta Cobb Museum of Art puts on Chalktoberfest, and the chalk art festival is free. Professional chalk artists from around the U.S. and abroad work on the streets of the Square, and local bands play in Glover Park. The Craft Beer Festival runs Saturday, Oct. 10, from noon to 5 p.m. It pours 120+ craft beers, ciders, and seltzers plus 20+ wines, and every ticket includes a 2026 souvenir cup. The city's announcement says it sells out every year and that ticket prices go up on the day of the event. The Community Chalk Competition is Sunday, Oct. 11: 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for teams and 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. for individuals. The museum is free to visit all weekend.
On the timing: the beer festival ends at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Antika opens at 4, and Satellite is already open, with nine more hours to go before its 2 a.m. close.
HarvestFest Saturday
HarvestFest is Saturday, Oct. 17, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Glover Park, 50 N Park Square NE. The lineup includes the HarvestFest Arts & Crafts Show, Touch-A-Truck, Scarecrows in the Square, a costume contest, a pie-eating contest presented by Pie Bar, Cornerback's Coop, and the Halloween Happenings Kids Festival. The body of the city's press release says Oct. 19. The headline and the city's 2026 event calendar both say Oct. 17, and Oct. 17 is the Saturday.
The same morning, the Marietta History Center's Haunted History Pop-In runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and gallery admission is free from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The next Pop-In is Trains & Planes on Nov. 21. The museum's fall exhibit, "Marietta History Center at 30," is also on view this season and covers the museum's own history.
What has already wrapped
The city's 2026 Glover Park Concert Series ended Sept. 25. The city calendar lists no concerts for October or November, so the free Friday nights in the park are done until next year. That's another reason the Art Walk on Oct. 2 is the main evening event on the October calendar.
Coming soon
Two openings that people are watching aren't open yet. Honey's Po'boys and Gumbo is being built at 2667 Powder Springs Rd. SW, Suite 102. The owners first aimed for August. A late-August report moved the target to Oct. 1. Its planned hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams is coming to The Avenue East Cobb, its third Cobb County location. The Cobb County Courier reports a late-2026 opening with no exact date yet.
The year-round market is the simplest way to start a Saturday. It runs 9 a.m. to noon at 41 Mill St., and that's 17 hours before Terminus 72 closes for the night.
If you're a Marietta homeowner and these openings have you wondering what a busier Square means for your street, Keisha Williams can walk you through how nearby activity tends to show up in local value. Let's Connect.
