News / DOWNTOWN ATLANTA FULL OF ACTIVITY THIS WEEKEND

What a great time to be in downtown Atlanta! This weekend, the Georgia World Congress Center, the Georgia Dome and Centennial Olympic Park will host a variety of events, creating a lot of hustle and bustle in the downtown convention corridor. From the SEC Championship Game to Festival of Trees to Holiday in Lights, the GWCCA campus is gearing up for a weekend full of excitement.

The 2005 SEC Championship Game returns to the Georgia Dome on Saturday, Dec. 3. This game pits two SEC teams, the University of Georgia and Louisiana State University, to battle it out for the conference title. Gates open for this event at 4 p.m. and the action starts at 6 p.m. Guests are encouraged to arrive early to avoid traffic delays downtown.

Pep rallies and parties will take place at the Georgia World Congress Center throughout the weekend. The largest, Dr Pepper SEC Fanfare -- featuring sports-themed games and activities, will be located in GWCC Building C. This event is open to the public Friday, Dec. 2 from 2 p.m. - 9 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 3 from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults and $4 for children (4 ft. and under).

The Georgia World Congress Center is also hosting the Festival of Trees in Building A. This event features 150,000 square feet of decorated trees, wreaths, gingerbread houses and more. Festival of Trees is open to the public Saturday, Dec. 3 to Sunday, Dec. 11. The festival is open 10 a.m. -- 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is $12 for adults, $6 for children (age 2 - 12) and $6 for senior citizens.

Plan to attend this year's Children's Christmas parade on Saturday, Dec. 3 and enjoy the bands, the floats and all of the holiday fun. The bands will step off at Peachtree Street at Baker Street at10:30 a.m. The parade will follow Peachtree Street and then turn right onto Marietta Street before ending on Centennial Olympic Park Drive.

Before or after your fun at the game or the Festival of Trees, enjoy for the magical Holiday in Lights spectacular at Centennial Olympic Park. Walk through the Park’s illuminated winter wonderland highlighted by Atlanta’s only outdoor ice skating rink. Holiday in Lights is free and the ice skating rink admission fee is $6 per person plus a skate rental fee of $2 for 90 minutes of ice skating. For more information on the ice skating rink, call 404.222. PARK.

With the new Georgia Aquarium expecting another record weekend of visitors, heavy traffic is expected in and around downtown this weekend due to the number of events taking place. Street closures for the parade will begin as early as 6 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3. The GWCCA operates more than 4,000 parking spaces on campus, but the quickest way to and from these events is by taking MARTA to the GWCC/Dome/CNN/Philips station. For more information about getting to our campus, please visit our website (www.gwcc.com) and click on the Maps/Directions information page.