Six Flags Over Georgia announced last summer that its Holiday in the Park event was cancelled for 2025 as the were focusing resources “during the time when the majority of our guests visit the Six Flags Over Georgia” and “weather conditions can more consistently support our goal”. This closed the park about a month earlier than usual and was met with a lot of disappointment from the season pass base who only got a “free bring a friend” as compensation. However, during the company’s quarterly earnings call on Feb. 19, 2026 there was a glimmer of hope that this event might return in 2026 as the new management reflected that the decision last year may have been a mistake.

“In hindsight, that decision did not optimize profits at every park the way we needed it to. Those events can be meaningful demand-drivers, and removing them created a self-inflicted headwind in terms of both attendance and operating leverage. We’re taking that learning directly into our planning for 2026 and we will rethink the winter holiday strategy with a tighter, returns-driven approach, market by market, rather than applying a broad brush.”

-Brian Witherow, CFO of Six Flags

For 2025, holiday events were announced and cancelled at the parks below:

• WinterFest at California’s Great America
• WinterFest at Kings Dominion
• Holiday in the Park at Six Flags Great Adventure
• Holiday in the Park at Six Flags Over Georgia

Holiday in the Park has been a family tradition for us (as I’m sure it is for many) and figured into our decision to get season passes as at least one guaranteed visit. It was our preferred “Santa experience” for our son and a place we went annually to see Christmas lights. I think this is what Six Flags was getting at in mentioning events being “meaningful demand-drivers” and potentially reducing attendance in other parts of the year by people not buying a season pass or reducing the perceived value of the pass. Holiday events may also lose the fraction of people who would be introduced to the park only by the lure of a holiday event.

Six Flags Over Georgia operated during the holidays in what appeared to be a lower cost mode, shuttering the back half of the park with Blue Hawk, Great American Scream Machine, Superman and other rides. However, in addition to these cost savings a sign of what could be to come was perhaps demonstrated by Carowinds in 2025. The park still went forward with its annual Winterfest even while others in the region cancelledt, but with reduced hours/days, less entertainment and scaled back decorations. It was a Christmas event on a budget and CEO John Reilly seemed to hint at this with comments regarding market-specific decisions.

“Our experience with several winter holiday events this past year provided valuable lessons. We will approach seasonal programming with market-specific rigor, clear ROI [return on investment] thresholds, and tested scale methodology.”

John Reilly, CEO of Six Flags

This past November we also got to attend Holiday in the Park at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio and it was simply spectacular. The extra shows, events and lights were amazing including a theater spectacular with live animals and amazing musical performances. I think this shows how Six Flags can host a diverse set of events with a huge invest in a place like San Antonio, Texas (who has better weather and more operating days) while making a smaller investment in Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina. Both markets still get open parks and events which is a win for season pass holders and guests.

There has been no official announcement of the return of a holiday event Six Flags Over Georgia at any of the other 3 parks where it was cancelled last year, however there is reason for hope. We don’t know what it would be called if it did return as they may stick with the legacy “Holiday in the Park” and “Winterfest” brands as they did last year or just unify under one, but to most the name is inconsiquential. Running a theme park is hard business and the unpredictability of December weather in some of these markets will always make operating during the holiday season financially risky as a couple of cold weekends could take out a high percentage of total days of the event. However, hopefully the events can be right-sized for each market to provide a good guest experience will still being break even or even slightly profitable for the parks in the grand scheme of their whole year.