The biggest Savannah events and festivals cluster in two seasons. Spring brings St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, the Savannah Music Festival through the first half of April and the start of the Savannah Bananas’ season at Grayson Stadium. Fall brings the free Savannah Jazz Festival in Forsyth Park in September, then an October that stacks Tybee’s Pirate Fest, Savannah Pride and the SCAD Savannah Film Festival into a single month. Winter is quieter but not empty: the Savannah Book Festival takes over the first weekend of February, and December belongs to house tours and holiday gatherings. Summer is the lull, for reasons you’ll understand the moment you step outside.
This page is the calendar. It covers what happens when, which dates are confirmed, what each event does to hotel prices, parking and opening hours, and how far ahead to book. It’s written for anyone choosing dates around an event, or trying to dodge one. The caveat that matters: most festivals set their dates a year at a time, and the lists that circulate online mix confirmed dates with guesses. We give a specific date only when the organizer or reliable local reporting has published it, and we flag anything that’s still unconfirmed. Everything here was checked September 23, 2026 against official sources.
Savannah’s Major Events at a Glance
Listed in the order they next happen, starting with fall 2026.
| Event | Next dates | Cost | Book ahead? | Date status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tybee Island Pirate Fest | October 8-11, 2026 | See the festival site | Tybee rooms, yes | Listed |
| SCAD Savannah Film Festival | October 24-31, 2026 | Ticketed; on sale October 2 | Yes, for popular screenings | Confirmed |
| Savannah Pride Festival | Saturday, October 24, 2026 | Free entry to the main festival | Rooms, yes (film festival week) | Listed |
| Halloween | Saturday, October 31, 2026 | Free to wander; tours are ticketed | Ghost tours, yes | Fixed date |
| Savannah Food & Wine Festival | November 11-15, 2026 | Ticketed events | Popular events, yes | Listed |
| Holiday Tour of Homes | Saturday, December 12, 2026 | Ticketed | Yes | Listed |
| Savannah Book Festival | February 4-7, 2027 | Festival Saturday (February 6) is free | Rooms, a few weeks out | Confirmed |
| St. Patrick’s Day parade | Wednesday, March 17, 2027 | Free to watch | Rooms, as early as you can | Confirmed |
| Savannah Music Festival | April 2-17, 2027 | Ticketed | Yes | Confirmed |
| NOGS Tour of Hidden Gardens | April 16-17, 2027 | Ticketed | Yes | Confirmed |
| Savannah Bananas home games | March to September; 2027 schedule not yet posted | By lottery; 2026 seats from $35 | Enter the lottery the fall before | Unconfirmed |
| Savannah Jazz Festival | Mid to late September (2026: September 18-20) | Free | Weekend rooms | Usual window |
| Forsyth Farmers’ Market | Every Saturday, 9am-1pm | Free to browse | No | Year-round |
How to Read This Calendar
Most lists of Savannah events and festivals go stale for a predictable reason. They print “the Savannah Music Festival, every spring” next to “March 25” as though both were equally certain, and a few months later the specific date is wrong and the vague one is useless. So every event on this page sits in one of three groups:
- Confirmed: the organizer has published the dates, and we checked them on its own site or in reliable local news.
- Listed: dates are circulating, usually traceable to the organizer, but we couldn’t verify them on the organizer’s own page. Treat them as likely, not certain.
- Usual window: the event recurs, but next year’s dates aren’t out. We give the pattern, such as “mid to late September”, with the most recent dates for reference.
Two more things. Dates move: the St. Patrick’s parade shifts to Saturday when the 17th falls on a Sunday, and the Savannah Music Festival ran March 25 to April 5 in 2026 but runs April 2-17 in 2027. And the details that affect you most, like road closures, event parking rates and which museums close, usually come out only weeks ahead. Use this page to choose your dates, then check the organizer’s site again the week you travel. The Update Log near the end says what we last changed and when.
Which Savannah Festival Is Worth Planning a Trip Around?
| Event | Crowds | Best for | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Patrick’s Day | Very heavy downtown | Parade lovers, groups, people who want a party | Come for the day itself or avoid the whole week. There’s no middle ground. |
| Savannah Music Festival | Moderate, spread over two-plus weeks | Music travelers, couples | The best excuse to visit in April, which is already the best month. |
| SCAD Savannah Film Festival | Busy around premieres and big screenings | Film fans | Worth building a late-October trip around, if you’ll actually buy tickets. |
| Savannah Book Festival | Light to moderate | Readers, off-season travelers | An easy win: February rates, mild weather and a free Saturday program. |
| Savannah Jazz Festival | Relaxed and local | Budget travelers, anyone already in town | Free and easygoing. Don’t fly in for it; do plan around it. |
| Savannah Bananas | Tickets by lottery | Families, baseball skeptics | Great if you win seats. Don’t plan a trip on the hope of finding some. |
| Tybee Pirate Fest | Busy on the island | Families, costume fans | A fun day trip. Book a Tybee room early or stay in town. |
If you’d rather have Savannah without any of this, aim for a weekday in January or in the first week of November, when none of the big festivals are running. The squares are just as good with fewer people in them, and the rooms cost less. For the rest of the trip, from getting here to what it all costs, start with our complete Savannah travel guide.
Savannah’s Event Calendar, Month by Month
The months below run January to December. The average highs and lows are NOAA’s 1991-2020 normals for the Savannah airport, because the weather decides how much of any outdoor event you’ll enjoy. For the full seasonal picture, including prices and crowd patterns, see our guide to the best time to visit Savannah.
January: The Quietest Month
Average high 61.4°F, low 40.0°F. January is Savannah with the volume turned down. New Year’s Day closes much of the city’s visitor machinery (more on that below), and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, on January 18 in 2027, is observed across the city; Telfair Museums closes all three of its sites that day. Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room, the boardinghouse-style lunch spot with the famous line, takes its annual winter break from January 1 and usually reopens around February 15, so don’t build a January trip around it.
What January lacks in festivals it makes up for in space. You can walk into places that have lines in April, and the evenings are cool enough that a jacket is the right call. It’s the month for travelers who want the architecture and the food, not the crowd.
February: Books and Mild Weather
Average high 65.1°F, low 42.9°F. The Savannah Book Festival is February’s anchor, held in the first week of the month: in 2027 it runs February 4-7, with the free Festival Saturday on February 6. It’s one of the gentler ways to see downtown busy, because a book festival crowd is not a St. Patrick’s crowd. Author sessions fill the historic core, and you can drift between them and the squares all day without a car.
Plan it: February 4-7, 2027. Festival Saturday is free; check the festival’s site for anything that needs a ticket. Rooms are much easier to find than in spring, but the weekend itself is busier than the rest of February, so book once you’ve decided to go.
Otherwise February is mild, uncrowded and underrated. Average rainfall is the second lowest of the year, at 2.80 inches, and Mrs. Wilkes’ usually reopens mid-month.
March: St. Patrick’s Day and Opening Day
Average high 71.4°F, low 48.6°F. March is when Savannah wakes up. The azaleas come out late in the month, the Savannah Bananas start their home season at Historic Grayson Stadium (their 2026 opener was March 7-8) and, above all, there’s St. Patrick’s Day.
St. Patrick’s Day is the event that reshapes the city more than any other. In 2027 March 17 falls on a Wednesday, and the parade is set for that day, starting around 10:15am. When the 17th falls on a Sunday, the parade moves to the Saturday before. The whole Historic District fills with green, and the City treats the day as a special operation. For the 2026 parade, the City closed the City Market and River Street areas from 6am on the Friday before, closed Bay Street at 9am on parade day and the full route by about 9:45am. The parade started at Abercorn and Gwinnett streets, City garages charged a $25 flat rate, and towing from no-parking zones started at midnight. The 2027 arrangements will be announced closer to the day, but expect something similar.
Just as important is what closes. On parade day, Telfair Museums’ three sites, the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum, the Tybee Island Light Station and Old Savannah Tours’ trolleys all shut. So does Mrs. Wilkes’. The American Prohibition Museum, a museum about the era when drinking was illegal, closes exactly one day a year, and it’s this one. If you’re in Savannah for sightseeing that week, do the museums on the 16th or the 18th.
Plan it: Wednesday, March 17, 2027, from about 10:15am. Free to watch. Book rooms as early as you can, and expect minimum stays and high rates across the whole week, not just the day. Arrive downtown early, and leave the car at the hotel.
The Savannah Bananas deserve their own warning. The team plays Banana Ball, a showier, faster version of baseball, and its home games at Grayson Stadium run from March into September. In 2026 they fell on March 7-8, May 14-16, June 4-6, July 30-August 1, September 11-13 and September 18-20. For the 2026 season, tickets went by random lottery the fall before: the list closed October 31, 2025, seats started at $35 and each winner could buy up to five. The 2027 process hadn’t been announced when we checked. Buy only through the team’s own channels, because plenty of what’s offered elsewhere is resold at a steep markup or isn’t real.
Easter falls on March 28 in 2027, which matters because Telfair’s museums, the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, the Tybee Island Light Station and the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum all close that day.
April: The Music Festival and Secret Gardens
Average high 78.2°F, low 55.2°F. April is the city at its best, and the Savannah Music Festival is the reason to come now rather than in May. In 2027 it runs April 2-17, more than two weeks of concerts that range well beyond one genre, staged in venues around the Historic District. The 2026 edition ran March 25 to April 5, which tells you something useful: the window moves, so never assume last year’s dates.
Plan it: April 2-17, 2027. Tickets are sold show by show, and the most popular shows sell out, so buy as soon as the program you want goes on sale. April is already peak season, so book rooms early and pick midweek nights if the concerts you want allow it.
Mid-month, the Garden Club of Savannah opens private gardens for the NOGS Tour of Hidden Gardens, on April 16-17 in 2027. NOGS stands for “north of Gaston Street”, the part of the Historic District where the city’s walled courtyard gardens hide behind houses you’d otherwise only see from the sidewalk. It’s one of the rare chances to get past the gates.
Plan it: April 16-17, 2027. Ticketed through the Garden Club. Wear walking shoes and plan on covering a lot of blocks.
May: City Plus Beach
Average high 84.7°F, low 63.4°F. May is warm enough for the beach and not yet too hot for the city. Tybee Island’s lifeguards go on duty May 1, covering the beaches daily from 10am to 5:30pm through October 31. The Bananas are back at Grayson for a series (May 14-16 in 2026), and Memorial Day, May 31 in 2027, fills Tybee and closes Ships of the Sea.
May doesn’t have one headline festival, which is part of its appeal. It’s the best month for a city-and-beach trip, with evenings made for outdoor dinners.
June: Heat, Storms and a Lighter Calendar
Average high 89.6°F, low 70.7°F, and 6.65 inches of rain, the most of any month. Hurricane season starts June 1. Big festivals thin out, the Bananas play a home series (June 4-6 in 2026), and Juneteenth falls on June 19. If you’ll be here for it, check the City of Savannah’s and Visit Savannah’s calendars, since local programs are announced closer to the date.
Plan outdoor things for the morning, museums for the afternoon, and expect a thunderstorm most days. The storms usually pass within an hour, and the sidewalks steam afterward.
July: The Fourth, and the Heat
Average high 92.3°F, low 73.7°F. July is the hottest month, and the Fourth is its one big occasion. In 2027 it falls on a Sunday. Fireworks on the riverfront and at Tybee have long been the draw, but organizers confirm the launch sites and times each year, so check the City of Savannah and City of Tybee Island announcements before you plan the evening. Ships of the Sea closes on July 4.
If you’re going to Tybee for the holiday, expect the beach and US 80, the only road on and off the island, to be at their busiest. The Bananas’ summer series (July 30-August 1 in 2026) straddles the end of the month.
August: The Low Point
Average high 90.8°F, low 73.3°F, with 5.46 inches of rain. There are very few events in August, and honestly the heat is the headline. The sea is at its warmest, so it’s a beach month if it’s anything. In the city, plan air-conditioned afternoons and take the free DOT Express Shuttle rather than walking long distances at midday.
September: Jazz in the Park
Average high 86.4°F, low 69.0°F. The Savannah Jazz Festival brings free concerts to Forsyth Park in mid to late September; the 2026 festival, the 45th, ran September 18-20. It’s a relaxed, local crowd: people bring chairs and blankets, and you can wander in and out. The 2027 dates hadn’t been published when we checked.
Plan it: Mid to late September; watch for the announcement in late summer. Free. Bring a chair or blanket, and book a room for the weekend if you’re coming from out of town.
The Bananas close out their regular home season in September (September 11-13 and 18-20 in 2026), and Labor Day, September 6 in 2027, closes Ships of the Sea. September is also the statistical peak of hurricane season, around September 10, so pick refundable rates and keep an eye on the forecast.
October: The Busiest Fall Month
Average high 79.0°F, low 58.6°F. October is Savannah’s second high season, and in 2026 the calendar is packed.
First comes the Tybee Island Pirate Fest, listed for October 8-11, 2026, a four-day run with a parade, live entertainment and costume contests on the island. It’s family-friendly and busy, and it fills Tybee’s rooms. Then, on Saturday, October 24, comes the Savannah Pride Festival, listed as the 27th annual, in Forsyth Park, with free entry to the main festival. The Savannah Pride Center organizes it.
The same day, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival begins, running October 24-31, 2026. It’s the Savannah College of Art and Design’s annual week of screenings, and tickets go on sale October 2.
Plan it: October 24-31, 2026. Buy tickets from October 2 for screenings you care about. Pride and the festival’s opening share a Saturday, so book rooms for that weekend well ahead.
Then there’s Halloween, a Saturday in 2026. Savannah’s reputation as a haunted city means ghost tours are in heavy demand around the holiday, and downtown fills with costumes. The stories are part of the fun; the history under them is often darker and more interesting. Book tours ahead for any evening that week. The last day of Tybee’s lifeguard season is October 31 too.
River Street has long been known for an early-October Oktoberfest and for First Friday fireworks over the water. We couldn’t confirm 2026 dates for either from an official source, so check with the River Street merchants before you plan around them.
November: Food, Wine and the Best Walking Weather
Average high 70.2°F, low 48.0°F, with 2.39 inches of rain, the driest month of the year. The Savannah Food & Wine Festival is listed for November 11-15, 2026, a week of daytime and evening events; we couldn’t confirm those dates on the festival’s own site, so check before you book around it. Veterans Day falls on November 11.
Thanksgiving is November 26, 2026, and it’s the first of three winter holidays when a lot shuts down. The free DOT Express Shuttle and Savannah Belles Ferry don’t run, the visitor information centers close, and so do the Coastal Heritage Society’s sites, Telfair Museums, the Tybee Island Light Station and the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum. The Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace closes on Thanksgiving Eve as well, and Ships of the Sea closes on Black Friday too. Restaurants that open for Thanksgiving usually book up, so reserve early.
December: House Tours and the Holidays
Average high 63.7°F, low 42.6°F. December is cozy and fairly quiet, with one big date: the Downtown Neighborhood Association’s Holiday Tour of Homes, listed for Saturday, December 12, 2026, with eight private homes open to ticket holders. Like the April garden tour, it’s a way to see the inside of houses you’d otherwise only admire from the street.
There’s a small seasonal curiosity in Troup Square, too. A historical marker there honors James L. Pierpont, the composer of “Jingle Bells”, who was music director of Savannah’s Unitarian church in the 1850s. It’s a free two-minute stop on any walk through the southeastern squares.
Christmas Day closes much the same list as Thanksgiving: no DOT shuttle or ferry, closed visitor centers, and closed Coastal Heritage Society sites, Telfair museums, lighthouse and Mighty Eighth. The Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace closes on Christmas Eve too. New Year’s Eve plans, from riverfront celebrations to hotel and restaurant parties, are announced late in the year, so look for them in November and December. New Year’s Day closes the shuttle, the ferry, the visitor centers, the Coastal Heritage Society’s sites, the lighthouse and the Mighty Eighth.
How Far Ahead Should You Book for a Festival?
There’s no single rule, but there is a ladder. Hotels in and near the Historic District fill in a clear order, and knowing where your dates sit on it saves money and stress. For help choosing a base, our guide to where to stay in Savannah compares the neighborhoods.
- St. Patrick’s week: book as soon as you know you’re going. Rooms within walking distance of the route go first, and some hotels set minimum stays. Prices stay high for the whole week, not just the 17th.
- Spring festival weekends and October weekends: book as soon as the dates are fixed. The Music Festival and the Film Festival arrive during the city’s two peak seasons, so you’re competing with ordinary spring and fall demand as well.
- The Book Festival, the Jazz Festival and the Holiday Tour of Homes: a few weeks ahead is usually enough, though the best-placed small inns go earlier.
- Summer and January: the least pressure of the year, except around the Fourth of July on Tybee.
Tickets run on their own clocks. The SCAD Savannah Film Festival opened sales on October 2 for 2026. The Savannah Music Festival sells show by show, and the biggest names go quickly. The Bananas sell through the team’s lottery the fall before. When dates are only “listed” rather than confirmed, book refundable rooms, and from June through November, when hurricane season adds its own uncertainty, do the same.
One more tip: festival weekends change how restaurants work too. Reserve dinner for any night you care about, or eat early or late. Our list of the best restaurants in Savannah notes which places take reservations.
What Big Events Change: Closures, Parking and Open Containers
The single most useful thing to know about Savannah’s calendar is which days close the places you came to see. Here are the dates that do the most damage:
| Day | What closes |
|---|---|
| St. Patrick’s parade day | Telfair Academy, Jepson Center and Owens-Thomas House; Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace; Ships of the Sea; American Prohibition Museum; Tybee Island Light Station; Old Savannah Tours; Mrs. Wilkes’ |
| Easter Sunday | Telfair’s three sites; Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace; Tybee Island Light Station; Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum |
| Thanksgiving | DOT Express Shuttle and Belles Ferry; visitor centers; Coastal Heritage Society sites; Telfair; Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace (and the day before); Tybee Island Light Station; Mighty Eighth; Ships of the Sea (and Black Friday) |
| Christmas Day | DOT Express Shuttle and Belles Ferry; visitor centers; Coastal Heritage Society sites; Telfair; Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace (and Christmas Eve); Tybee Island Light Station; Mighty Eighth |
| New Year’s Day | DOT Express Shuttle and Belles Ferry; visitor centers; Coastal Heritage Society sites; Tybee Island Light Station; Mighty Eighth |
The Coastal Heritage Society’s sites are the Savannah History Museum, the Georgia State Railroad Museum, Old Fort Jackson and the Pin Point Heritage Museum. Telfair’s three sites also close every Monday, and the lighthouse closes every Tuesday, so a holiday falling next to those days can cost you two.
Parking works differently on big days. On a normal day, the City’s garages are open 24/7, take cards only and charge by the hour, with daily maximums and flat weekend rates. On event days, rates can switch to a flat fee, as with the $25 flat rate for St. Patrick’s 2026, and on-street parking along routes disappears. Our guide to getting around Savannah covers the garages, meters and the free transit that makes a car unnecessary downtown.
Open containers are part of Savannah’s festival culture, within limits. Under the City Code, you can carry one alcoholic drink per person on the street within the downtown to-go zone, which runs from the river south to Jones Street, in an aluminum, paper or plastic cup of 16 fluid ounces or less. No cans, no bottles, no glass, and the same rules apply during festivals. You must be 21. Forsyth Park, home of the Jazz Festival and Pride, lies south of Jones Street, so follow each festival’s own rules there. Tybee has its own rules, starting with no glass on the beach ($300 fine).
Free Events and the Everyday Calendar
Not everything worth doing needs a festival. Several of the best things on Savannah’s calendar are free, and some happen every week.
- Forsyth Farmers’ Market: every Saturday from 9am to 1pm, year-round and rain or shine, at the south end of Forsyth Park near Bull Street and Park Avenue. It accepts SNAP/EBT and doubles it.
- The Savannah Jazz Festival: free concerts in Forsyth Park in September.
- Festival Saturday at the Savannah Book Festival: the free day of author sessions, February 6 in 2027.
- The St. Patrick’s Day parade: free to watch, if you can find a spot along the route.
- Bonaventure Cemetery tours: the Bonaventure Historical Society runs free monthly guided tours that require a free ticket. Check its site for the current weekend and time, since the schedule changed in 2026.
- The Art Center at City Market: upstairs in the restored warehouses beside Ellis Square, where you can watch artists at work.
Getting to all of it can be free as well. The DOT Express Shuttle runs two loops downtown, and the Savannah Belles Ferry crosses the river from City Hall to Hutchinson Island, both at no cost. They don’t run on Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s Day.
Tybee Island Events: A Different City, Different Rules
Tybee Island is 18 miles and about 30 minutes from downtown Savannah via US 80, and it’s its own city with its own event calendar. Its calendar includes the Pirate Fest in October, and the Fourth of July brings its own crowds. What catches visitors out is that Tybee runs by different rules from Savannah.
Parking costs $4 an hour everywhere from 8am to 8pm every day, holidays included, or $25 for a day pass, and it’s cashless: pay through ParkMobile, the Park TYB app or a kiosk. There’s no glass on the beach ($300 fine), no dogs on the beach or crossovers, and no smoking or vaping. And because US 80 is the only road on and off the island, a festival day means traffic both ways. Leave early, or go the day before. For beaches, parking and where to eat, see our Tybee Island travel guide.
How to Find Out What’s On This Weekend
This page covers the big recurring events. For a specific weekend, these sources are the most reliable.
- The organizers’ own sites: dates, times and ticket rules for every event on this page. They’re linked in the Sources section below.
- Visit Savannah’s event calendar: the tourism bureau’s listing of upcoming events. It’s broad, if not exhaustive.
- The visitor information centers: City Market’s center at 307 W. Julian Street is open daily 10am-5pm, and the River Street center at 1 W. River Street daily 10am-6pm. Both close on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
- Local TV news: WTOC publishes road closures and parking details before big days like St. Patrick’s.
- The City of Savannah and City of Tybee Island: official notices about road closures, parking changes and fireworks.
For ideas beyond the calendar, our guide to things to do in Savannah covers what’s worth your time on any day of the year, and our Savannah tours guide compares the ghost, trolley and walking tours that book up around Halloween.
Savannah Events by Traveler Type
| If you are | Go for | Think twice about |
|---|---|---|
| A family with kids | A Bananas game, Tybee Pirate Fest, the farmers’ market, the Book Festival’s Saturday | River Street on St. Patrick’s afternoon |
| A couple | Music Festival concerts, the Film Festival, the garden and house tours | Halloween weekend downtown, unless costumes are your thing |
| On a budget | The Jazz Festival, Festival Saturday, the farmers’ market, Pride | St. Patrick’s week and October weekends |
| Avoiding crowds | January, early November, midweek February | Mid-March, April weekends and late October |
| A music fan | The Savannah Music Festival and the Jazz Festival | Summer, when the calendar is thin |
| LGBTQ+ travelers | Savannah Pride in Forsyth Park | Assuming last year’s date; check with the Pride Center |
Update Log
- September 23, 2026: Guide created. Dates confirmed with organizers or local news: SCAD Savannah Film Festival (October 24-31, 2026), Savannah Book Festival (February 4-7, 2027), St. Patrick’s Day (Wednesday, March 17, 2027), Savannah Music Festival (April 2-17, 2027) and the NOGS Tour of Hidden Gardens (April 16-17, 2027). Listed but not yet confirmed on organizers’ pages: Tybee Pirate Fest, Savannah Pride, the Savannah Food & Wine Festival and the Holiday Tour of Homes. Next review: January 2027, ahead of the spring festival season.
Savannah Events and Festivals FAQ
What is the biggest festival in Savannah?
St. Patrick’s Day, by the difference it makes to the city. The parade runs through the Historic District on March 17 (a Wednesday in 2027), streets and garages switch to event rules, and many museums close for the day. The Savannah Music Festival is the longest major festival: in 2027 it runs April 2-17.
When is the Savannah St. Patrick’s Day parade in 2027?
Wednesday, March 17, 2027, starting around 10:15am. The parade happens on the 17th unless it falls on a Sunday, when it moves to Saturday. Road closures begin before parade day, as they did in 2026, when City Market and River Street areas closed from 6am on the Friday before. Watch for the City’s 2027 plan in early March.
Are there free festivals in Savannah?
Yes. The Savannah Jazz Festival in Forsyth Park is free, and so is the Savannah Book Festival’s Festival Saturday (February 6, 2027). The St. Patrick’s parade costs nothing to watch, Savannah Pride lists free entry to its main festival, and the Forsyth Farmers’ Market runs every Saturday morning, year-round.
What is the best month for festivals in Savannah?
October or April. October 2026 has the Tybee Pirate Fest, Savannah Pride, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival and Halloween, in warm but not hot weather. April 2027 has the Savannah Music Festival and the garden tour in the city’s best weather. Both are peak seasons, so book early.
How do I get Savannah Bananas tickets?
Through the team’s own ticket lottery, held the fall before each season. For 2026, the list closed October 31, 2025, seats started at $35, and each winner could buy up to five. The 2027 process hadn’t been announced when we checked. Be wary of resellers and social media offers, which are often marked up or fake.
Can you drink on the street during Savannah festivals?
Within the downtown to-go zone, from the river south to Jones Street, yes. Each person can carry one alcoholic drink in a paper, plastic or aluminum cup of 16 ounces or less, with no cans, bottles or glass, and you must be 21. The rules don’t change for festivals. On Tybee, glass is banned on the beach and in public lots.
Is everything closed in Savannah on Christmas and Thanksgiving?
Not everything, but a lot. The free DOT Express Shuttle and Belles Ferry don’t run, the visitor centers close, and so do many museums, including Telfair’s three sites, the Coastal Heritage Society’s sites, the Tybee lighthouse and the Mighty Eighth. Walking the squares still works, and some restaurants open with holiday menus.
Related Savannah Guides
- Best Time to Visit Savannah: weather, prices and crowds month by month, to set against this calendar.
- Where to Stay in Savannah: which neighborhood to book for a festival weekend.
- Getting Around Savannah: garages, meters and the free shuttle and ferry on event days.
- Tybee Island Travel Guide: beaches, parking and rules for Pirate Fest and the Fourth.
- Best Savannah Tours: ghost, trolley and walking tours worth booking ahead in October.
- Savannah Travel Guide: the overview of getting here, costs and what to book.
Sources and How We Checked
Dates and details were checked September 23, 2026. This guide is compiled from the event organizers, operators and public agencies listed below, not from other travel lists, and it doesn’t claim first-hand visits. The Savannah Food & Wine Festival dates come from event listings and weren’t confirmed on the festival’s own site.
- Festivals and events: SCAD Savannah Film Festival; Savannah Music Festival; Savannah Book Festival; Tybee Island Pirate Fest; Savannah Pride Center; Garden Club of Savannah (NOGS Tour of Hidden Gardens); Downtown Neighborhood Association Holiday Tour of Homes; Forsyth Farmers’ Market
- Savannah Bananas: tickets and lottery
- WTOC: St. Patrick’s Day 2027; 2026 parade closures and parking; 2026 Savannah Jazz Festival
- City of Savannah: City Code, to-go cups; parking garages
- Chatham Area Transit: DOT Express Shuttle; Savannah Belles Ferry
- Visit Savannah: visitor information centers
- Holiday hours: Telfair Museums; Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace; Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum; American Prohibition Museum; National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force; Coastal Heritage Society; Tybee Island Light Station; Old Savannah Tours; Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room
- Tybee Island: City of Tybee Island beach rules and parking; Visit Tybee, beaches and lifeguards
- Weather: NOAA 1991-2020 normals, Savannah airport; National Hurricane Center climatology
Savannah Tourism Guide is an independent publication. We are not affiliated with Visit Savannah, the City of Savannah or any attraction listed here, and no one paid to be included.
Photo Credits
- St. Patrick's Day parade, 2015: photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Sean La Marr, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- Grayson Stadium: photo by Will120, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Lucas Theatre: photo by Bubba73 (Jud McCranie), Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Forsyth Park fountain: photo by Jennifer Morrow from San Francisco, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
- SCAD Trustees Theater at night: photo by Ron Cogswell, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
- Jingle Bells marker, Troup Square: photo by Pokemonprime, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
- Tybee pier at sunrise: photo by John Robinette, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- River Street at dawn: photo by Seasider53, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)