If you have lived in Conyers for more than a couple of summers, your July routine probably runs on muscle memory. Farmers market at Restoration Storehouse on Sunday, a walk on the PATH trail, maybe a plate at Las Flores, fireworks somewhere off Bank Street. This year the routine is worth rewriting, because Olde Town is in the middle of a rebuild that will not look the same by Labor Day.
The short version: a new civic gathering space is finishing construction one block off Center Street, a coffee concept is filling a gap Olde Town has had for years, a brewery is being lined up for fall, and the county's first Raising Cane's opened in February and pulled the mayor and a check for Rockdale Emergency Relief out to the ribbon cutting. None of that shows up on the standard "things to do" list yet. Here is what to actually do with it.
The one block that will look different by September
The Lewis Vaughn Botanical Garden, the strip of green adjacent to the Olde Town Pavilion, is being reworked into a new gathering space called Celebration Park. The city has said construction is expected to be complete in late spring of 2026, transforming the garden into a new community space adjacent to the Pavilion. If you were there in April and saw fencing, that is what it was for.
A block away at 870 North Main Street NW, the old Olde Town Awards engraving shop is being converted into a coffee bar. Rachel and Brad Smith are opening it as The Pour House, and their reasoning is worth quoting: the idea grew from a gap in Olde Town Conyers, where a previous coffee shop closed several years ago and area residents have asked for a local option. That gap is the reason you have been driving to Covington or a drive-thru chain for a decent latte. The build is small, just under 900 square feet with a dark, European-influenced interior, tile flooring, velvet and wood seating, and seating grouped to encourage conversation, and the coffee bar itself is anchored by a vintage cabinet from a former bakery in Belgium. It is not open yet as of this writing, so treat it as a fall calendar item, not a Saturday plan.
The third piece is a brewery. Reporting on Olde Town's pipeline notes plans for a new brewery, anticipated to open in fall 2026, that will provide another destination for locals and visitors. Combined with the existing entertainment district rules that let you walk from one business to another with an adult beverage in a specialty cup, that changes the geometry of an Olde Town evening.
What that means for a Saturday between now and Labor Day
Here is a version of the day that uses the pieces already in place, sequenced so you are not doubling back:
- Morning. Second-Saturday tours at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit at 2625 Highway 212 SW. Tours begin at 9:30 a.m. and are $20 per person, running the second Saturday March through November. This is not the gift shop loop most visitors do. You get sections of the cloistered monastery that are otherwise closed.
- Late morning. Used book sale at the Nancy Guinn Memorial Library at 864 Green Street SW. The Conyers-Rockdale Library hosts the sale 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the second Saturday of the month, with additional Tuesday and Wednesday hours 10 a.m. to noon.
- Lunch. Iron Skillet Southern Kitchen in Olde Town, which serves a rotating menu of buttermilk chicken tenders, baked fish, fried shrimp, lima beans, fried okra, and collard greens Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tin Plate and Las Flores are the other Olde Town anchors if the line is long.
- Afternoon. Paint at The Sketching Pad or a wine tasting at Corks and Cuvee, both inside the walkable Olde Town district. If it is Sunday instead, the farmers market at Restoration Storehouse, 1400 Parker Road, runs every Sunday April through October.
- Evening. Sunset hike at Panola Mountain State Park. The annual pre-registration hike puts you on the summit at dusk with a sightline that catches fireworks from Decatur, Peachtree City, and Stone Mountain across the sky. During non-event summer weekends the regular summit access hikes offer the same view without the crowd.
That is a day built entirely on named local operators, and it does not repeat any stop from the standard Explore Georgia checklist.
The Horse Park is not just the Cherry Blossom Festival
Most Conyers residents associate the Georgia International Horse Park with two weekends a year. That undersells it. Rebecca Hill, who has worked there roughly 15 years, has described the growth this way: at the 20th anniversary, staff looked back at old event calendars from the first few years and saw maybe six or seven events for the year, and now they will easily have six or seven events in one weekend, with three horse shows, a wedding reception, a birthday party, and a mountain bike race running simultaneously.
The practical takeaway for a resident: the park's trails and disc golf course are open most of the time, and closures are event-driven rather than seasonal. The Georgia International Horse Park Disc Golf Course and Trails close during scheduled events, with 770-860-4190 as the number to call before you drive over. Save that number. It is the difference between a wasted trip and an empty course on a Wednesday evening.
For dates worth blocking off:
| Event | Date | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Red-White-Boom fireworks | July 3, 6 p.m. | Bank Street, Olde Town |
| Conyers Mitsubishi 4th of July Fireworks | July 4, 6 p.m. | 1540 Iris Drive SW |
| Rockdale County Fireworks (America 250) | July 2, 7 p.m. | 4550 Highway 20 SE |
| Conyers Pro Rodeo | October 23 | Georgia International Horse Park |
| Cadillac Crew | October 23 | Conyers-Rockdale Council for the Arts |
The three fireworks shows across three days are worth noting because most residents pick one. The Rockdale County show on July 2 features live entertainment from "Bogey and the Viceroy," food trucks, and children's activities from 6 to 10 p.m., with free parking, free admission, and free shuttles from the 1400 Parker Road Annex. If crowds at the main show are your issue, the shuttle model is the fix.
The Cane's opening was actually a Conyers story
A national chicken chain opening a suburban drive-thru is usually not news. This one was, for two reasons. First, the store put local landmarks on its walls. It highlights hometown landmarks like the Georgia International Horse Park, Dakota Fanning, and Holly Hunter through vintage photos and memorabilia, and honors area athletes like Clint Mathis and Candace Hill. Second, opening day pulled in the mayor and a donation to a local nonprofit: Raising Cane's held its grand opening in Conyers on Feb. 24 and, as part of the festivities, the chicken finger restaurant chain donated to Rockdale Emergency Relief. If you drive past 1530 GA-138 and wonder why the interior looks like a museum wall, that is why.
The festival that shaped how Conyers thinks about itself
The Cherry Blossom Festival is 45 years old this year and, more importantly, it is why the international character of the Horse Park exists at all. In 1982, Maxell, a Japanese manufacturing company that operated here, worked with the Conyers-Rockdale Chamber of Commerce to hold the first festival to nurture the friendship and exchange of Japanese culture, and in 1997 the festival moved to the Georgia International Horse Park to accommodate growth. That is a longer institutional memory than most metro Atlanta suburbs can claim.
"This festival has always been about more than the treasured trees planted 45 years ago. We are rooted in art, community, and connection." — Dawn Tanner, festival manager
You missed the 2026 edition in March, but the calendar between now and next spring is dense enough that it will not feel like a wait. St. Patrick's Day, Taste of Spring & Car Show, Olde Town Fall Festival, Spooky Skelebration, and Christmas in Conyers all sit on the city's signature events list.
The through line
The reason to rewrite the routine this year is not that any single new opening is a destination. It is that Olde Town is compressing several years of change into one calendar. A gathering space is opening a block off the Pavilion. A coffee shop is filling a hole residents have been complaining about since the last one closed. A brewery is being lined up to walk to from the same block. When those three are in place, the Saturday itinerary above shortens to two square blocks and one car trip. That is a different Conyers than the one most residents describe when out-of-town family asks what there is to do here.
Keep the number for the Horse Park handy. Try The Pour House the week it opens. Walk Celebration Park before it stops being new.
If your summer walk through Olde Town has you thinking about what a move within Conyers, or from Atlanta into Rockdale County, would actually look like this year, Vision To Realty can help you read the market block by block. Start Your Home Search with Tiffany.
