2025 was a year of momentum and celebration for the Virginia Highland District Association (VHDA). Building off a major beautification project and a revitalized farmers market launched in fall 2024, support continued to grow from businesses, residents, and community leaders. And we didn’t stop there. This momentum pushed us into a new era of achievements, culminating in our Annual Meeting on October 21 that celebrated five years of VHDA’s impact.
Key highlights from the year include:
- VaHi Farmers Market returned for 20 weeks across spring and fall, averaging 45 vendors and 800 weekly visitors, and found its new permanent home with Highland Woodworking.
- Porchfest broke records with 90k attendees, 100 bands on 50 porches, and all-time high sales for local restaurants and bars including Pielands, Bar.Bacoa, and Moe’s & Joe’s.
- North Highland Restaurant Week launched with a new Wine Walk in Morningside Village, and doubled participation from 2024 with 20 restaurants.
- VaHi Supporter Program was re-launched with refreshed branding and brought in $17k in new resident donations.
- VaHi Membership Support reached 76 Business Members (up from 47) and 16 Landlord Members (up from 3).
- Owner Happy Hour saw our highest turnout ever, with 75+ business owners and managers gathering at Highland Tap.
- Recognition came from the City of Atlanta Urban Design Commission, awarding VHDA an Award of Excellence for its North Highland revitalization.
- Digital Growth included a viral ice skater video with 400K views and Instagram growth from 15.7K to 27K followers (a 72% increase).
- Winterfest & Tour of Homes marked our most successful holiday festival yet, with many vendors reporting their best sales day ever, nearly 600 runners in the new Jingle Jog 5K format, and a highest ticket sales ever for the Virginia-Highland Civic Association's Tour of Homes.
- Beautification Fundraising launched for North Highland Beautification Project Phases 2 & 3, with a goal to add amenities that improve comfort, cleanliness, and visual appeal.
- Media Coverage included three live news features highlighting Porchfest, Winterfest & Tour of Homes, and Window Wonderland.
- VHDA’s Five-Year Celebration was marked with an Annual Meeting on October 21 and recap video highlighting how far VHDA has come.
- 5 New Businesses Welcomed to the district, including Rosa Cantina, Silver Penny, Lounge 832, Mickey Lynn, and Freedom Barber Co.
- Community Advocacy advanced free parking in Historic Atkins Park through partnership with District 2 Councilmember Alex Wan and the Virginia-Highland Civic Association.
- New Event Partnerships brought fresh experiences to the neighborhood, including Atlanta History Center’s Party with the Past and ATL UTD’s 5 Pints & Stripes VaHi Pub Crawl.
Thank you for supporting VHDA and for helping make Virginia Highland such a vibrant, connected community. Every event attended, business supported, and dollar invested plays a role in strengthening the neighborhood we all love. We look forward to continuing building on this momentum for the next 5 years!
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