The annual preseason celebration of all things Atlanta Braves will be here before you know it, and the free tickets are available now, according to a recent release by the franchise.
Braves Fest 2026, which takes place at Truist Park and The Battery and features free events, interactions with former Atlanta Braves players, and more, won’t take place until Saturday, January 31. However, free tickets to the event are available here.
Along with the live entertainment that takes place at Braves Fest, there will be photo sessions, Q&A panels, and an MLB The Show live competition for the gamers and fans of the popular video game.
Truist Park, September 2025. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Braves Fest offers the casual baseball fan and the diehard Braves superfan the chance to experience the energy of Major League Baseball before the team departs for spring training at CoolToday Park in North Port, Florida.
Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report for spring training in early February. The season opener for the Braves against the Kansas City Royals will take place on Friday, March 27, at Truist Park (7:15 p.m. first pitch).
There will also be a few new wrinkles to Braves Fest. The opportunity to welcome the players participating in Braves Fest during the player walk & rally will kick off the day-long celebration. Fans can sit in on a recording of the Behind the Braves podcast and the Braves Country Convos podcast. The latter will be making its debut at Braves Fest. Both shows will feature special guests and what the release describes as “special moments.”
Along with the food and drinks that are sold at The Battery, there will also be a paint & sip with the Braves. Braves Bingo, baseball & softball instructional clinics, and a content creation corner are also scheduled to take place.
Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna, Jr. (center) and the Braves will be in North Port, Florida in less than two months for spring training. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Tickets to the autograph sessions with Braves players and coaches go on sale (keyword: SALE) a few weeks before Braves Fest begins on Wednesday, January 7.
Braves Fest is presented by Delta Air Lines, and all proceeds will benefit the Atlanta Braves Foundation.
Attendance on the final Friday of the season was 34,500, at least before the 49-minute rain delay began at 9:22 p.m. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
The final weekend series of the 2025 Atlanta Braves season began on Friday night at Truist Park. The Braves started the season cold (0-7), got hurt, got hot, got cold again, got colder, had a 10-game win streak towards the end of the year, and then finished the year out of the National League East race. The final opponent of the season, the Pittsburgh Pirates, didn’t have a shot at their respective division crown this season either.
The Pirates still managed to win the game 9-3. It was only the second time this month that the Pirates scored that many runs in a game. They scored 11 against the A’s on Sept. 21.
You couldn’t tell Pittsburgh was 21 games under .500 at the start of this game. The Pirates scored four runs in the second inning, highlighted by a two-run home run by left fielder Tommy Pham off Braves starter Joey Wentz (four innings, four earned runs, three strikeouts, eight hits).
Joey Wentz (above) was the starter for the Atlanta Braves on Friday night. Photo by Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves
Through the first three innings of the game, the Braves had several opportunities to tie the game or cut into Pittsburgh’s lead, but only managed a Matt Olson solo home run in the first inning.
With two outs and Brett Wisely and Jurickson Profar on first and third, Braves All-Star first baseman Matt Olson came to the plate in the fourth inning. Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller (4.2, six strikeouts, and an earned run) was taken out of the game, and Yohan Ramirez came into the game to put out a potential fire for Pittsburgh.
Neither team made a dent in the scoreboard during the third, fourth, and fifth innings. In the sixth, the Braves started the inning with a solo homerun from Michael Harris II (3-4 with an RBI), his 20th of the season, that made the score 4-2. The fastball from Pirates pitcher Mike Burrows that Harris II launched over the center field fence came on a 1-2 count. Harris has been more patient during the second half of the season, and it has paid off in a 20-homerun, 20-stolen base season for the Stockbridge High School alum.
Pittsburgh answered back in the seventh inning with a solo home run (a theme tonight) from Spencer Horwitz to go ahead 5-2 before the rains came at 9:22 p.m., and a 49-minute rain delay ensued.
Atlanta picked up another run in the seventh inning to make the score 5-3 when Acuna, Jr. singled and Drake Baldwin drove him in from first base with a line-drive single up the middle of the Pirates’ infield.
The true highlight of the game was the Braves’ bullpen. Hunter Stratton, Joel Payamps, and Dylan Dodd came on in relief, and other than the home run by Horowitz, shut down the Pirates’ bats.
Pierce Johnson came into the game for the Braves and gave up three runs following a three-run home run by Horowitz. It was Horowitz’s second home run of the game.
The Atlanta Falcons and General Manager Terry Fontenot (above) will begin the 2025 season at home on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
One season is grinding to an end, while two others are just beginning. This weekend will be busy in Atlanta sports, with the final month of Atlanta Braves baseball games beginning, the start of the Atlanta Falcons season, and the football seasons for Clark Atlanta and Georgia Tech.
The Atlanta Falcons, back from another non-playoff season in 2024 (Note: If you’re counting, that’s seven consecutive seasons without a playoff berth), will open the 2025 season with a home game inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, an NFC South rival, is expected to sell out.
The Falcons swept Tampa last season, beginning the season 6-3, before the wheels fell off. A strong start to the season will directly coincide with a victory over the Buccaneers on Sunday.
The Atlanta Braves will also be in town for the weekend. The Braves spent the early part of the week in Chicago playing the Cubs. Atlanta, back to .500 at home with a 33-33 record, returned to Truist Park to play nine straight. The initial third of that homestand will begin with the Seattle Mariners. Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh (50 home runs) is still pursuing the switch-hitter home run record of 54 by Mickey Mantle in 1961, so there’s a chance that by the time he and the Mariners get to Atlanta, fans could be a part of Major League Baseball history.
The Atlanta Braves will host the Seattle Mariners at Truist Park (above) this weekend. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
The Braves lost the series in Chicago after being up several runs in the first game on Monday, losing on a walkoff, and wasting a quality start from Joey Wentz on Tuesday. A pair of Braves pitchers made their Major League debuts on Tuesday night. Dominican right-hander Rolddy Munioz pitched two scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth. Augusta, Georgia native Hayden Harris pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh.
Braves rookie catcher Drake Baldwin is racing towards the National League Rookie of the Year award. Baldwin is hitting .283 with 62 RBI and 15 home runs. Though he has only won National League Rookie of the Month once, Baldwin has played a large role in the Braves’ offense this season. His defense behind the plate has also been a plus for a Braves team with very little to celebrate this season.
Not to be outdone, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets will also play host duties at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets and Heisman hopeful (joking. Not joking) senior quarterback Haynes King won a close one in Boulder, Colorado, last Friday.
During that game, King had 156 rushing yards (and three touchdowns) in comparison to Colorado’s 157 total rushing yards. He also passed for 143 yards during the 27-20 victory. Look for those numbers to be equaled if not surpassed during Tech’s next game against Gardner-Webb on Saturday (3:30 p.m.).
Tech will play its next three games at home, including games against Clemson on Sept. 13 and Temple on Sept. 20.
The Clark Atlanta University Panthers (right) lost their final home game of the season Saturday, 41-21. Photo by Menra Mapfumo/The Atlanta Voice
The Clark Atlanta Panthers are back in action in the Atlanta University Center. The Panthers, 0-1 after opening the 2025 season with a 31-28 loss to Valdosta State at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, last week, will host Florida Memorial University on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Morehouse College, also 0-1, will be in New Jersey at MetLife Stadium on Saturday. The maroon Tigers will face the Howard University Bison in the HBCU NY Football Classic. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Atlanta United forward Miguel Almirón (above) are off this weekend, but will be back in Mercedes-Benz Stadium go host Columbus next Saturday. Photo by Matthew Dingle/Atlanta United
Atlanta United will be off for the week, but returns to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to host the Columbus Crew on Saturday, Sept. 13. First kick is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The last time the two teams met at Lower.com Field on June 25 in Columbus, Atlanta United lost 3-0 on a rainy night. The Five Stripes were mired in inconsistent play at the time, and are now playing better heading into the international break in the Major League Soccer schedule.
