Downtown's most-photographed water feature is back, and it now comes with a playlist.
The Fountain of Rings at Centennial Olympic Park has officially reopened after months of construction through the fall and winter, funded by a $2.5 million grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation. The Georgia World Congress Center Authority, which owns and operates the park, describes the result as an immersive audio-visual experience.
Four shows a day
Beginning the week of March 10, the fountain runs synchronized performances four times daily, at noon, 2:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.
During shows, water sprays blast more than 15 feet high. In the evening, more than 250 new LED ring lights provide 360-degree illumination in shifting patterns and colors. A new fog system with more than 200 emitters adds another layer, all of it timed to music.
The playlist leans local
GWCCA built the program around artists with ties to Georgia or to its campus, which includes Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Expect Outkast's Hey Ya, James Brown's Living in America, Zac Brown Band's Chicken Fried and Ray Charles' Georgia on My Mind, alongside Taylor Swift's Shake It Off and Justin Timberlake's Can't Stop the Feeling, plus unannounced additions.
The authority partnered on the design with Fountain People, a company that worked on the original Fountain of Rings as part of a team in the 1990s.
Timed to what is coming
These are the fountain's first substantial upgrades since 2007. They arrive alongside a redo of the park's visitor information center, part of a broader effort to improve both guest experience and operational reliability.
The timing is not accidental. Centennial Olympic Park sits at the center of the district that will absorb the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Super Bowl, and the fountain is the first thing most visitors walk toward. For anyone planning a spring visit, the splash-pad crowd will have to wait for warmer weather, but the evening shows do not require a bathing suit.
Original reporting by Josh Green for Urbanize Atlanta, published February 2025.
