Nashville Area Winter and Holiday Events

The Nashville area is one of the best places to be in winter months! During this exciting time of year, the area comes alive with fun events, great music, and holiday cheer for both young and old. And you can wrap up a year at Music City Midnight, formerly known as the Bash on Broadway. This enormous New Year’s Eve block party always satisfies with celebrity performances, food and drink, and an impressive display of fireworks at midnight. This New Year’s Eve, head over to Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park for plenty of festive fun and, of course, the signature Music Note Drop!

Gaylord Opryland Resort’s A Country Christmas
November 8, 2019 – January 1, 2020

Over 3 three million lights make the Opryland Hotel and Resort into a magical destination through January 1, 2020. You can visit Opryland for free to view the interior and exterior lights or pay a fee for additional fun activities.

Activities for Country Christmas at Opryland include:

• SoundWaves water experience
• ICE!® featuring A Christmas Story
• Gingerbread decorating corner
• Carriage rides
• Snow tubing
• Ice skating

Drive-Thru Dancing Lights of Christmas
November 16, 2019 – January 4, 2020

This is the 10th annual Dancing Lights of Christmas. It returns to The James E. Ward Agricultural Center located at 945 E Baddour Parkway, Lebanon, TN. The light show has become a Nashville tradition where attendees pile in a car and drive through a fantastic dancing light show that synchronizes with a special FM radio channel. The show opens nightly at 5 PM, including on holidays.

Franktown Festival of Lights
November 22, 2019 – December 28, 2019

Franktown Festival of Lights is a nightly light display at the Williamson County Ag Expo Center located at 4215 Long Lane, Franklin, TN . Relax in your vehicle and wind through more than 200 light displays, spanning a little over one mile, while listening to synchronized Christmas classics on the radio. There’s also Santa’s Village where families can get their photo with Santa, hot drinks and cookies, camel rides for the kids, a Ferris wheel, a carousel, a petting zoo and other holiday activities.

GLOW Nashville
November 22, 2019 – December 31, 2019

See displays of more than 4 million lights of larger-than-life custom holiday sculptures, including the 100-foot Christmas tree, the tallest in the South. There’s a Santa’s Workshop, ice skating rink, a 32-foot-tall, 170-foot-long tube park built over the stadium seats, and more. It takes place at the First Tennessee Park, home of the Nashville Sounds.

Holiday Lights at Cheekwood
November 23, 2019 – January 5, 2020

Enjoy a Holiday lights experience with one mile of lights glowing throughout the gardens. Cheekwood Estate and Gardens is located at 1200 Forrest Park Drive, Nashville, TN. Every weekend visitors can take part in festivities including Santa visits, meeting Santa’s reindeer, gingerbread decorating, ceramic ornament decorating, dog photos with Santa, and holiday carolers.

Nashville’s Nutcracker
December 7, 2019 – December 23, 2019

The Nashville Ballet will perform Nashville’s Nutcracker for the 12th year. Music City’s favorite holiday tradition delights both the young and young-at-heart. It takes place at TPAC’s Andrew Jackson Hall located at 505 Deaderick Street, Nashville, TN. Dancers will perform over one dozen magical shows for audiences. Characters include the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Mouse King, and the Nutcracker.

A Christmas Carol
December 6, 2019 – December 22, 2019

Watch Tiny Tim in The Center for the Arts production of A Christmas Carol. It takes place at the Center for the Arts, 110 West College Street, Murfreesboro, TN. Ebenezer Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve by the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. They show Scrooge his error in valuing money over people. The production is rated PG-13 for scary supernatural elements.

Patrick Barlow’s A Christmas Carol
November 29, 2019 – December 22, 2019

The Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Future journey through time to remind an iron-hearted Scrooge what Christmas is truly about. It takes place at Andrew Johnson Theater located at 505 Deaderick Street, Nashville, TN. This exciting adaptation by Patrick Barlow brings Charles Dickens’ most beloved characters to life using five actors, imaginative props, and mesmerizing design. This is a true celebration of theatre and the holiday season and a magnificent twist on this timeless story of redemption.

The Country Music Hall of Fame

While the Country Music Hall of Fame is open year-round as an interactive museum, it becomes better in December. During the holiday season, their Deck the Hall event lineup incorporates plenty of Christmas-themed cheer. In addition to the regular exhibits, the original Christmas lights Elvis is installed in RCA Studio B. In addition to decorating cookies you can partake in special concerts.

Add additional Nashville holiday events you’re aware of below.