Cheekwood is shining a light on a decade of Holiday LIGHTS this year. | Photo by Nathan Zucker via Cheekwood
Get your fuzzy socks and hot cocoa ready, Nashville. From light displays to holiday performances and festive parties, winter is coziest spent in Music City.
That’s why we’re sharing 60+ seasonal events happening between mid-November and February.
Holiday happenings and light displays
Dancing Lights of Christmas | Friday, Nov. 8-Saturday, Jan. 4 | Wilson County Fairgrounds, Lebanon | Grab your holiday crew and enjoy millions of lights synchronized to music.
Holiday LIGHTS | Friday, Nov. 22-Sunday, Jan. 5 | Cheekwood | Explore over one million lights throughout the gardens, s’mores stations, and a holiday marketplace.
Holiday markets
Shop Local Holiday Market | Saturday, Dec. 7 | Nashville Farmers Market | In addition to vendor specials, food trucks, and tunes by DJ Dan, get free photos taken with Santa.
Porter Flea Holiday Market | Friday, Dec. 13-Saturday, Dec. 14 | The Fairgrounds Nashville | Shop hundreds of local vendors at the two-day indoor marketplace — Friday’s preview market is $28.
2024 Annual Meeting & Awards Luncheon | 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. | Omni Nashville Hotel | $90 | Join the Nashville Downtown Partnership and 1,000+ community leaders for an annual celebration of downtown’s growth and transformation.
Wednesday, Nov. 13
Nashville Ballet’s Home School Day | 10-11:30 a.m. | The Martin Center for Nashville Ballet | Free | Guided by a Nashville Ballet Teaching Artist, students will discuss and dance through the artistic concepts and inspiration behind Nashville Ballet’s upcoming performance.
Gabby Barrett | 7:30 p.m. | Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s CMA Theater | $36+ | The artist takes the stage with special guest Rachel Purcell and plans to donate show proceeds to the MurphsLife Foundation.
Thursday, Nov. 14
Nashville Design Collective Fall Open House | 10 a.m.-2 p.m. | Nashville Design Collective | Free | Discover all 13 showrooms with exclusive pop-ups and fall-themed food and drinks.
Friday, Nov. 15
Ice Cream Cocktail Mixology: Fall Favorites | 6 p.m. | Holston House | $65 | Learn to make Tipsy Scoop’s famous boozy ice cream cocktails by crafting your own “Miss American Pie” and “Frozen Fall Sangria.”
Saturday, Nov. 16
Holiday Coffee Tasting and Roastery Tour| Times vary | Summit Sisters Coffee, Old Hickory | $45 | Go behind-the-scenes and get an up-close look at the coffee roasting process and preview the roastery’s seasonal holiday collection.
2024 Celebration of Schools Parade & Fair | 1-5 p.m. | Nissan Stadium | Free | Join MNPS for food, giveaways, and activities — plus, meet the educators representing your school.
Espresso martini,sans alcohol, please. For those looking for non-alcoholic sips ahead of the holiday season, there’s a new spot in town. The Mockery opened at the Nashville Farmers Market (Friday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.) with a menu of handcrafted creations + take-home bottles.
Biz
Elegy is growing in the new year. The coffee shop and cafe plans to open its fourth Nashville location in Wedgewood-Houston, taking over the Dozen Bakery building after the biz relocates its cafe and wholesale operations to a larger space on Grandview Avenue. Elegy will begin renovations in early spring.
Outdoors
Heads up, the Shelby Bottoms Nature Play area is undergoing renovations and will be closed for several months. Once complete, visitors can expect a kid-sized beaver dam, tree trunk balance beams and climbing logs + a new shade pavilion.
List
Two Nashville-area restaurants made Southern Living’s recent “15 Best Roadside Restaurants In The South” list. The publication noted the ~10,000 “pillowy biscuits” The Loveless Cafe makes daily and the rustic, cabin-like interior at White Bluff’s Fat Tiger Korean BBQ & More. B.E. Scott’s BBQ in Lexington, TN also made the cut.
Edu
It’s game on when Belmont University unveils its new esports facility in 2025. The space inside the forthcoming Caldwell II Residence Hall will include 25 PC stations, 10 80-inch TVs, gaming consoles, and a raised floor for competitive and recreational play. Swipe through renderings.
Seasonal
It’s tiiime. Speaking of holiday must-dos, Mariah Carey’s Black Irish Holiday Bar lands at Virgin Hotels Nashville on Friday, Nov. 15 in partnership with Bucket Listers. Sip on festive cocktails and mocktails, recreate Carey’s “Magical Christmas Special” album cover, and write letters to the star through Sunday, Dec. 29.
Real Estate
Gone are the days of compromising on your ideal home, Music City. Oxenfree WeHo offers 10+ unique floor plans across a variety of three- and four-bedroom, multi-level townhomes, set within nearly six acres in Wedgewood-Houston. We can’t stop thinking about this resort-style pool.*
Pets
Furniture gets scratched, shoes get chewed, toys go missing. These are regular occurrences in life with pets. But a $10,000 emergency surgery? That’s a whole other ball game. Fetch Pet Insurance could help you offset some of these nightmare scenarios by providing comprehensive coverage and up to 90% reimbursement.*
Category
Eat
🥯 The Arcade is on a roll
Ugly Bagel is one of many new spots expanding to The Arcade, including Beignets & Brew, Buddy’s “tiny-tonk,” and Urban Cowboy Public House. | Photo by Digital Love Studio
If you were lacking breakfast plans this week, schmear you go. Nashville-based Ugly Bagel opens inside The Arcade tomorrow, Nov. 13 with a fully customizable menu of hand-rolled bagels, including vegan options and a monthly flavor drop.
Bonus: Through Wednesday, Nov. 20 from 5 to 7 p.m., customers can pick up two free bagels (while supplies last) during Ugly Hour.
Peer into the bagel-making process via the “rolling window” before placing an order at the self-checkout kiosk. If you want to have your order ready, here are a few things we’re looking at on the menu:
Gingerbread bagel accompanied by hot cocoa spread
Sea salt bagel paired with cookies and cream spread
The I’m Goin’ Back sandwich on an Asiago bagel
Stay tuned — the biz already has plans for a Wedgewood-Houston location with more on the horizon.
The Buy
The Buy
A one-year Costco membership — because for a limited time, you can get a $45 Digital Costco Shop Card when you sign up. Snag the deal and get ready to load up your cart with Kirkland’s finest.
If the Nature Play is your go-to with the kiddos, explore Red Caboose Park or Thisbe & Noah’s Promise Park in the meantime. There are even more options where those come from on our parks guide.
