23 Things to Do in Middle Tennessee This Weekend: Sept 18-20, 2026
This weekend in Middle Tennessee (September 18 to 20, 2026), Musicians Corner opens its free fall series Friday night in Centennial Park, the Nashville Fair runs its final three days at the Fairgrounds, and Lebanon hosts the Tennessee Ice Cream Festival on Sunday afternoon. Twenty-three events span Wilson, Davidson, Rutherford and Williamson counties.
The Nashville Fair closes Sunday, so this is the last weekend for the midway until next September. Closer to home, the Empower Me Center is throwing an ice cream festival on its future campus off South Hartmann, and Musicians Corner starts its fall run in Centennial Park Friday evening for nothing. One honest note before you scroll: Wilson County is thin this week. Four events, and three of them are fundraisers. things to do in Middle Tennessee this weekend
Wilson County: Lebanon, Mt. Juliet and Watertown things to do in Middle Tennessee this weekend
Quiet weekend on home turf, and most of what is happening is charity work, which is not a bad problem to have.
Coffee With a Cop
Friday, September 18 · 8:00 AM · Starbucks, Mt. Juliet · Check listing for pricing
This one is at 2059 North Mt. Juliet Road, the newest Starbucks in town. Runs 8 to 10 with no speeches and no agenda, which is the whole appeal. If you have been sitting on a question for MJPD, walking up with a coffee in your hand is an easier way to ask it than calling the non-emergency line. Buy your own drink.
Birdie for ERDie: 4th Annual Charity Golf Scramble
Saturday, September 19 · 8:00 AM · The Club at Five Oaks, Lebanon · Check listing for pricing
Fourth year for this one. It benefits The ERDie Project, the nonprofit Emma Ryleigh Dixon's parents, Jeni and Charlie, started after losing her to pediatric bone cancer. Starts at 8 and the listing runs it to 4, so plan on the whole day if you play.
4th Annual ERDie Project Gala, Silent and Live Auction
Sunday, September 20 · Farm Bureau Exposition Center, Lebanon · Check listing for pricing
Same nonprofit, dressier version, out at the Expo Center on East Baddour. The Chamber has it listed as an all-day event with no start time posted, which almost certainly is not right for a gala, so call before you plan your Sunday around it. Silent and live auction both.
Party on the Property featuring the Tennessee Ice Cream Festival
Sunday, September 20 · 2:00 PM · 1160 South Hartmann Drive, Lebanon · Check listing for pricing
This is my pick of the Wilson weekend. Empower Me Center is hosting it on the land where their future building is going, so you get to walk the site while you eat. Homemade ice cream from community members competing against local shops, live entertainment, activities for kids. Two to five.
If you are driving in from out of state to check out the area, I will tell you the honest version of what each town is like, including the parts the tourism sites leave out. Get in touch.
Davidson County: Nashville
Two big things end this weekend and one big thing starts, which makes Nashville the busiest of the four counties by a wide margin.
Musicians Corner: Fall Series
Friday, September 18 · 5:00 PM · Centennial Park, Nashville · Free
Free, all ages, pet friendly, and the best value in Nashville on a Friday night. Five to nine in Centennial Park with food vendors, local artisans and the Kidsville setup for kids. Park on the West End side and walk in. It is a 35 minute drive from the Lebanon square if I-40 behaves, which in my experience it does until about 4:30.
The Nashville Fair
Friday, September 18 to Sunday, September 20 · 5:00 PM · The Fairgrounds Nashville, 320 Wedgewood Avenue · Check listing for pricing
Final three days of the ten-day run. Midway rides, wrestling, axe throwing, balloon sculpting and live music nightly, 5 to 9 each day. Fairgrounds parking is the usual Wedgewood mess on a Saturday night, so Friday is the calmer visit if you have a choice.
Disney On Ice presents Spotlight Magic!
Friday, September 18 to Sunday, September 20 · Bridgestone Arena, 501 Broadway, Nashville · Check listing for pricing
Multiple showtimes across the weekend and the listing does not break them out, so check before you buy. Standard advice for Bridgestone on a Disney weekend: park in a garage you have already paid for online, because the lots around Broadway will take you for whatever they feel like that day.
Cheekwood Harvest
Saturday, September 19 to Sunday, September 20 · 9:00 AM · Cheekwood Estate and Gardens, 1200 Forrest Park Dr., Nashville · Check listing for pricing
Opening weekend of the six-week fall festival, which means the pumpkins are fresh and the crowds have not found it yet. A hundred thousand pumpkins, the new Marigold River, and Harvest Nights later in the run. Nine to five. Go Sunday morning if you want photos without other people in them.
Shaboozey
Friday, September 18 · 8:00 PM · Ascend Amphitheater, 310 1st Avenue N, Nashville · Check listing for pricing
Noeline Hofmann opens. Ascend is outdoors, so watch the forecast, and the riverfront lots fill early on a Friday.
Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas
Friday, September 18 to Sunday, September 20 · 8:00 PM · Ryman Auditorium, 116 Rep John Lewis Way, Nashville · Check listing for pricing
Three nights at the Ryman with Theo Lawrence on the bill. If you have relatives visiting and you want one thing that explains why people move here, this is it. Buying or selling downtown is its own animal, and if a condo is what you are looking at, the loan rules changed in August in a way that catches people off guard.
Rutherford County: Murfreesboro, Smyrna and La Vergne
Saturday is the day in Rutherford. Five of the six events land on it.
Fall Harvest Festival at Lucky Ladd Farms
Friday, September 18 to Saturday, September 19 · 10:00 AM · Lucky Ladd Farms, 4306 Rocky Glade Rd, Eagleville · Check listing for pricing
Corn maze, wagon and pony rides, petting farm, the big slides, pumpkin patch. Ten to five both days. Eagleville is a real drive from Wilson County, call it an hour, so this is a commit-to-it trip rather than a stop-by.
Greenway Art Festival
Saturday, September 19 · 10:00 AM · Old Fort Park, 1025 Old Fort Pkwy, Murfreesboro · Check listing for pricing
Original work from local artists along the greenway at Old Fort Park, plus live entertainment and food trucks. Ten to four. Old Fort has real parking and real shade, which is more than most art festivals can say in September.
Hike with Jane: Fall Wildflowers
Saturday, September 19 · 10:00 AM · Wilderness Station, 401 Volunteer Rd, Murfreesboro · Check listing for pricing
A Tennessee State Naturalist walks you through the fall wildflowers and the native garden. No registration necessary, which is rare enough to be worth saying twice.
Ladies' Night Out (side): Stones River Kayaking
Saturday, September 19 · 10:00 AM · Wilderness Station, 401 Volunteer Rd, Murfreesboro · $15
Guided paddle on the Stones River, meet at the launch, back by noon. Ages 16 and up, fifteen dollars, and you register through the Wilderness Station rather than showing up.
History After Dark: Behind the Ropes Tours
Saturday, September 19 · 6:00 PM · Sam Davis Home and Museum, 1399 Sam Davis Rd, Smyrna · Check listing for pricing
The curator takes you through the Davis home and the farm buildings after closing, including rooms that are roped off during the day and objects that never come out for the regular tour.
Classic Car Cruise-In
Sunday, September 20 · 1:00 PM · Cedar Glade Brews, 906 Ridgely Rd, Murfreesboro · Check listing for pricing
One to three thirty at the brewery. The listing says every car that shows gets three dollars off the first pint, and it also says the event is, and I am quoting, somewhat rain or shine. Check their socials Sunday morning.
Williamson County: Franklin, Brentwood and Leiper's Fork
Franklin has the deepest bench this weekend, and four of the seven are free.
Farm Market Fridays at the Davis General
Friday, September 18 · 11:00 AM · The Davis General, 1005 Flagpole Ct, Brentwood · Free
Eleven to two. Short window, so it is a lunch-hour stop rather than an afternoon.
Craft Continuum
Friday, September 18 to Sunday, September 20 · Williamson County Archives and Museum, 611 W Main St, Franklin · Free
Listed as all day, all three days, and free. Worth pairing with anything else you are doing on West Main.
Franklin Light Opera Presents Fiddler on the Roof
Friday, September 18 to Saturday, September 19 · 2:00 PM · Williamson County Performing Arts Center at Academy Park, 112 Everbright Avenue, Franklin · Check listing for pricing
Matinees at 2 and evening shows at 8 on both Friday and Saturday. Community theater at Academy Park, and the listing does not post a ticket price, so go through the box office.
Forever Abbey Road
Friday, September 18 · 8:00 PM · The Franklin Theatre, 419 Main St, Franklin · $50.00
Beatles tribute at the Franklin Theatre, 8 to 9:30. Fifty a ticket. The Franklin Theatre sells out more often than people expect for a Friday, and Main Street parking on a show night is a circle-the-block situation, so get there early and make dinner part of the plan.
Factory Farmers Market at the Factory at Franklin
Saturday, September 19 · 8:00 AM · The Factory at Franklin, 230 Franklin Road, Franklin · Free
Eight to noon. Go at eight, not at eleven. By eleven the good produce is gone and the parking lot is full.
Lotz House Ghost Tour
Saturday, September 19 · 6:00 PM · Lotz House, 1111 Columbia Avenue, Franklin · $30
Thirty dollars, six to seven thirty. The Lotz House sat in the middle of the Battle of Franklin and the house still carries the damage, so the history holds up even if the ghost part is not your thing.
Leipers Fork Farmstand Crawl
Sunday, September 20 · 12:00 PM · Leiper's Fork farmstands · Free
Noon to five, self-guided, free. The listing does not name the individual stops, so follow the Visit Franklin link for the route before you drive out. Leiper's Fork on a fall Sunday is one of the better arguments for living in Williamson County, and if the drive out there has you running numbers, I put the Lebanon rent-versus-buy math on paper a while back for the people who end up comparing the two.
Details can change, dates get moved and events get cancelled. I link every event to its source so you can confirm before you drive out.
That is the weekend. If any of it made you think about being closer to it full time, that is the whole reason I do this roundup. I am at 615.427.5672, or you can reach me here.
Khristian Schlemmer is a REALTOR® and the founder of First Class Real Estate in Lebanon, Tennessee. He lives and works in Wilson County and helps buyers, sellers, and folks relocating to Middle Tennessee find their footing here. Reach him at 615.427.5672 or khristian@nearnashvillehomes.com.
Brokerage: First Class Real Estate | Keller Williams
Event details are compiled from public listings and were accurate at the time of publication. Confirm with the organizer before making plans. First Class Real Estate is not affiliated with and does not endorse the events listed.
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