31 Things to Do in Middle Tennessee This Weekend: Sept 25-27, 2026
This weekend in Middle Tennessee (September 25 to 27, 2026), the biggest draws are Oktoberfest at Oaklands Mansion in Murfreesboro on Saturday, the Full Moon Pickin' Party at Percy Warner Park in Nashville on Friday, and Kacey Musgraves at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday. Thirty-one events span Wilson, Davidson, Rutherford, and Williamson counties, and several of them are free.
First real fall weekend of the year, and Lebanon is putting most of its weight behind Saturday. The Capitol has Ultimate Rewind that night and Cumberland University hosts the 14th Annual Harvest Heritage Celebration at the same time, so pick one. Everything else worth driving to is south and west: Oktoberfest at Oaklands, a lantern hike in the Warner Parks, and a free outdoor screening of Steel Magnolias in Brentwood.
Wilson County: Lebanon, Mt. Juliet and Watertown
Things to Do in Middle Tennessee
Quiet weekend at home, and all three Wilson events land in downtown Lebanon within about a mile of each other.
Live One For One Sneaker Gala Presented by The Bridge House
Friday, September 25 · 6:00 PM · Capitol Theatre, Lebanon · Check listing for pricing
The Bridge House benefit for kids in and aging out of foster care, with live music from The Swon Brothers and a live auction. This one is not a walk-up. The listing says spots are limited and reserved ahead of time through the organizer, so if it interests you, email them this week rather than showing up Friday.
14th Annual Harvest Heritage Celebration
Saturday, September 26 · 5:30 PM · Cumberland University, Lebanon · Check listing for pricing
Fourteen years in, and it still does not get the attention it deserves outside of Lebanon. Runs 5:30 to 8:00 on the Cumberland campus. The flyer points to tickets, so buy before Saturday.
Ultimate Rewind Concert
Saturday, September 26 · Capitol Theatre, Lebanon · Check listing for pricing
The Capitol only has one show on the calendar this month and this is it. The card does not list a start time or a price, which means you need to click through before you make plans around it. Worth doing anyway. A show on the square beats driving to Nashville and paying to park.
A lot of people find Wilson County exactly this way. They come out for a weekend, walk the square, and start wondering what it would cost to live here. If that is you, I am happy to walk you through it with no pressure. Reach out anytime.
Davidson County: NashvilleThings to Do in Middle Tennessee
Metro Parks is having a better weekend than Broadway is, and two of the three best things in Nashville this weekend are happening in the woods after dark.
Full Moon Pickin' Party
Friday, September 25 · 6:00 PM · Percy Warner Park Equestrian Center, Nashville · Check listing for pricing
If you only do one Nashville thing this weekend, do this one. Local pickers playing together in the open at the equestrian center, food trucks, dogs everywhere, and a full moon over the Warner Parks. All ages. Tickets go through warnerparks.org, not at the gate, so handle that before Friday.
Yelawolf & Highly Suspect
Friday, September 25 · 7:00 PM · Ascend Federal Credit Union Amphitheater, Nashville · Check listing for pricing
Yelawolf and Highly Suspect share the bill outdoors on the riverfront, with Passengers Unknown opening. It is the only concert on the Ascend calendar all week.
Ask a Master Gardener
Saturday, September 26 · 10:00 AM · Warner Park Nature Center, Nashville · Check listing for pricing
Drop in between 10 and noon with whatever your yard is doing wrong and the UT Extension Master Gardeners of Davidson County will tell you why. No registration, all ages. I have sent more than one client here after a home inspection turned up a drainage problem.
Curious Naturalist
Saturday, September 26 · 10:00 AM · Warner Park Nature Center, Nashville · Check listing for pricing
Same window as the gardeners, same building. A naturalist works through whatever the kids want to look at that day. All ages, no registration, easy to fold into a Saturday morning.
Fall for Photography Hike
Saturday, September 26 · 1:00 PM · Beaman Park Nature Center, Nashville · Check listing for pricing
Ninety minutes with a camera at Beaman Park. Listed as adults welcome.
Full Corn Moon Hike
Saturday, September 26 · 6:30 PM · Beaman Park Nature Center, Nashville · Check listing for pricing
Beaman Park after sunset under the full corn moon. Listed for ages 8 and over, which is the right call given the terrain out there.
Lantern Hike at the Burch Reserve
Saturday, September 26 · 7:00 PM · Burch Reserve, Warner Parks, Nashville · Check listing for pricing
Two miles through the Burch with nothing but lanterns. This is the most interesting thing on the Metro Parks calendar this month and it is also the most restricted: ages 13 and up, and you have to email to register. Do not just show up.
Kacey Musgraves: Middle of Nowhere Tour
Sunday, September 27 · 7:30 PM · Bridgestone Arena, Nashville · Check listing for pricing
First of two Bridgestone nights, with Flatland Cavalry opening. Sunday arena show downtown, so budget for parking or ride in. If the condo towers you pass on the way in have ever crossed your mind, the loan rules for buying one in Nashville changed this summer.
Rutherford County: Murfreesboro, Smyrna and La Vergne
Murfreesboro has the deepest weekend of the four counties by a wide margin, and Saturday is stacked from 8 in the morning straight through dinner.
Turtle Talk
Friday, September 25 · 3:00 PM · Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, Murfreesboro · Check listing for pricing
An hour with the turtles at the Discovery Center. Short, indoors, and a reasonable landing spot after school pickup.
Smyrna Depot District Car Show
Friday, September 25 · 6:00 PM · Depot District, Smyrna · Check listing for pricing
Cars in the Depot District from 6 to 8:30. Smyrna has gotten a lot better at this kind of thing in the last few years.
Friday Night Live: Mixtape 80's Tribute Band
Friday, September 25 · 6:30 PM · Murfreesboro Public Square, Murfreesboro · Free
Best free thing happening in Middle Tennessee on Friday. Main Street Murfreesboro runs this on the Public Square every Friday through early fall, and this week it is Mixtape doing 80s covers. Bring a chair. The square fills in around the stage and the good spots are the ones in the shade of the courthouse.
Murfreesboro's National Public Lands Day
Saturday, September 26 · 8:30 AM · Stones River National Battlefield, Murfreesboro · Check listing for pricing
Public Lands Day at Stones River, 8:30 to 11:30. If you have never walked the battlefield, this is a better introduction than doing it cold on your own.
Tennessee Hippie Festival
Saturday, September 26 · 10:00 AM · Hop Springs Beer Park, Murfreesboro · Check listing for pricing
Daytime festival at Hop Springs, 10 to 4. Hop Springs went quiet for a stretch and it is good to see the calendar filling back in out there.
Puppy Plunge at Boro Beach
Saturday, September 26 · 10:00 AM · Boro Beach, Murfreesboro · Check listing for pricing
Boro Beach turns the pool over to the dogs for three hours before it closes for the season. Towels in the car.
Hispanic Heritage Day
Saturday, September 26 · Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, Murfreesboro · Check listing for pricing
All-day Hispanic Heritage programming at the Discovery Center. No posted start time, so treat it as a come-when-you-can Saturday.
12th Annual Oktoberfest at Oaklands Mansion
Saturday, September 26 · 4:00 PM · Oaklands Mansion, Murfreesboro · $55 craft beer, $25 designated driver, free under 16
The headline event of the weekend. Twelfth year on the Oaklands lawn, 4 to 8, regional brewers, food and music. Read the ticket tiers before you buy: fifty-five dollars covers craft beer for 21 and up, twenty-five is the designated driver rate for 17 and up, and kids under 16 get in free. Buy in advance.
Matt Lund Faculty Guitar Concert
Saturday, September 26 · 6:00 PM · T. Earl Hinton Music Hall, Murfreesboro · Check listing for pricing
An hour of guitar in Hinton Hall on the MTSU campus. Faculty recitals are one of the quietly great things about living near a university and almost nobody outside of Murfreesboro knows they happen.
Stories of Service and Sacrifice
Sunday, September 27 · 1:00 PM · Stones River National Battlefield, Murfreesboro · Check listing for pricing
Ranger program at the battlefield, one hour, early Sunday afternoon. Pairs well with Saturday's Public Lands Day if you want to make a weekend of it.
Williamson County: Franklin, Brentwood and Nolensville
Franklin is running markets all weekend and Brentwood has the single best free event in the four counties on Friday night.
Craft Continuum
Friday, September 25 to Sunday, September 27 · Williamson County Archives and Museum, Franklin · Free
Craft exhibition at the Archives and Museum, open all three days, no charge. The kind of thing you stop into for twenty minutes on the way to somewhere else.
Farm Market Fridays at the Davis General
Friday, September 25 · 11:00 AM · The Davis General, Brentwood · Free
Midday farm market at the Davis General, 11 to 2. Same address as the movie that night, which is not an accident.
Franklin's Factory Historic Walking Tour
Friday, September 25 · 11:00 AM · The Factory at Franklin, Franklin · $12
Twelve dollars and one hour for the history of the building most people only know as a place to eat. I send relocation clients on this one constantly. It explains more about how Franklin thinks about itself than any brochure will.
Music City Sports Card and Autograph Show
Friday, September 25 to Sunday, September 27 · 4:00 PM Friday · Williamson County Ag Expo Park, Franklin · Check listing for pricing
Cal Ripken Jr., Johnny Bench, and Ozzie Smith at the Ag Expo Park for three days. Doors Friday at 4. Autograph pricing is not posted on the listing, so check before you load up the collection.
Love The One You're With: The Music of Sunset Blvd in the Sixties
Friday, September 25 · 7:00 PM · Williamson County Performing Arts Center, Franklin · $27.50 to $30
Sixties revue at the PAC on Everbright, 7 to 9. Under thirty dollars for a full show is a good night out by Williamson County standards.
Movie in the Park: Steel Magnolias
Friday, September 25 · 7:00 PM · Bicentennial Park, Brentwood · Free (food available for purchase)
Brentwood is doing Steel Magnolias outdoors at Bicentennial Park as a Dolly tribute. Dolly-inspired activities start at 7 and the movie runs at dusk, so the 7:00 time is the warmup, not the film. This is my pick of the whole weekend if you want something that costs nothing and still feels like an occasion. Chairs, blankets, and a jacket. Late September nights out here turn faster than people expect.
Factory Farmers Market at The Factory at Franklin
Saturday, September 26 · 8:00 AM · The Factory at Franklin, Franklin · Free
Year-round Saturday market at The Factory, 8 to noon. Go early if you want produce and not just coffee.
Lotz House Ghost Tour
Saturday, September 26 · 6:00 PM · Lotz House, Franklin · $30
Ghost tour of the Lotz House on Columbia Avenue, ninety minutes, thirty dollars. These sell out through October, so Saturday the 26th is about as easy as it gets before the Halloween crush.
Field & Folk Seasonal Market Series
Sunday, September 27 · 11:00 AM · Southall Farm and Inn, Franklin · $20
Twenty dollars to get onto the Southall property for their seasonal market, 11 to 3. The market is the cheapest excuse anyone has to see that place.
Hope Wins
Sunday, September 27 · 7:00 PM · The Franklin Theatre, Franklin · Free
Free Sunday evening program at the Franklin Theatre on Main Street, 7 to 9. Free and the Franklin Theatre in the same sentence does not happen often.
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.
I post one of these every week because I think the best argument for living in Middle Tennessee is just showing people what a normal weekend looks like. If you want to make it your normal weekend, I can help.
If this is the weekend you drive out to look around, Lebanon is the one I would start with, and I ran the rent-versus-buy numbers for Lebanon earlier this year if you want the actual cost of being here rather than the pitch.
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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