Kick Off 2024 in Nashville with a Super-Fun January
These are the must-hit festivals, openings, concerts, events, and general happenings to check out in Nashville.
Nashville is bursting with talent. With a name like Music City USA, there’s no doubt about the quality of the city’s concert venues and the talent they host. Hell, even the local dive bars are filled with talented locals who can bust out a karaoke hit with no warning at all. But Nashville’s claim-to-fame doesn’t end with music. Check out the city’s equally-impressive breweries, thrift shops, coffee spots and indie bookstores to get a sense of all that the city has to offer.
The culinary scene in Nashville is equally outrageous, including must-get bites before visitors even leave the airport. The city’s most famous dish, Nashville hot chicken, is just a starting point, because the city has fantastic barbecue, burgers, pizza, biscuits, and even some pretty respectable seafood for a landlocked state. Whether you’re looking for a quintessential Nashville dining experience or the hottest restaurants new and old, you’re in luck.
And when it’s time to get out and about, Nashville has a plethora of options: go to a museum, have a drink on a rooftop, take a dip in a lake, bust out of an escape room. Or you could just check out our January 2024 calendar for a little inspiration. Whatever you’re in the mood for, Nashville has you covered.
Food & Drink Events in Nashville
Saturday, January 6
Wedgewood-Houston, Free
Whether you’re making a resolution for a healthier 2024 or maybe just committing to a “Dry January” attempt, Killjoy Booze-free Beverage Shop is there to help out. Stocking a wide variety of non-alcoholic drinks that are more interesting than seltzers and juices, Killjoy will showcase a dozen core vendors at this market event where customers can learn about the products and strategies to embark on a successful sober journey.
Saturday, January 20
Woodbine, $45
Despite the name, this is not a class for people who want to learn how to make beer at home, but rather those who want to up their personal coffee game. Hosted by beloved local coffeehouse chain 8th & Roast at their Roastery/Training Lab, the class will cover topics like coffee origins/processing, home brewing and equipment essentials, recipes and ratios, extraction techniques, and how to decipher the label on a bag of coffee. Your price of admission includes a pound of 8th & Roast coffee to get you started on your home barista career.
Festivals in Nashville
Saturday, January 6
Hermitage, $30
The current caretakers of President Andrew Jackson’s former home at the Hermitage invite the public in for a re-creation of Old Hickory’s legendary 1835 holiday soiree at the White House. They will host family games including an artificial snowball fight followed by cocktails or mocktails and a yule log ceremony.
Saturday, January 13
Smyrna, $10
If your plans for self-improvement in the new year include eating healthier, the Hilton Garden Inn in Smyrna will be a great place to kick-start your intentions. Local businesses that specialize in “clean food” will be on hand to offer samples and discounts on their products, and everyone will go home with a goodie bag filled with healthy swag.
Arts & Entertainment Events in Nashville
Through Friday, January 19
SoBro, Free
Hatch Show Print is an acknowledged master in the art of letterpress design and printing, and they have invited more than 60 of their favorite fellow printmakers from across the country to display artwork in the gallery that adjoins Hatch’s shop between the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Omni Nashville. The works run the gamut of printmaking techniques from letterpress to cyanotypes.
Saturday, January 6
SoBro, $29.95
Don Schlitz is a legend in the pantheon of Nashville songwriters, having written hits for Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Randy Travis, Alabama, the Judds, and many others. Ever heard of “The Gambler?” Yeah, that was his story. He’ll be appearing on stage to perform some of his hits and talk about the art of songwriting. As an added perk for residents of Davidson and adjacent counties, the Country Music Hall of Fame is offering a “pay-what-you-want” admission rate until the end of January, so feel free to bring the whole family.
Through Sunday, January 7
Downtown, $55 and up
This beloved retelling of the story of early 20th-century actress, singer and comedienne Fanny Brice made a star out of Barbra Streisand when she portrayed the lead on both stage and screen. An updated restaging of the classic show is touring around the country with a Broadway-worthy cast, and the star of the local production is already making waves for herself with her performance on the tour.
Friday, January 12 to Sunday, January 14
SoBro, $30
The longest-running event of its kind in the country, the Antiques and Garden Show returns to Nashville for the 34th time in 2024 bringing experts in antiques, art, and horticulture to educate at seminars along with more than 150 vendors selling everything you might need to make your house a home, or maybe even a manor. The big attraction this year will be the keynote speech by The Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten. Remember, if you can’t weave your own Persian rug, store bought is OK.
Thursday, January 18 and Friday, January 18
SoBro, $69 and up
The Grammy-winning Nashville Symphony Orchestra will provide a live soundtrack during two showings of the Johnny Depp favorite “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest” featuring a score by legendary composer Hans Zimmer.
Saturday, January 26 and Sunday, January 27
Downtown, $29.75 and up
Georgia-born Christian comedian John Crist shot to the top of the internet charts with his wry observations on Southern culture, earning him more than five million social media followers. He’ll perform two shows at a venue that seems to be at the perfect intersection of his favorite topics, because after all the Ryman is “The Mother Church of Country Music.”
Saturday, January 27
Wedgewood-Houston, $15
Sure, Shakespeare is great and all, but sometimes the whole experience of watching a play can get a little too serious. Nashville Shakespeare Festival looks to bring theatre back to the people with this special performance of The Bard’s classic history/tragedy “Richard III,” by performing it with actors still holding scripts in their hands as part of a stripped-down production that lands somewhere between a fully-staged production and a play reading. It’ll be a fascinating view into the process of staging great works of theater.
Live Music in Nashville
Saturday, January 6
Downtown, $39.50 and up
In a town full of pickers, banjo maestro Earl Scruggs is worshiped as a revolutionary force, actually inventing a new three-fingered style of playing that is named after him. On what would have been his 100th birthday, a group of some of Nashville’s most talented musicians will come together to honor Scruggs on the stage of the Ryman. Famed dobroist Jerry Douglas will serve as the musical director behind a constellation of bluegrass and country music stars including The Del McCoury Band, Alison Brown, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Tony Trischka, and many more.
Saturday, January 20
East Nashville, Free
The next generation of Nashville star musicians are currently practicing their chops as parts of bands at the local outpost of the School of Rock musical instruction center. Like the music recitals of old (but rocking so much harder,) some of these combos will show what they’ve been working on as they perform the music of Stevie Wonder at a free concert at The Cowan, the performance venue at TopGolf. Who knows? You might be able to say you saw a future rock star before they broke big.
Saturday, January 20
Pietown, Free
When the Queen herself has a birthday, everybody celebrates. Dolly Parton is treasured in this town, and Tennessee Brew Works is dedicating an entire day to honoring her legacy. In addition to their usual craft drafts, the bartenders will be serving special cocktails along with pink cupcakes and beer pairings. Live music will play all day with headliners Erin Hazelrig & the Dolly Parton Tribute Band taking the stage at 8 pm. Dig out your best rhinestone-bedazzled outfit and join in the fun.
Friday, January 26 through Sunday, January 28
Melrose, $28 and up
Talented impressionist and former SNL cast member Jay Pharoah is bringing his keen wit and multiple personalities to Zanies for a weekend of cutting-edge comedy. With two shows on Friday and Saturday and a single set on Sunday, that should give him plenty of time to roll out his dead-on Denzel and his out-of-this-world Obama.
Friday, January 26
Elliston Place, $40
Many of the stars of the ABC nighttime soap “Nashville” dabbled in the real world of country music during the show’s six-season run, but series co-lead Charles Esten stuck around to become a real part of the community by stepping up to help whenever a fundraising event needed a headliner, a charity race wanted someone to wave the starting flag, or a store needed someone to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony. All along, Esten has continued to perform original country music all over town, including several appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. He’ll have the stage to himself at the venerable Exit/In, and Nashville will have a chance to give back a little of the love he has shown his adopted hometown.
Saturday, January 27
West Nashville, $35 and up
The Botanical Gardens at Cheekwood are lovely when the flowers are in bloom and when they are lit up with thousands of holiday lights in the winter, but January and February are pretty drab months when it comes to floral finery. Cheekwood is filling that gap with a series of Winter Concerts in the elegant Massey Auditorium inside Botanic Hall featuring an international lineup of musical genres from Latin America to New Orleans. The series kicks off with the Big Band sound of The Ryan Middagh Jazz Orchestra complete with an 18-piece ensemble to run through some of the classics of the jazz canon.
Sporting Events in Nashville
Saturday, January 6 and Sunday, January 7
Downtown, $24 and up
With our hometown hockey club out of town for a week, it’s the perfect time to throw some dirt down over the ice and invite a bunch of the world’s bravest drivers to bring their 12,000-pound monster trucks to the Bridgestone Arena to see if they can tear some stuff up! Loosely billed as a competition of sorts, it’s really just a chance to watch these behemoths race around the dirt track while doing crazy stunts like backflips, catching big air, and enjoying the uniquely American pastimes of making loud noises and consuming fossil fuels.