Nashville Family Fun Guide to Fall
Pumpkin Farms, Corn Mazes, Festivals, and More
The Ultimate Nashville Fall Fun List will help you navigate this busy season in Middle Tennessee. With so many events crammed onto our Nashville calendar, it can be difficult to decide where to go each weekend. So use this list to make some plans for family fun this fall.
No matter the season, I’m always on the lookout for free fun in Nashville and Middle Tennessee. The fall season is PACKED with festivals, concerts, and other events that you can take your whole family to for free! Save your money to spend on pumpkin candles, pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice lattes and Halloween costumes while still having tons of free fall fun!
Fall Activities
It still feels like summer, but Autumn is approaching despite the weather’s failure to cooperate. So, grab your calendar and your pumpkin spice latte and make some plans for a fantastic fall!
For the first time in 15 years, Gaylord Opryland is celebrating Halloween. The new Goblins and Giggles celebration is happening September 11 through October 31, 2020 with spooky fun for all ages.
Fall is definitely the best season in the Nashville area. The heat and humidity have finally disappeared and the fall foliage is spectacular. It’s a great time to enjoy some outdoor family fun before winter sends us all inside for a while. So, plan a day out and enjoy some fall family fun in Nashville!
Plan a date night or a family outing to a fall theatre production this season. Nashville is home to lots of talented people. And that means our local community theatre groups are continually presenting high quality productions.
Live theater can be a great way to spice up your family fun calendar. Here's a list of shows scheduled this fall. Make plans now and buy your tickets in advance.
Summer may be coming to an end but the movie fun keeps going. There are lots of fall movies scheduled this season in Nashville and Middle Tennessee. Find a Movie in the Park event for Autumn evenings or a traditional indoor movie for days when the weather doesn’t cooperate.
Fall is a short few weeks away and there are fun special events happening through December. Here's a list of deals and discounts for 2019 fall activities, shows, and sporting events coming soon to Nashville. Plan ahead and save some cash!
September is just a strange month, isn’t it? The kids have been ‘back to school’ for a month in our county. Fall Break is still another month away. The pools and splash pads are closing for the summer but it will still be warm enough to hit the lake for for a few more weeks (or months!)
As usual, our weather will be unpredictable. We may suffer in sweltering heat and humidity or start to feel the first welcome chill of fall. And who are we kidding? We’re likely to experience both of those! Make saying goodbye to summer fun a little easier by investigating the opportunities that the fall season brings in Nashville.
Starting Labor Day weekend, the busy event season in Nashville begins. Some weekends this month are PACKED with fun! Use this list of September events to make the your family fun plans for the whole month.
As soon as Labor Day rolls around, Nashville and Middle Tennessee gear up for September fall festivals. Sometimes the weather cooperates and we get a few crisp days to enjoy these outdoor events but, more often than not, it’s still summertime humidity and temperatures. Either way, make plans to enjoy some fall fun at a festival this September.
October is the most AWESOME month in Tennessee! It’s pumpkin time, it’s corn maze time, it’s football time, it’s fall break time (my fave!).
October is filled with special events, festivals and Halloween fun. Use this list of events to make your October plans in advance.
Celebrate fall and (hopefully!) cooler temperatures at a festival this October. Food, music and family fun are the highlights of most of these events.
So, make plans to enjoy this season with your family before the hustle and bustle of the holiday season begins.
Pumpkin Patches and More
Take the family out to visit a Pumpkin Farm and Corn Maze this year. There are farms all over Middle Tennessee. There is sure to be one near you. There are even enough farms around to visit a different one every weekend in September and October. There are also some great discounts to be had and we will be adding more as we find them to our list of deals.
There are TONS of pumpkin farms in Middle Tennessee and each one is a little different. Most open the middle of September and close right after Halloween. That gives you six weekends so you can visit at least 12 different pumpkin patches.
Celebrate Fall with a visit to one of the many Pumpkin Farms in the area! There are also lots of Haunted Attractions opening for Halloween. With so many options you could go to a different farm and attraction every weekend which can add up.
Here’s a list of all the discounts and coupons I could find to help stretch your budget for some fall fun.
Lucky Ladd Farms, located south of Nashville in Eagleville, TN, provides three seasons of educational agricultural fun. The 60 acre farmstead opened to the public in 2008 and continues to add activities and experiences every year.
Fall Break
Fall Break is a great time to explore with your family. Go to the beach and avoid the crowds during the off season. Or stay home and check out all the attractions you have not visited in Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
It’s that time of year again. Fall Break – that glorious mini vacation from school in October. Maybe your break is three days. Maybe it’s two weeks. Or perhaps you have a full time job and only have a few fall weekends available for fun. No matter your circumstance, here’s a few ideas.
If a school break is approaching fast, why not plan a staycation? Here are three 5 day plans aimed at preschoolers, elementary students and teens. We all know and love Adventure Science Center as well as the Nashville Zoo but sometimes its fun to do something different. Hopefully, we can give you some great ideas!
Are your kids running circles in your house? But it’s too hot or cold or raining? Take them to one of Nashville’s indoor playgrounds! We found places for all ages all over Middle Tennessee.
Nashville and Davidson County are home to a lot of playgrounds. Inclusion on this list only means that some sort of play space exists in the named park. It might be a huge play area or it could be a lone swing set.
If we have visited the park, you can find our review with pictures at the link. Eventually, we will get to all these parks and be able to tell and show you exactly what you can expect. Until then, pick a new place and see what you find. It might end up being your kid’s favorite place!
Middle Tennessee is home to lots of playgrounds. Inclusion on this list only means that some sort of play space exists in the named park. It might be a huge play area or it could be a lone swing set. If we have visited the park, you can find our review with pictures at the link.
Eventually, we will get to all these parks and be able to tell and show you exactly what you can expect. Visit the town next to yours and try a new playground. You may end up finding a favorite!
Whether you are training for a marathon or just looking for a nice place to take a leisurely walk with the family, Middle Tennessee offers lots of greenways and walking trails perfect for training or taking a stroll.
Middle Tennessee is home to a large variety of lakes. Ready to fish, swim, canoe or kayak? Or maybe you are just longing to have a picnic with a view? Either way you are sure to find the perfect place in our area. So grab your sunscreen, cooler and the family and head out for some fun on one of Middle Tennessee’s lakes!
Take your visit to near by National Parks or Tennessee State Parks to the next level by becoming a Junior Ranger. The National Park program is offered in most parks following the motto “Explore, Learn and Protect!”.
Kids complete a set of activities and then share their new found knowledge with a Park Ranger and earn a certificate and an official Junior Ranger patch. The Tennessee State Park program is similar.
Halloween
Love Halloween and all things spooky? You can celebrate all month! Live in a neighborhood with no sidewalks that is not trick or treat friendly? We have lots of ideas of places to wear your costume and trick or treat.
If your kids are anything like ours, trick or treating is their favorite Halloween activity. Halloween is on a Thursday this year so get a plan in place before the big day so you can finish your trick or treating and still make a reasonable bedtime!
Trunk or Treat events in Middle Tennessee are a fun part of the Halloween season. These events are generally hosted by churches or other community groups but they are open to the public and almost always free to attend.
The fall season is packed with Halloween festivals and special fun events in Nashville and Middle Tennessee. Many of these events include trick or treating so check the details before you head out and make sure you are costume ready! Don’t forget your bucket, plastic pumpkin or pillowcase to haul that candy.
It’s Halloween in Middle Tennessee! And a big part of the holiday is haunted attractions and scary fun. While a lot of these places are not young kid family friendly they can be fun for older kids and adults.
Each business was called and asked to rate their attraction based on the movie scale (PG, PG-13, R). You know your kids and what is appropriate for your family so this is just to give you an idea of the level of gore and fright.
It’s the season for some scary fun. Here’s a list of Ghost Tours offered in our area this year.
Some of these tours are heavy on history. Some focus on entertaining the participants. Not all of these tours are family friendly so contact the tour directly if you have any questions regarding whether it is age appropriate for your child.
Did your family go to lots of Halloween festivals, trunk or treats plus trick or treating in your neighborhood? There was so much Halloween fun to enjoy in Nashville it was hard to stay away. But, now what do you do with the 20 pounds of candy your kids collected? Use it as an opportunity to give back! There are dentists all over the area that are participating in Halloween Candy Buybacks.
A Taste of Fall
Apples, Pumpkins, Squash, Corn and more are available fresh from farms and farmers throughout Middle Tennessee. Visit a Farmers’ Market or take your family and pick apples. Then come home and create something fun in your kitchen.
Apple Pie, Apple Sauce, Apple Butter, Apple Cider….. The list goes on and on. Now, you just need to go out and pick some apples for all these fall treats. There are several orchards in Middle Tennessee you can visit with your family.
Fall brings fresh produce to Nashville and the arrival of weekly Farmers Markets all over Nashville and Middle Tennessee. Find a market near you and try something new for dinner.