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Downtown Franklin’s 30th annual Main Street Festival is April 27-28, featuring more than 200 artisans & crafters, two stages, two carnivals and a couple dozen food trucks to round out a full weekend of fun on one of America’s favorite Main Streets.
Hours for the free street festival are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, with the Fourth Avenue Street Dance continuing until 10 p.m., and all activities re-opening noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. The area of the festival is Main Street from First Avenue to Fifth Avenue, and including portions of Third and Fourth Avenues with a carnival on First Avenue South on what is known locally as the silo property.
Presented by First Tennessee and produced by the Heritage Foundation of Franklin and Williamson County and the Downtown Franklin Association, the weekend event is expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors.
To help manage traffic, a shuttle service offered by the Franklin Transit Authority, with free parking at Harlinsdale Park on Franklin Road and at The People’s Church on Murfreesboro Road. Shuttle rides to the event are $1 for adults and 50 cents for children and seniors. Both sites will operate on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.; only the Harlinsdale site will operate on Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
In addition to presenting sponsor First Tennessee, major sponsors include Mars Petcare, Pedigree, Williamson Medical Center, Johnsonville Sausage, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Publix Super Markets, The Grove, and The City of Franklin, with supporting sponsors Fox 17, Clear Channel Radio, The Tennessean/Williamson A.M., Schroeder Chiropractic, Summerwinds Resorts, Wyndham Resorts and FranklinIs.
Handmade work to be exhibited includes original oil and watercolor paintings, pottery, jewelry, furniture, woodworking, ornamental iron, stained glass, photography, home and garden accents, birdhouses, leatherwork, and much more.
In addition to a juried arts and crafts show with more than 200 entries, the festival offers a special area of children’s activities on Third Avenue North between the Public Square and Bridge Street.
There will also be a full-scale, traditional carnival at First Avenue South, relocated this year due to construction. The carnival opens earlier than the festival on Thursday and goes through Sunday.
Carnival hours are 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, April 25-28.. Thursday nights and all day Sunday are “wristband” days at the carnival, during which a $20 wristband offers unlimited access to the rides.
Entertainment Schedule:
Saturday, April 27
First Tennessee/City Hall Stage
9:50 a.m. Ribbon Cutting
10:00 a.m. Ann Carroll School of Dance
11:15 p.m. Columbia State’s Commercial Entertainment Program Performers
11:30 p.m. In Motion Dance Company
12:30 p.m. Scott Ellis School of Dance
1:15 p.m. Tommy Jackson’s “Rocky Top Revue”
2:15 p.m. Marty Crum’s Bluegrass Allstars
3:30 p.m. All That Dance
5:00 p.m. Leiper’s Fork Bluegrass
Fourth Avenue North Stage
10 a.m. O’Brien School of Irish Dance
11 a.m. Franklin School of Performing Arts
11:30 a.m. Moore Elementary “Eagle Jump Force” Jump Rope Team
Noon Oak View Jump Rope Team
12:45 p.m. The Bluegrass Drifters
2:15 p.m. Tim Charron Band
3:30 p.m. Jason Lee McKinney Band
4:40 p.m. HanaLena
6 p.m. Eric Heatherly
7:20 p.m. Alanna Royale
8:45 p.m. DNA
Beer/Wine Tent
11 a.m. – 10 p.m. D.J. Entertainment
Sunday, April 28
First Tennessee Stage
12:15 p.m. Trademark
1:15 p.m. Praise Pickers
2:15 p.m. Centennial High School Show Choir
3:15 p.m. Williamson County “Jazz Rock Youth Group”
4:30 p.m. Tommy Jackson’s “Rocky Top Revue”
4th Avenue North Stage
12:30 p.m. Annabelle’s Curse
2:30 p.m. Candi Carpenter
4:30 p.m. 2Country4Nashville
Beer/Wine Tent
Noon – 6 p.m. D.J. Entertainment
The Main Street Festival is produced by The Heritage Foundation of Franklin and Williamson County and it division, the Downtown Franklin Association. Proceeds from the event are used to fulfill the mission of the organization, which is to protect and preserve the architectural, geographic and cultural heritage of Franklin and Williamson County and to promote the ongoing economic revitalization of downtown Franklin in the context of historic preservation.
The Main Street Festival is located in Historic Downtown Franklin, Tenn., exit No. 65 from I-65, three miles west to the Public Square.
For more information, see www.historicfranklin.com or call 615-591-8500.