Franklin Festival
Historic Downtown Franklin’s annual Pumpkinfest on Saturday, Oct. 27, features all-day, free entertainment throughout the five-block event on Main Street. From First Avenue to Fifth Avenue, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the streets will be rockin’.

In addition to 75 fall and holiday –themed arts and crafts booths, fall foods and spirits, and children’s activities, there are plenty of activities on the three stages that will keep you entertained.

And don’t forget: New to the lineup this year is the “Taste of the South” preview party on Friday evening to kick off the festival. A $25 ticket includes plenty of samples of Southern delights and batches of local brew from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. ON LINE TICKET SALES ARE CLOSED. TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE GATE (INTERSECTION OF 4TH & MAIN).

City Hall Stage on the Public Square

9:45 a.m.

  •  Opening Ceremony & Ribbon Cutting with “Heart of Dixie” Jazz Band

10 a.m.

  • Bravo Arts Little Mermaids

11 a.m.

  • O’Brien Irish Dance Academy

Noon

  • Prima Performance Studio

1 p.m.

  • Kristin Butke School of Irish Dance

2 p.m.

  • Franklin School of Performing Arts

2:45 p.m.

  • Columbia State Community College Pro Company Elite
    The Commercial Entertainment Program’s Pro Company Elite is a select group from the Franklin campus at Columbia State. The Commercial Entertainment Program trains talented singers, dancers and songwriters for a career in the Entertainment Industry. Joining Pro Company Elite will be company members from Ann Carroll School of Dance.

3 p.m. – 5 p.m.

  • Costume Contest for pets and four age categories.
    Check-in at festival headquarters throughout the day to enter. $1 entry fee charged. Sponsored by Franklin-area Sonic Restaurants.

5 p.m.

  • All That Dance

Stage at 5 Points & Main Street (in front of Starbuck’s)

10 a.m.

  • Heart of Dixie Dixieland Band

11:30 a.m.

  • Marty Crum’s Bluegrass Allstars

1 p.m.

  • HanaLena
    HanaLena is a highly talented and recognized acoustic band from Nashville, Tennessee.  Formed in 1996, they have been professionally touring for 5 years. They are skilled instrumentalists, singers, and are seasoned entertainers. Everywhere they perform they are a hit among people of all ages.  The six member acoustic band features two sisters-Hannah and Caroline Melby on fiddle and mandolin, an upright bass, guitar, banjo, and cajon (light percussion). The music of HanaLena is a blend of country, bluegrass, and pop for a progressive and popular sound for their audiences.

2:30 p.m.

  • Tommy Jackson’s Rocky Top Revue
    Tommy Jackson is a favorite Franklin festival performer and frequently appears on the Grand Ole Opry with his award-winning team of buckdancers.

4p.m. – 5:30p.m.

  • John England & The Western Swingers
    John England & the Western Swingers is a six-piece band based in Nashville which plays the lively, happy music called Western Swing. With fiddle, steel guitar, piano, electric guitar, bass, and drums, it’s music for dancing and listening, and combines the down-home quality of country music with the sophistication and improvisation of hot jazz.  The group has played their lively music at Nashville’s Robert’s Western World every Monday since July of 2001. The Swingers can also boast of appearances at New York’s Lincoln Center, the Grand Ole Opry, the Legends of Western Swing Festival, the “Midnight Jamboree”, and many concerts and private events in the mid-South area. The band has also been a featured part of the Rockette’s Christmas Show for 5 years.

4th Avenue South Taste of the South Tent

10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

  • D.J. Express
    Grab your festival food in the neighboring food court and spend some time in the Taste of the South Tent, where local brews will be sampled throughout. Try a locally brewed beer made from the local pumpkin patch. Until 3 p.m., we’ll be spinning your favorite records (digitally, of course). Free admission – must be 21 or over to purchase alcoholic beverages.

3 – 4 p.m.

  • Randy Moore
    Randy Moore of Humble, Texas has made music his trade for about 20 years.  A friend and co-writer with his musical mentor the late Carl Perkins (“Blue Suede Shoes”), Randy has opened concerts for Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Joan Jett, Hank Williams Jr., David Allen Coe, Amy Grant, Vince Gill…Okay, you get the picture. He makes good music.  Born just two city blocks from Sun Studios in Memphis and raised in the small Texas oil town of Humble must have planted the seeds of confusion. Blues boy or cowboy?   How could they live together? Without the trappings of ‘big city fun’ he had to make do with the radio, the rodeo and the talent show. “I knew, from the time I took second place in the seventh grade talent show that I wanted to play music for the rest of my life.” says the rockabilly guitarist. “I sang ‘Dead Skunk In The Middle Of the Road’.  A girl with a talking bird that could yell “GO WILDCATS!” won first place. When I made up to Nashville and got to be on The Grand Ole Opry with Mr. Roy Acuff I thought I’d made the right choice.” But his Memphis roots kept bleeding through his rural upbringing and pushed him headlong into the Delta blues. Don’t miss his show at the Pumpkinfest beer tent!

4:30p.m. – 6 p.m.

  • Boomerang
    It’s all about good times!  That’s the slogan of this exciting Sixties and Seventies band, and their loyal fans won’t disagree.  Boomerang is a high-energy group comprised of vocalists Frank Feinstein, Beverly Feinstein and Gay Dement; guitarist (and Williamson County resident) John Noreen; bassist Don Wirth; keyboard virtuoso Bob Stamps and drummer Doug Frame that proudly plays your favorites from rock’n roll’s golden era.  Their repertoire includes smash hits by British Invasion groups including the Beatles, the Animals, Motown classics by the Supremes, Martha & the Vandellas, Sam & Dave, Seventies smashes by Fleetwood Mac and Carole King, as well an inspired selection of one-hit wonders that’ll have you guessing Who did that one?  If you love Sixties and Seventies music, don’t miss Boomerang!