Ten Family Things to Do Around Nashville This Week
School is back, the evenings are still long, and nobody in this house has the energy for anything complicated. Here are ten things you can actually do with kids around Nashville between Thursday and next Wednesday — a fair, a ballpark homestand, a read-aloud, and a handful of places that are free every single week and easy to forget about.
1. The state fair opens Thursday in Lebanon
Ten days of livestock barns, motorsports, six stages of music and more than sixty rides start Thursday at the James E. Ward Agricultural Center. Admission runs $5 to $14 depending on age, and children five and under get in free. Gates open at 4 p.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m. Saturday and noon Sunday. It is a half-hour out I-40 and worth the drive — go on a weeknight if you want the midway without the crowd.
Wilson County Fair – Tennessee State Fair →
2. Sounds homestand, Thursday through Sunday
Four straight nights against Indianapolis at First Horizon Park. First pitch is 6:35 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, then 6:05 p.m. Sunday. Minor-league baseball remains the single most forgiving outing for a family with small kids — nobody minds if you walk the concourse for three innings.
Thursday · Friday · Saturday · Sunday
3. Timeless Tales read-aloud in Franklin, Friday morning
A children's read-aloud at 9 a.m. Friday in Franklin — the kind of low-key, sit-on-the-rug hour that works beautifully for preschoolers and gets you out of the house before the heat sets in.
Timeless Tales Children's Read-Aloud →
4. Opry 100 nights at the Opry House
The Opry's centennial run continues with 7 p.m. shows Friday, Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It is a genuinely all-ages room, the show is broken into short segments, and an older kid who has never sat through live country music tends to leave a convert.
Friday · Saturday · Tuesday · Wednesday
5. Centennial Park and the Parthenon grounds
Free, shaded, and about a mile around if you let the kids set the pace. The Parthenon grounds and the lake loop cost nothing; only the museum inside is ticketed. Late August is exactly when the big trees earn their keep.
6. Warner Parks and the nature center
Percy and Edwin Warner give you deep-shade trails and a creek that is perfect for wading on a 93-degree afternoon. The nature center is free but keeps limited days — check current hours before you build the trip around it.
7. Bicentennial Capitol Mall and the farmers' market
Let them run the length of the memorial fountains, then walk over to the market and build a picnic out of whatever looks good. Both the park and market entry are free, which makes this a reliable rainy-plan-B too.
8. Main Library downtown
Story times, the children's floor and the marionette theater make the Main Library one of the best free afternoons in the city, particularly in August. Programs rotate week to week, so check the current schedule before you go.
9. Dragon Park in Hillsboro Village
Fannie Mae Dees Park — everyone calls it Dragon Park — has the mosaic sea dragon kids climb for an hour without being asked twice, plus enough shade to make it bearable. Pair it with an ice cream walk through the village and you have filled an entire afternoon for the price of a cone.
10. Cumberland Park on the East Bank
Riverfront play with the downtown skyline right there: climbing structures, the sprayground in the warm months, and room to run. It is free, and the walk out onto the pedestrian bridge is half the appeal. Sprayground hours shift with the season, so confirm before you promise anyone water.
Dates and times change. Confirm with the organizer before you load the car.
