Nashville for Free

America. With puppets. And a Texan.

If there’s one time of the year in Nashville when you can expect a party, July 4th is it. Not only do we have an awesome fireworks display downtown, we have lots of other parties and celebrations scattered about the city.

Sunday

A Prelude to the Music City July 4th Celebration at Riverfront Park – 12pm-late-ish
If you’re the kind who likes to pre-game a party as much as possible, or if you just want to hear some good music, get some samples, win some stuff, and participate in some activities, then this event is for you. It’s sponsored by Dr. Pepper and Kroger and starts at noon. The activities run until 7pm and the music, featuring Port Chuck, Lighter Ray and The Dirty Guv’Nahs starts at 6pm.

Monday

Hot Chicken Festival in East Park – noon-5pm
If you’re one of the first 500 people in line at this heated festival you’ll get free hot chicken from Prince’s, 400 Degrees, Bolton’s, Pepperfire, and the chicken shack. Even if you miss the free bird you can still buy this local (and personal) favorite, listen to some sweet tunes, and have a great time in general. The Hot Chicken Festival has become a N4F tradition, so please join us!

Franklin on the 4th in downtown Franklin – 10am-10pm
Franklin sure does love having parties, and we at N4F love them for it. There will be a patriotic costumed Children’s Parade (3pm), free music and entertainment from 2 stages, a petting zoo, bungee jump, antique cars, a rock climbing wall, and more. Starting at 9pm there will be a fireworks display. The Franklin website recommends watching them from The Park at Harlinsdale Farm.

Brandon Jazz presents: 8 off 8th AMERICA STYLE at the Mercy Lounge – 9pm, 21+
If you want discounted beer, local music, a great place to watch the fireworks, AND the opportunity to register to vote check out the Mercy Lounge’s July 4th-themed 8 off 8th, brought to you by Brandon Jazz. Performers include Brandon Jazz & His Armed Forces, Bravo Max, Tesla Rossa, The Billy Goats, Dungeon Honey, Tex Rambunctious, and, of course, Uncle Sam.

Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4th at Riverfront Park – noon-10pm
It’s the biggest July 4th party in Nashville, and one of the biggest in the country. Over 100,000 people come to watch the July 4th fireworks in Nashville, and that’s because they’re pretty damn good, if I do say so myself (why wouldn’t I?). It’s so big they need two stages for the music! The music at the first stage starts at 12:30 and will feature performances by The Jompson Brothers, Ayla Brown, The Willis Clan, The Cleverlys and The Dirty Guv’Nahs. The Main Stage entertainment begins at 7:00pm with the Grammy-winning Nashville Symphony, Street Corner Symphony (finalists from ABC’s “The Sing-Off”) and Darius Rucker. Fireworks begin with the Nashville Symphony at approximately 9:30pm.

Now, I know not everyone watches the fireworks downtown. That would be insane. I’ve been known to watch them at the Belmont Parking Garage (cookies, music, and a great view), and something tells me Love Circle is quite the popular place to hang out on July 4th.

So tell me, where do you all go to see the July 4th fireworks?

-Emily

It’s no secret that I like my traditions. From everything to where I eat dinner on Tuesday to how I spend my holidays, I like to keep habits. Being fairly new to Nashville, I had to create new traditions, and it would seem the Hot Chicken Festival in East Nashville has become my first annual July 4th tradition in Nashville.

Even though my friends and I headed down the Hot Chicken Festival early last year, I was completely denied of any free chicken samples, but this year I got there 15 minutes until noon and got my magical blue ticket right away. It was unexpected an exciting. I suppose church kept a lot of people away until after noon.

All my friends know that I’m a big fan of Prince’s, but I decided to use my two free samples to try two new things, 400 Degrees and Bolton’s. I really liked Bolton’s for its flavor and its heat, but I wasn’t a huge fan of 400 degrees. It wasn’t the heat or flavor that I didn’t like, it was just something about the actual chicken, I couldn’t place it. It wasn’t bad by any means, but man was Bolton’s good.

The godsend of the festival is, without a doubt, the free watermelon from the Farmers’ Market. I’m embarrassed to admit that I was in a bad place after those samples. I must be a little out of practice in the hot foods category, but that watermelon cut that heat right away. Oh, the wonders of nature…

By then all the lines for the real hot chicken were incredibly long, so I decided to try the hot chicken pasta from Amerigo’s. It sounded amazing, alfredo sauce to help dull the hot chicken, but I got the feeling Amerigo’s didn’t quite understand hot chicken. First of all, the chicken wasn’t that hot, and it was more like a hot chicken wing you’d get at a bar than something you’d get at Prince’s. I did enjoy it, especially the pasta, but I couldn’t help but be disappointed.

Last year’s July 4th was a new experience for me. I’d never had hot chicken and I’d never spent July 4th away from my family. This year I couldn’t help but think about how nice traditions feel, even new ones. I can’t say for sure where I’ll be in a year; probably here, possibly elsewhere, but I know that if I’m within driving distance of Nashville I’ll find my way to the Hot Chicken Festival. After all, what’s July 4th without some heat?

-Emily

Not a Hot Chicken

Is there anything more American than getting free stuff? I know, I know, there’s free stuff all over the world, but Americans just take it to a whole new level. Buy one get one free, free samples, festivals every weekend, as Americans we just expect free entertainment and free stuff all the time. That’s why we’re called “the land of the free,” right? Oh, it’s not? Whatever.

In celebration of the American ethic of free I’ve put together a little list of all the ways you can celebrate America’s birthday. For free, of course.

Saturday July 3rd

Roland White in-store at Grimey’s – 5pm
Grimey’s says, “Bluegrass legend and Kentucky Colonel Roland White just had his classic 1976 release I Wasn’t Born To Rock ‘n Roll reissued and he’s playing some shows to celebrate including this free in-store performance.  Don’t miss.” We won’t. Also, that’s beer:30, dudes.

4th Annual Southern Middle TN Tractor Ride at Shady Grove Community Center – 9am
The ride starts at 9am, but doors are at 6am and registration starts at 8am. Tractor pull woo.

First Saturday Art Crawl – 6-9pm
It’s like Art After Hours, but on Saturday. I’ve always had a lot of fun at this one.

Art:pm: Red, White, Blue at the Factory in Franklin – 10am-7pm
This is the event desciption: This July the artists of the row explore art around the theme “Red, White, Blue”. The artists are sure to push the envelop of each of those colors as they create art which represents their personal style using a limited palette.

Sunday July 4th

Hot Chicken Festival in East Park – noon-5pm
This is how I started my July 4th last year, and I’m going to do it again this year. Hot chicken is one of Nashville’s most famous dishes, though it’s not one that everyone can handle. I’ve seen people at Prince’s hitting the table, apparently to tap out and surrender, but there’s not surrendering to hot chicken. It takes no prisoners.

The annual Hot Chicken Festival attracts a huge crowd every year. First-timers and life-longers gather together in celebration of hot chicken and America. All the favorites will be there, including Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack, The Chicken Shack and Bolton’s Spicy Chicken & Fish. There will even be some new contenders, including a hot chicken pasta from Amerigo’s.

As you would guess, if you want to eat chicken you have to pay for it unless you’re one of the first 500 people, which will get you two good sized samples from different vendors. The thing is, you have to get there early. I thought that I left myself some good time last year to get in line, but I wasn’t event close to getting any free food. There will also be live music, but that will probably not be nearly as good as the actual chicken.

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I’m sad to say that I didn’t get myself out to do very many of those free events that I had written about. Bad weather and the offer to grill with some good friends kept me from going downtown in the afternoon and evening, but this morning I dragged myself and a few of my roommates down to East Park to eat some of that hot chicken.

My roommates (Dan and Alex) and I got to East Park around 11am when things were starting, and it was already clear that we were NOT going to score any of that free chicken. The line stretched from the entrance to the festival all the way to the park center.

Not happening

After about five minutes in that line we walked into the festival and got into another long line, this one for Prince’s Hot Chicken. While we waited we wandered around and found some free goods, such as fresh watermelon from the farmers market…

Free, fresh, and delicious

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So, this is my first blog post for Nashville for Free, even though I’ve been doing newsletters for the facebook group for over a year now. This can’t be any different, right?

We have a pretty big holiday coming up, and I thought I’d do my best to get all of you wonderful people aquainted with some of the cool free things you can do. It’s America’s birthday, and like any birthday party we’re expecting some party favors. Let’s start with a cool event on Friday before we get down to business with the hottest festival in Nashville…

Poolapalooza
Friday nights at Gaylord Opryland Resort have become everyone’s favorite weekly pool party. Each week features a different band, and this week Autovaughn is going to teach us how to rock. The fun is free, and so is the parking (in selected lots). All ages are welcome!

DATE: July 3rd
TIME: Party starts at 6pm, show starts at 7pm
WHERE: Cascades pool at Gaylord Opryland
Poolapalooza Website

2009 Music City Hot Chicken Festival.
I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never gotten around to trying hot chicken, but my best friend did, and I got to hear allll about it. Let’s just say he went to Prince’s and decided to try hot on his first try and leave it at that.

This festival might get me to try hot chicken, though, because it starts at 11am, and the first 5oo (yes, 500) people there get a sampler plate from places like Prince’s, Bolton’s, and the Chicken Shack.  If you’re not one of the first 500 that’s okay, because you can hang out, listen to some live music, and buy some Yazoo beer and hot chicken until 3pm. God bless the USA.

DATE: July 4th
TIME: 11am-3pm
WHERE: East Park (700 Woodland Street)
Music City Hot Chicken Festival Website

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