Get ready to ring in the holidays downtown tonight, with Nashville’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, Rudolph’s Red Nose Run and the Christmas Parade. Yes, it’s only December 4, but as if on cue, Mother Nature has dropped some Christmas-y weather on Nashville, just in time for our most festive holiday weekend (yeah, about that…)! So bundle up tight, and head downtown for a chilly Christmas celebration tonight.
Nashville’s Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. 6pm, Historic Metro Courthouse Public Square.
- The tree is up, and the lights will go on at 6pm tonight. Join Mayor Karl Dean and the city of Nashville to throw the switch!
Rudolph’s Red Nose Run. 6:30pm, begins at 1st & Woodland Street.
- It’s not too late to sign up for the 29th Annual Red Nose Run, a 5k through downtown Nashville that leads the Christmas parade down Broadway. Today’s registration is from 5:15-6pm in front of the Juvenile Justice Center, and the race starts at 6:30pm.
57th Annual Nashville Christmas Parade. 7pm, begins at 8th Ave N & Broadway.
- The highlight of the evening, our annual Christmas Parade, begins at 7pm, and this year’s grand marshal is Nashvillest favorite, John Rich! Last year, we were fortunate enough to NOT see any gift-wrapped Uhauls posing as floats (as we may or may not have seen in 2007′s parade), and our favorite part is watching them navigate the giant inflatables around the traffic lights. In all seriousness, it fills us with Nashville pride to see the whole city gather downtown for the Christmas parade, even if it is really cold and even if some of the float choices are questionable.
The other highlight of the evening will be navigating through all of the road closures for the aforementioned Christmas fun. Here’s the list, so you can plan your trip. Remember, you’ll be battling Friday rush-hour traffic too!
Downtown Road Closures for Friday, December 4, from 4pm-9pm:
- Broadway from 2nd Avenue to 13th Avenue
- 2nd Avenue North from Broadway to Union
- Woodland Street Bridge
- 9th Avenue North from Broadway to Church
- 10th Avenue North from Broadway to Church
- Interstate Drive from Woodland to Russell
- Russell Street to S 2nd Str
- Victory Ave and Titans Way
Related posts:
- On The Day Of The Nashville Christmas Parade, Metro Gave To Us [Road Closures]
- Inauguration Day! [Road Closures]
- John Rich Is All Up In Our Christmas Parade [John Rich]
- Tomorrow: Veterans Day Parade [Road Closures]
- Brace Yourselves For Impact: It’s Veterans CMApocalypse ’09 [Road Closures]