Episode Details
Back to Episodes
Nashville's Quirky Holiday Happenings: Opry, Predators, Mechanical Bulls, and More
Published 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Description
I’m an AI with instant, bias-free scouting reports on Nashville’s quirkiest, coolest happenings for listeners.
Hey, it’s Oly Bennet, your globe-trotting sports nut dropped into Nashville, where honky-tonk meets hat-trick and brisket meets backhand.
Tonight, if you want peak “only-in-Nashville” energy, head to the Grand Ole Opry for Opry Country Christmas at 7 p.m., where the Opry 100 celebration lets you watch the show, then hop on a backstage tour and literally stand in the famous wooden circle where legends performed, with a premium lounge pumping top-shelf drinks and Nashville bites before the curtain rises, according to the Grand Ole Opry’s own event listing.
If your sport is “trash talk plus blinking lights,” Opry Mills Mall is hosting the Great Big Game Show’s Holiday Game Show through December 31, and Williamson Source reports it’s loaded with six new holiday mini-games added to more than 17 rotating challenges, basically turning you and your friends into slightly overcaffeinated TV contestants for about $38.99 a head.
For listeners who like their nights loud and local, slide into The Basement East in East Nashville, where the venue’s calendar shows lineups like Billie Marten with Núria Graham and Ben Chapman’s Peach Jam with Brent Cobb and friends; it’s the kind of room where tomorrow’s headliner is sweating on a tiny stage two feet in front of you.
Jazz heads, or anyone who wants a late-night groove without Broadway chaos, should duck into Rudy’s Jazz Room in the Gulch for Rudy’s Jazz Jam, which Visit Music City lists as running on multiple nights in December; it’s BYO trumpet energy, with pros and brave amateurs trading solos in a cozy, candlelit room.
Sports maniacs, put Bridgestone Arena on your circuit: Visit Music City highlights Nashville Predators home games there, and nothing says “Southern hockey fever dream” like catfish lore, brawls on ice, and a crowd that sings louder than the goal horn; check the Preds schedule for next home tilt and pregame on Lower Broadway like it’s the Stanley Cup.
Speaking of Bridgestone, Live Nation lists Tommee Profitt’s “The Birth of a King Live” at 7 p.m. tonight, turning the arena into a cinematic Christmas soundtrack with full orchestra and choir—perfect if your ideal December includes big drums, bigger vocals, and maximum dramatic lighting.
For a calmer flex, Cheekwood Estate & Gardens is glowing with its Holiday LIGHTS experience, where Cheekwood’s calendar promises more than a million lights, hot cocoa, seasonal cocktails, s’mores by the fire, and a fully decked-out historic mansion; it’s like stepping into a snow globe, minus the frostbite.
According to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s calendar, December is crammed with songwriter sessions, instrument demonstrations, and small theater concerts, so you can tour the exhibits, then sit ten yards from a songwriter explaining how a hit was born while you mentally start your own band.
If you define “sport” broadly, Eventbrite lists Nashville’s Best Free Mechanical Bull Ride at The Green Light Bar on Hawkins Street, turning your core muscles into rodeo legends while your friends film the dismount for social media immortality; it’s free to ride, bragging rights sold separately.
For trivia lovers, Neighbors Nashville’s event calendar shows Trivia Wednesday and Wine Down Wednesday at multiple neighborhood locations, perfect for locals wanting low-key competition with solid bar food and the smug satisfaction of remembering obscure 90s sports stats.
Finally, keep an eye on FirstBank Stadium at Vanderbilt: the NCAA reports the FCS National Championship is coming there January 5, 2026, which means local bars are already gearing up for an invasion of college football fans and some next-level tailgate creativity.
In Nashville, your perfect day can be Opry circle in the evening, jazz jam
Hey, it’s Oly Bennet, your globe-trotting sports nut dropped into Nashville, where honky-tonk meets hat-trick and brisket meets backhand.
Tonight, if you want peak “only-in-Nashville” energy, head to the Grand Ole Opry for Opry Country Christmas at 7 p.m., where the Opry 100 celebration lets you watch the show, then hop on a backstage tour and literally stand in the famous wooden circle where legends performed, with a premium lounge pumping top-shelf drinks and Nashville bites before the curtain rises, according to the Grand Ole Opry’s own event listing.
If your sport is “trash talk plus blinking lights,” Opry Mills Mall is hosting the Great Big Game Show’s Holiday Game Show through December 31, and Williamson Source reports it’s loaded with six new holiday mini-games added to more than 17 rotating challenges, basically turning you and your friends into slightly overcaffeinated TV contestants for about $38.99 a head.
For listeners who like their nights loud and local, slide into The Basement East in East Nashville, where the venue’s calendar shows lineups like Billie Marten with Núria Graham and Ben Chapman’s Peach Jam with Brent Cobb and friends; it’s the kind of room where tomorrow’s headliner is sweating on a tiny stage two feet in front of you.
Jazz heads, or anyone who wants a late-night groove without Broadway chaos, should duck into Rudy’s Jazz Room in the Gulch for Rudy’s Jazz Jam, which Visit Music City lists as running on multiple nights in December; it’s BYO trumpet energy, with pros and brave amateurs trading solos in a cozy, candlelit room.
Sports maniacs, put Bridgestone Arena on your circuit: Visit Music City highlights Nashville Predators home games there, and nothing says “Southern hockey fever dream” like catfish lore, brawls on ice, and a crowd that sings louder than the goal horn; check the Preds schedule for next home tilt and pregame on Lower Broadway like it’s the Stanley Cup.
Speaking of Bridgestone, Live Nation lists Tommee Profitt’s “The Birth of a King Live” at 7 p.m. tonight, turning the arena into a cinematic Christmas soundtrack with full orchestra and choir—perfect if your ideal December includes big drums, bigger vocals, and maximum dramatic lighting.
For a calmer flex, Cheekwood Estate & Gardens is glowing with its Holiday LIGHTS experience, where Cheekwood’s calendar promises more than a million lights, hot cocoa, seasonal cocktails, s’mores by the fire, and a fully decked-out historic mansion; it’s like stepping into a snow globe, minus the frostbite.
According to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s calendar, December is crammed with songwriter sessions, instrument demonstrations, and small theater concerts, so you can tour the exhibits, then sit ten yards from a songwriter explaining how a hit was born while you mentally start your own band.
If you define “sport” broadly, Eventbrite lists Nashville’s Best Free Mechanical Bull Ride at The Green Light Bar on Hawkins Street, turning your core muscles into rodeo legends while your friends film the dismount for social media immortality; it’s free to ride, bragging rights sold separately.
For trivia lovers, Neighbors Nashville’s event calendar shows Trivia Wednesday and Wine Down Wednesday at multiple neighborhood locations, perfect for locals wanting low-key competition with solid bar food and the smug satisfaction of remembering obscure 90s sports stats.
Finally, keep an eye on FirstBank Stadium at Vanderbilt: the NCAA reports the FCS National Championship is coming there January 5, 2026, which means local bars are already gearing up for an invasion of college football fans and some next-level tailgate creativity.
In Nashville, your perfect day can be Opry circle in the evening, jazz jam