"One of the reasons for the move is Germantown has exploded, and this festival exploded." Oktoberfest director Michael King said that in October 2017. That was the first year in the festival's 38-year history that it left Germantown's residential streets for the open ground near the ballpark and Bicentennial Park.
Nine years later, the rest of the neighborhood's calendar has moved the same way. Look at what's on the schedule this month and what has opened since summer. Nearly all of it sits along Germantown's outer edge: the Mall, the Farmers' Market, First Horizon Park, the river greenway, and Neuhoff. Meanwhile, two of the independents in the older core have had a hard summer.
The Festival That Set the Pattern
Nashville Oktoberfest dates to 1980. It started as a fundraiser to restore the Church of the Assumption, the parish that hosted the neighborhood's first Oktoberfest. For decades it ran through the residential blocks. By 2016, King put attendance at 289,000. With that many people, there was no room left to walk, eat, or set up vendors on neighborhood streets.
The 2026 festival opens tonight at Bicentennial Capitol Mall, 600 James Robertson Parkway, and runs through Sunday.
- Thursday, Oct. 1: 5 to 10 p.m., free with a ticket requested online
- Friday, Oct. 2: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., free until 4 p.m. with an online ticket, paid after that
- Saturday, Oct. 3: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., paid
- Sunday, Oct. 4: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., paid
Every entry needs a ticket, including the free ones. So for anyone who lives a few blocks away, the cheapest version of Oktoberfest is a Thursday evening or a Friday lunch, as long as you request the ticket ahead of time.
The 2017 move took the festival out of Germantown's front yards and put it next door. Most of the neighborhood's fall now works that way.
A Ballpark Calendar Without Baseball
The Nashville Sounds' 2026 home schedule ended September 20. First Horizon Park still has five public event dates in October, and none of them is a Sounds game. The Farmers' Market and the State Park fill in the rest. Put them on one calendar, and the same two Saturdays keep coming up.
| Date | Event | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 1–4 | Nashville Oktoberfest | Bicentennial Capitol Mall |
| Sat., Oct. 3 | Moving Day Nashville | First Horizon Park |
| Sat., Oct. 10 | Fall Ball, Y'all festival, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., free | Nashville Farmers' Market |
| Sat., Oct. 10 | Off the Wagon | Nashville Farmers' Market |
| Sat., Oct. 10 | Making Strides Against Breast Cancer | First Horizon Park |
| Sun., Oct. 11 | Tennessee vs. Troy baseball | First Horizon Park |
| Oct. 17–18 | Southern Festival of Books, free | Bicentennial Capitol Mall, Tennessee State Museum, Tennessee State Library and Archives |
| Wed., Oct. 21 | Reading with a Ranger: Urban Owls, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. | Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park |
| Fri., Oct. 23 | Run Nash Expo | First Horizon Park |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Run Nash Half Marathon & 5K | First Horizon Park |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Halloween Music at the Market with DJ Dan MacNamara | Nashville Farmers' Market |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Death and Disease Park Tour, 6 to 7 p.m. | Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park |
October 10 is the busiest day. Fall Ball fills 900 Rosa L. Parks Boulevard with live music, pony rides, a petting zoo, cooking demos, kids' activities, and seasonal vendors. Making Strides is at the ballpark the same day. The Southern Festival of Books fills the Mall and the two state buildings next to it the following weekend. Its official site and Humanities Tennessee list different daily hours, so check the festival's own site the morning you go.
One caution for every Mall date this month: Tennessee State Parks says capital improvement work at Bicentennial Capitol Mall can bring temporary closures and limited access, and can affect nearby parking and road access. With the Mall, the ballpark, and the market all running events on the same Saturdays, a morning's parking plan can fall apart quickly.
The New Kitchens Landed Along the Same Line
The year's openings follow the same map. The most talked-about newcomers sit at the river, at the ballpark, or in the Neuhoff development on the far side of the neighborhood.
PennePazze and GelatoPazzo opened Friday, June 19, at Starling, next to First Horizon Park. They share a patio by the Cumberland River Greenway. Founder Rony Stark runs it with head chef Riccardo Manzella. This is the first PennePazze with a cocktail bar and a small Italian market. So the ballpark block now has a reason to visit when there's no game, on a month with no home games at all.
Cauponor sits at 1316 Adams Street in Neuhoff. It's a 14-seat, seafood-focused European restaurant from chef Jake Howell and the team behind Peninsula. It was serving by the time the Tennessean reviewed it on July 31. Every seat is booked in advance. Parties of up to four book through OpenTable. Larger groups have to buy out all 14 seats. The restaurant's own site and its OpenTable page list different nights of service, so the booking calendar is the only reliable guide to when it's open.
Two smaller additions moved into the neighborhood's northern and eastern blocks. Basket Case Café & Grocer opened in May at 1801 5th Avenue North. It's a café and corner market selling salads, sandwiches, grain bowls, and pastries. Streetcar Taps & Garden opened its Germantown location in January at 1325 3rd Avenue North, with a restaurant, bar, and garden.
The pipeline follows the same pattern. Nashville Guru's September 29 coming-soon list includes Terry Black's BBQ, Thunderbird Social Club, and Demure for Germantown. Terry Black's is headed for 1220 Rosa L. Parks Boulevard, a short walk from the Farmers' Market. Nocturna is a cocktail bar from James Beck, Nic Berry, Vinny Maniscalco, and Storm Sheler. It's planned for 1803 5th Avenue North, next door to Basket Case, and is still listed as coming in 2026. Its own profile describes the location as Salemtown. That's a sign of how far north this new activity reaches.
The Middle of the Map Had a Harder Summer
The residential core has had a harder time. Taco Mamacita at 1234 6th Avenue North closed for good after Sunday, June 28, ending a four-year run in the 1940s-era building that once housed Little's Fish Market. Diners who showed up that evening found it already shut.
312 Pizza Co. at 371 Monroe Street nearly followed. The Chicago-style deep-dish restaurant opened in 2014. Owner Kimberly Wolff posted on social media over Labor Day weekend that business was tough and Monday would be its last day of service. Mayor Freddie O'Connell helped spread the word. Axios reported that he also pointed the owners to Metro's legacy business program and helped them work through some short-term financing problems.
"312 opened and immediately started pouring into the surrounding neighborhoods, showing up to sponsor and support community events. Now it's our turn to pour into them." Mayor Freddie O'Connell, to Axios, September 2026
The program's own terms show how narrow 312's opening was. Metro announced the Legacy Business Program on August 21 for businesses that have operated in Nashville for 15 years or more, with more than $300,000 in first-year pilot funding. 312 is in its twelfth year. No public record shows a grant to the restaurant.
So the reprieve has come mostly from customers. NewsChannel 5 reported on September 18 that 312 was still open past its announced last day, with Wolff taking things week by week. Wolff started the "Save 312" GoFundMe on September 4. As of this writing it stands at $8,960 of a $10,000 goal from 95 donations. The restaurant's website still takes table bookings and online orders.
312 sits at Fourth and Monroe, in the stretch between the ballpark and the residential blocks. Axios also noted that 312 has a history of sponsoring community events. On October 24, the Run Nash Half Marathon and 5K bring a crowd to First Horizon Park, a short walk away.
Using the Edges This Month
For anyone who lives in Germantown, the October calendar comes down to timing and geography:
- Tonight or Friday before 4 p.m.: Oktoberfest is free with a ticket requested online.
- Saturday, Oct. 10: Fall Ball at the market from 10 to 2, then a greenway walk to the Starling patio at PennePazze and GelatoPazzo.
- Oct. 17–18: The free Southern Festival of Books across the Mall and the two state buildings.
- Any open night on Cauponor's booking calendar: 14 seats at 1316 Adams Street, reserved ahead.
- Any night at all: Deep dish at 371 Monroe Street, where the owner is still deciding week by week whether to stay open.
The Costigan Group follows Germantown block by block, from the Mall and the ballpark to Fourth and Monroe. If you'd like to talk through what this year's openings and closings mean for your corner of the neighborhood, Jack Costigan and the team are happy to walk you through it. Book A Consultation.
