The holiday season is just around the corner, which means it is time, once again, to Deck the Hall at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum. Throughout Deck the Hall presented by Balsam Hill, the museum will be packed with seasonal activities that blend music, art, education and even Santa Claus, offering fun for the entire family.Festivities begin at 4 p.m. on Nov. 24, with a performance of hits and holiday classics by country music star, philanthropist and radio host Tracy Lawrence.. He will then light a new, twenty-five-foot Balsam Hill Christmas tree in the museum’s Mike Curb Conservatory and Lawrence will sign copies of his new album, Good Ole Days, available for purchase in the Museum Store.
Throughout the holiday season, the museum will offer many free activities. Children of all ages can have a free photo taken with Santa Claus on both Saturdays and Sundays during Deck the Hall. Don’t miss Santa on Nov. 25–26, Dec. 2–3, Dec. 9–10 and Dec. 16–17. String City: Nashville’s Tradition of Music and Puppetry, a puppet show created by a partnership of the Nashville Public Library’s Wishing Chair Productions and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, returns to the museum for a two-day run, Nov. 24–25.
On Nov. 25 Country Music Hall of Fame member Charlie Daniels will sign copies of his new memoir, Never Look at the Empty Seats, purchased from the Museum Store.
On Dec. 3, all ages can pull a free Hatch Show Print poster for themselves. Participants will learn about letterpress printing from the staff of one of the oldest working letterpress print shops in the United States. Hatch staff will help participants create their very own letterpress art using carved wood, linoleum and metal block images from the Hatch collection.
Additional hands-on activities in the Taylor Swift Education Center (TSEC) will provide fun for the entire family throughout Deck the Hall, including cookie decorating on Sundays, Nov. 26, Dec. 3 and Dec. 10. Museum admission or membership is required for programs in the TSEC. Cookies, icing and edible decorations will be provided. For a complete list of activities, click here.
“With a long-standing commitment to the Middle Tennessee community, the museum is filled with family programming all year long, including the holidays,” said Ali Tonn, director of education and public programs for the museum. “We always look forward to celebrating the season with our locals by offering special programs to get everyone in the holiday spirit. And it is a perfect time for local families to use our new Community Counts program and come Deck the Hall with us.”
Through Community Counts, youth (ages 18 and under) who live in Cheatham, Davidson, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson or Wilson county will receive free walk-up admission outside of school hours, and up to two accompanying adults will receive a 25 percent discount on admission. Click here for more information on Community Counts.
Back by popular demand, the museum will present A Legendary Holiday at Historic RCA Studio B, which will include a tour of the studio and a holiday concert with guitarist Meagan Taylor, great-niece of Chet Atkins, and pianist Jason Coleman, grandson of Floyd Cramer. In the very same studio where Country Music Hall of Fame members Atkins and Cramer popularized the Nashville Sound more than fifty years ago, Taylor and Coleman will perform Christmas classics and timeless songs originally recorded in the RCA studio. The performance will also include special guest appearances from Country Music Hall of Fame member and frequent Studio B session player Charlie McCoy and classic vocalist Mandy Barnett a modern torchbearer of the Nashville Sound. Dates are Dec. 16 and 17. Seating is limited and tickets are $25. Tours depart from the museum at 3 p.m. and return at 5 p.m.
The museum’s retail shops have items for every shopper’s budget this season. Visit the Hatch Show Print Store for a large selection of handmade prints, cards and branded merchandise, or choose a one-of-a-kind framed monoprint from Hatch Show Print’s Haley Gallery. Offerings from Circa and the Museum Store include vinyl LPs and CDs, specialty books, Nashville-made gifts, food and home accessories, men’s and women’s apparel, jewelry and much more.
Access to most holiday programs is free with museum admission and free to museum members. Individual memberships start at $50 and make great holiday gifts. Perks of membership include free admission to the museum and hundreds of programs each year; invitations to exclusive members-only events; and discounts at the Museum Store, Circa, Hatch Show Print Store, 2|22, Red Onion, and Bajo Sexto Taco.
