Nashville has found perhaps the most Dolly Parton way possible to remember Dolly Parton: turn 9/25 into a citywide celebration, play “9 to 5” everywhere at 5 p.m., wear a lot of pink, give money to good causes and finish the night with fireworks.
Friday, September 25, will be Nashville’s first Dolly Day, with events stretching from Lower Broadway to the Nashville Zoo, museums, restaurants, hotels and neighborhood businesses.
The date is no accident. September 25 — 9/25 — is a play on Dolly’s “9 to 5,” and Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell is expected to officially proclaim the date Dolly Day. The celebration comes one month after Parton died in Nashville on August 25 at age 80.
And this is much bigger than one concert or tribute show.
The whole city is basically invited to join in.
At 5 p.m., Nashville Is Going to Sound Very Familiar
One of the easiest Dolly Day events to catch will happen at exactly 5 p.m.
Participating venues around Nashville plan to perform “9 to 5” live at the same time.
The list includes AJ’s Good Time Bar, Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, Ole Red Nashville, Friends in Low Places, Honky Tonk Central, Tin Roof Broadway, Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, The Twelve Thirty Club and several other spots.
Even Ole Red at BNA is taking part. So if you happen to be waiting for a flight at 5 p.m., Nashville apparently still intends to get Dolly into your travel plans.
The synchronized performances are one of the clearest examples of what makes this different from a normal tribute event. You do not have to buy a ticket to one arena and sit in one seat. Dolly Day is meant to spill across the city.
Broadway Is Putting Its Money Behind the Celebration, Too
One of the biggest fundraisers is happening at Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood’s Lower Broadway venue.
The bar says it will donate all of its proceeds from September 25 to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and Nashville Public Library.
The promotion runs from 10 a.m. until 2 a.m., and the bar will also collect children’s books.
That is a pretty significant commitment for a Broadway bar on a Friday.
Friends in Low Places says this will become an annual Dolly Day tradition at the venue.
The literacy connection is especially fitting. Parton started the Imagination Library in 1995 in honor of her father, who could not read or write. The program has since distributed more than 300 million books to children, according to the Dolly Day announcement from Friends in Low Places.
Other Nashville businesses are tying their own Dolly Day specials to donations as well.
The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, for example, will donate $9.25 from every regularly priced museum ticket sold that day to the Imagination Library. Its Dolly-themed event runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with live acoustic music and local vendors.
The Zoo Is Getting in on It
This may be the only day when Dolly Parton, banana pudding and zoo animals all fit naturally into the same Nashville itinerary.
The Nashville Zoo is offering Dolly Day admission for $19.25 for adults and $15.25 for youth.
The zoo also plans themed animal enrichment, pink displays and Dolly-inspired food and drinks, including strawberry matcha, banana pudding semifreddo and chicken and dumplings.
The event is included with zoo memberships.
There’s Free Dolly Stuff Downtown
If your ideal celebration costs exactly zero dollars, there are options for that too.
Nashville’s visitor centers at Bridgestone Arena and Fifth + Broadway will hand out Dolly Day buttons, stickers and bookmarks while supplies last.
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is planning several free activities during the afternoon and evening.
Those include a “9 to 5” photo setup, a butterfly coloring station, archival Dolly footage at 6 p.m. and a free screening of “9 to 5” at 7 p.m. in the CMA Theater. The museum’s “Dolly Parton: Journey of a Seeker” exhibit will also remain open until 7 p.m., though regular admission is required for the exhibit.
At Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage, visitors will get access to a spot that is normally much harder to reach.
Dolly filmed part of her television show at The Hermitage in 1977. On Dolly Day, all guests will be allowed onto the mansion’s balcony where she stood during filming — an area normally reserved for VIP tours.
The Hermitage will also offer sandwiches, sides and drinks at its café for $9.25.
Then Nashville Lights the Sky at 9:25
The official citywide celebration ends with one final number joke that Nashville was never going to pass up.
At 9:25 p.m., a short fireworks show is planned over downtown Nashville.
That gives the day a neat rhythm: 9/25 on the calendar, “9 to 5” at 5 and fireworks at 9:25.
It could easily have become a string of Dolly-themed drink specials and photo opportunities. There are plenty of those. But the stronger thread running through the schedule is giving.
Restaurants are donating sales. Museums are sending part of admission revenue to literacy programs. Businesses are collecting books. Other events are raising money for the Imagination Library and related causes.
That makes Dolly Day feel less like Nashville simply putting a famous name on another festival and more like the city trying to copy one of the things Dolly became known for offstage: giving things away.
For Nashville, that may be the part worth keeping long after the pink lights come down.
Sources
- Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp., Dolly Day in Nashville: official schedule, participating venues, specials and fireworks.
- Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp., Nashville Turns 9/25 into Citywide Celebration of Dolly Parton, Sept. 17, 2026.
- Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp., Friends In Low Places Will Donate 100% September 25 Sales, Sept. 17, 2026.
- WSMV, Nashville to celebrate first ‘Dolly Day’ on 9/25, Sept. 17, 2026.
- Visit Music City event listings for Nashville Zoo, Musicians Hall of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame and The Hermitage.
