Main Street Festival Fills Franklin with Art, Music and Culture

The Main Street Festival returned to Downtown Franklin over the weekend as locals and visitors poured onto Franklin’s square to celebrate all of the art, music and culture that all of Williamson County has to offer. With over 120,000 attendees, a diverse collective of musicians and an impressive collection of food and beverage, the Main Street Festival gave the community a welcoming place to celebrate arts and culture.

Each year, the festival is put on by the Heritage Foundation of Williamson County. This is the 41st year the event has taken place with continued growth each and every year.

“The purpose of the Main Street Festival is just to bring people down to Downtown Franklin and to help them enjoy the wonderful history and charm of not just Franklin, but Williamson County,” Said Noah Gray, director of marketing and communication at the Heritage Foundation. “We are able to showcase local artisans and food vendors.”

Gray discussed the importance of the festival for tourism to Franklin, as many people travel in from areas surrounding Williamson County to experience the event. While some come to the festival as patrons, others come from out of town as vendors, musicians or artists to be a part of the community for the duration of the festival.

“For a lot of people, this is their exposure to Downtown Franklin three times a year,” Gray said, mentioning the foundation’s other events – Pumpkinfest and Dickens of a Christmas. “When I see people not just shopping at the vendors and booths that we have on the street, but also walking into the shops along Main Street, making plans to come back, that’s really cool to me. I really enjoy watching people fall in love with this little town.”

Essence, one of the bands that played the Main Stage on Saturday afternoon, travelled all the way to Franklin from California for the event. Their bluegrass-inspired indie-Cal rock music intrigued the crowds, leaving fest-goers with a good-vibe feel. Pomegranate, another band headlining the Main Stage, brought more of a local feel as frontwoman Ele Folsom shared her love of Williamson County after spending a lot of her life living in Spring Hill.

“Franklin’s just such a sweet town. On a day like this, when you meet people from out of town and they’re excited to see what Franklin’s about, it’s really awesome,” Folsom said. “I feel like it showcases the warmth of the city, and I’m so excited that I got to play. I love the musical diversity, too. I love that a bluegrass band is playing right now after our rock band.”

In between sets, it’s easy to get lost in the eclectic artistry of the festival. There’s never a dull moment as there’s art at literally every corner. From huge paper butterflies and flowers outside of churches to dancers performing hip-hop in the streets. There were booths with potters hand-making vases and bowls on the spot for guests, painters sitting with their easels set up to live-capture the scenery, and chalk artists making huge murals on the Franklin streets.

Franklin local and long-time artist Katie Burns live-painted near the Kids Zone at the festival. She’s often seen working at the Franklin Theatre in the Box Office, but today she worked to create a mural of fun colors and abstract shapes for the festival.

“I like to talk to the kids that are just starting to paint. I’ve live-painted the Main Street Festival for two years now, but I’ve been participating in the fest for a total of four years,” Burns said.

Art is an important part of the Franklin community for a lot of reasons, one of those being the economic impact that festivals like the Main Street Festival have. The Heritage Foundation did an economic impact study on its festivals which showed that just the three events brings in around $10 million for the city.

“The things that we are able to do in Downtown Franklin at this festival elevates everything else around our community,” Gray said. “People may come down for the festival and make a note to come back for dinner, or they may want to come back and see a show at the theater. This festival does a lot for our community.”