Christmas Village opens at The Fairgrounds Nashville on Friday, November 13, 2026 and closes Sunday, November 15. The merchant list carries 253 names across 25 states, and 68 of them are first-year entries. The organizer runs a separate evening on Thursday, November 12. That evening decides which hotel night to book.
Two doors into Thursday
Sneak-a-Peek runs 4:00 to 9:30 p.m. on November 12. A patron donation of $100 or more carries all-weekend access, and the Thursday entry rides with that gift.
The program-guide listing closed on October 22, 2026. That date has passed. A gift received after October 22 stays out of the program guide and collects its patron ribbon at Will Call. Online donations run through November 12.
The invitation window closed on September 15. The ticket page sends a guest without an invitation back after November 1 for any Sneak-a-Peek tickets that remain.
Thursday runs five and a half hours
Doors run 4:00 to 9:30 p.m. Photos with Santa run 4:00 to 9:00 that evening, and the shopper brings a camera. Thursday holds the only preview night of the run.
The public-day clock
Friday runs 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday runs 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday runs noon to 6 p.m. Children 9 and under enter free on every public day.
Service animals enter the buildings and pets stay outside. Strollers, carts and wagons stay outside. Plan the aisles on foot.
The ticket ladder
Standard admission runs $15 online. Ten or more tickets drop to $12 each, which turns $150 into $120. A return ticket costs $10 in cash at the Village Information Booth, and a shopper buys it before leaving on the first day. Friday and Saturday on that ladder cost $25.
What the donation carries
The patron gift covers the weekend and the Thursday night. The patron appears on the Christmas Village website and in the program guide. The guide goes to more than 30,000 shoppers. Contributions above the cost of admission and any commemorative gifts are tax deductible.
Proceeds fund Pi Beta Phi philanthropies: the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center Department of Hearing and Speech Science and its Pi Beta Phi Rehabilitation Institute, and the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. The 2025 show donated $770,000, and cumulative giving since 1961 runs above $16 million.
Parking at the gate
Parking is free for shoppers in 2026. The ticket page carries a parking map and a rideshare map beside the address at 500 Wedgewood Avenue, Nashville, TN 37203. An ADA accommodation runs through the information line at 615-256-2726.
The hotel night that follows the clock
A 4 p.m. Thursday start needs a Thursday check-in. A Friday arrival covers the 9 a.m. opening and the 9 p.m. close without a Thursday night.
Distances by road from 500 Wedgewood Avenue: Best Western Plus Music Row at 1407 Division Street sits 2.41 miles out, and Tru by Hilton Nashville Downtown Convention Center at 500 Rep. John Lewis Way South sits 2.47 miles out. Holiday Inn Nashville Downtown Stadium at 211 N. First Street sits 4.59 miles out. Red Roof PLUS+ Nashville Fairgrounds carries the fairgrounds name at 4271 Sidco Drive, 3.67 miles from the gate.
The event site publishes no hotel block and no shuttle. A group of 10 or more rooms runs through one request: hotelhuddle sends it to 50+ hotels, returns offers in 24 to 72 hours, and charges the planner nothing. Group rates start at 10 rooms a night, with some properties quoting from 5.
The order of the weekend
A patron walks in Thursday at 4 p.m. with the weekend already paid. A Friday guest buys the return ticket at the Information Booth before leaving that evening, and Saturday runs on that ticket.