The Heritage Foundation

Franklin Main Street Festival – April 24-25, 2010

Franklin’s 27th annual Main Street Festival brings more than 200 artisans & crafters, three stages, two carnivals and two food courts to the historic Public Square and Downtown District April 24-25, 2010.

Hours for the free street festival are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, with the Fourth Avenue Street Dance continuing until 10 p.m., and all activities re-opening noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Arts and crafts booths line Main Street from First to Fifth Avenue.

Presented by major underwriter First Tennessee and produced by the Heritage Foundation of Franklin and Williamson County and the Downtown Franklin Association, the weekend event is expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors to a full slate of family-oriented activities, non-stop musical entertainment and international flavors of more than 20 food vendors.

Handmade work to be exhibited includes original oil and watercolor paintings, pottery, jewelry, furniture, woodworking, ornamental iron, stained glass, photography, home and garden accents, birdhouses, leatherwork, and much more. It is consistently named a Top 20 event in the Southeast by the Southeast Tourism Society.

In addition to a juried arts and crafts show, the festival offers a special area of children's activities on Third Avenue South between City Hall and the Old Courthouse. Free entertainment is offered continuously on three stages—the First Tennessee Stage on the Public Square, the Main Stage on Fourth Avenue North and the Beer/Wine Garden Stage on Fourth Avenue South.

Three food areas offer a tasty variety of everything from roasted corn on the cob and stuffed baked potatoes, Polish sausage, Greek gyros, Asian and Mexican cuisine, Southern fare includes barbeque, burgers and hotdogs, cinnamon-roasted nuts, ice cream, smoked turkey legs, funnel cakes, kettle corn and more.

There will also be a full-scale, traditional carnival at Margin Street and Second Avenue North--the site of the future City of Franklin Bicentennial Park. The carnival opens earlier than the festival on Thursday, April 22, and goes through Sunday, April 25. Carnival hours are 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.