Tennessee's entertainment scene runs city by city. Memphis owns Beale Street — the most celebrated live blues block in the country, free to enter and running daily. Nashville has Bridgestone Arena and one of the country's densest concentrations of live music venues per capita. Chattanooga has the historic Choo Choo hotel. Pigeon Forge has one of the highest-grossing family shows in the South.
The 10 venues below cover the full range.
Jump to: Memphis · Nashville · East Tennessee · Chattanooga · Planning Notes
Memphis
Beale Street Must-see
Shelby County · Memphis · Free to walk; drinks priced individually
The birthplace of Memphis blues and the most famous music street in the South — 1.8 blocks of open-front bars, live music stages, and neon signs on a historic commercial strip that W.C. Handy made famous after publishing the first written blues compositions here in 1912. Live music runs every night of the year; B.B. King's Blues Club, Blues City Cafe, and Rum Boogie are the anchor venues.
Carrying drinks in sealed plastic cups outside the bars is legal on Beale Street. Midweek nights have great music with a fraction of the weekend crowds. Combine with a walk to the National Civil Rights Museum 3 blocks south.
Memphis Zoo Must-see
Shelby County · Memphis · Paid admission
A 70-acre zoo in Overton Park with more than 3,500 animals across 500 species, consistently rated among the top 10 zoos in the US. Giant pandas were a major attraction for two decades; the current collection features Northwest Passage (polar bears, sea lions), a primate canyon, and a 3-acre African savanna exhibit. The zoo is set within one of Memphis's most significant urban green spaces.
Plan 3–4 hours. Located in Midtown Memphis, 3 miles from downtown. Summer mornings are the best time to see active animals.
FedExForum (Memphis Grizzlies) Worth the detour
Shelby County · Memphis · Ticket prices vary
A 18,000-seat arena in downtown Memphis, home to the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies since 2004. The arena is 2 blocks from Beale Street, making a Grizzlies game an easy add-on to a Memphis evening. The Grizzlies have built a reputation as one of the NBA's most defensively tenacious franchises and have a passionate local following.
The arena also hosts major touring concerts and the annual Conference USA basketball tournament.
Nashville
Bridgestone Arena (Nashville Predators) Worth the detour
Davidson County · Nashville · Ticket prices vary
A 17,100-seat arena in the heart of Lower Broadway, within a 5-minute walk of Nashville's entire honky tonk district. The Nashville Predators play here October through April; the building also hosts the largest touring concerts in the city.
Predators playoff crowds generate some of the loudest arena noise in the NHL. The arena's exterior overlooks Lower Broadway — pregame and postgame bar-hopping is built into the experience.
Adventure Science Center (Nashville) Worth the detour
Davidson County · Nashville · Paid admission
A 100,000-square-foot science museum and planetarium on the hill above downtown Nashville, with hands-on exhibits covering space exploration, earth science, and health. The Sudekum Planetarium runs full-dome films daily. The Body Quest exhibit follows the path of food through the human digestive system at oversized scale — a reliable hit with kids.
Best for families with children under 12. Located in Greer Stadium Park; parking is plentiful and free on weekends.
Schermerhorn Symphony Center Worth the detour
Davidson County · Nashville · Ticket prices vary
Nashville's permanent home for the Nashville Symphony, opened in 2006 and designed specifically for orchestral sound — the 1,872-seat Laura Turner Concert Hall has adjustable acoustic panels and natural daylighting through clerestory windows, and the building is as visually impressive as the performances.
The Nashville Symphony performs a full classical season plus popular and country crossover concerts. Located in the SoBro neighborhood adjacent to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
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East Tennessee
Comedy Barn Theater (Pigeon Forge) Worth the detour
Sevier County · Pigeon Forge · Paid admission
A 1,000-seat family variety theater on the Pigeon Forge Parkway that has run nightly shows since 1994 — clean comedy, juggling, magic, ventriloquism, and country music in a 2-hour rotating format. The Comedy Barn consistently sells out and holds one of the highest audience satisfaction ratings in the Smoky Mountains entertainment corridor.
Tickets run about $40 for adults, $20 for children. Reservations are recommended, especially in summer and fall foliage season. A reliable family-night option after a day at Dollywood.
Market Square (Knoxville Entertainment District) Worth the detour
Knox County · Knoxville · Free to visit
The social center of downtown Knoxville — a historic public square dating to 1854, now flanked by restaurants, bars, and outdoor patios in converted 19th-century commercial buildings. A farmers market runs Saturday mornings from April through November. Free outdoor concerts are scheduled throughout the summer. The square connects to the Old City and the Gay Street commercial corridor.
Knoxville's downtown revival over the past 20 years has made Market Square a genuinely compelling evening destination, not just a Smoky Mountains pit stop.
Chattanooga
Chattanooga Choo Choo Worth the detour
Hamilton County · Chattanooga · Free to visit grounds; hotel rates vary
The 1909 Terminal Station converted into a hotel and entertainment complex, made famous by the 1941 Glenn Miller song. The original 85-foot dome is preserved as the hotel lobby. Guest accommodations include restored Victorian railcars on the original tracks. The complex houses restaurants, a bar, a model railroad exhibit, and a small indoor garden under the dome.
The grounds and lobby are free to walk through. The railcar rooms are a novelty worth booking for a night if you're staying in Chattanooga — the experience is unlike any standard hotel.
Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration (Shelbyville) Worth the detour
Marshall County · Shelbyville · Paid admission (event only)
The world championship of Tennessee Walking Horse competition, held for 11 days each August in Shelbyville — drawing over 200,000 attendees annually to Marshall County. The Tennessee Walking Horse, bred for a distinctive smooth four-beat running walk, has been the state's official horse since 2000. The Celebration grounds hold evening performances in a 30,000-seat outdoor arena.
Not a year-round destination — the show runs the last 10 days of August exclusively. For horse enthusiasts and fans of Southern equestrian tradition, it is a major event.
Planning Notes
Live music calendar: Nashville and Memphis have live music every night of the year without exception. Nashville's honky tonks don't charge covers. Memphis's Beale Street bars are free to enter. Both cities are worth planning around a specific show at a smaller venue — the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville and the Green Room in Memphis are where the actual songwriters perform.