Cheekwood Harvest Returns this September With Six Weeks of Fall Enjoyable

Fall comes alive at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens as Cheekwood Harvest returns September 19 by November 1, remodeling the historic 55-acre property into certainly one of Middle Tennessee’s premier autumn locations. Featuring the debut of the brand new Marigold River, greater than 100,000 pumpkins, Harvest NIGHTS, Pumpkin Village, Scarecrow Trail and seasonal programming for all ages, the six-week pageant affords numerous methods to have fun the fantastic thing about fall. 

New this yr, company can expertise Marigold River, a show that includes greater than 2,500 marigolds in vibrant shades of purple, orange and yellow flowing alongside the walkway between the Bradford Robertson Color Garden and Arboretum Lawn. 

The celebration continues after sundown with Harvest NIGHTS, held on Thursday evenings all through the pageant. Guests can stroll illuminated gardens whereas having fun with dwell music, meals vans, seasonal cocktails, backyard video games and themed actions. The towering Jack-o’-Lantern Topiary, constructed from roughly 200 hand-carved fake jack-o’-lanterns, returns because the centerpiece of the Bradford Robertson Color Garden. 

A visitor favourite, Pumpkin Village, returns to the Arboretum Lawn, that includes greater than 100,000 pumpkins sourced from native farms displayed alongside 5,000 colourful chrysanthemums. Visitors can discover three charming pumpkin homes and buy pumpkins in a wide range of colours for adorning and carving. 

Guests may benefit from the annual Scarecrow Trail, the place native artists, faculties and neighborhood organizations remodel scarecrow frames into imaginative creations impressed by this yr’s theme, “Once Upon a Harvest.” Fifteen juried scarecrows can be featured all through the gardens. 

Additional pageant highlights embrace:

Harvest NIGHTS

September 24-October 29 | Thursdays | 5 p.m.-9 p.m.

Enjoy illuminated scarecrows and the Jack-o’-Lantern Topiary after darkish, plus dwell music, meals vans, seasonal cocktails, pumpkin-carving demonstrations and family-friendly actions. The season concludes October 29 with the Bootanical Bash costume contest and dance get together.

Japanese Moon Viewing (Otsukimi)

September 27 | 4 p.m.-9 p.m.

The twelfth annual celebration of Japanese tradition options tea ceremony demonstrations, mochi pounding, taiko drumming, artwork actions, bilingual backyard excursions, bonsai shows, meals distributors and handcrafted items. New this yr, a standard shakuhachi flute efficiency will accompany tea ceremonies.

Halloween Pooch Party

October 24-25 | 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Dogs and their homeowners are invited to get pleasure from costume contests, picture alternatives in Pumpkin Village, dog-friendly distributors and particular treats. This yr’s featured costume class is “Founding Paw-thers” in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. 

El Día de los Muertos

October 31-November 1 | 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

The twenty seventh annual Day of the Dead pageant options student-created murals, ofrendas, Latin and Aztec dance performances, dwell music, genuine delicacies, artisan distributors and hands-on actions for all ages. 

Gardening School and Workshops

Cheekwood’s Gardening School will supply fall-focused courses from September 13 by October 25, masking subjects equivalent to cool-season greens, plant propagation, woody plant design and plant identification. New “Ask a Gardener” classes will happen throughout Harvest NIGHTS. Adult artwork workshops all through the season will embrace aid printing, miniature Zen gardens, leather-based visor making and floral weaving.

Artist-in-Residence

Kansas City ceramic artist Maura Wright serves as Cheekwood’s 2026 Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence by October 4. Her site-specific set up attracts inspiration from Cheekwood’s ornamental arts collections, Historic Mansion and gardens. 

Ticket Information

Tickets for Cheekwood Harvest, Harvest NIGHTS and Japanese Moon Viewing go on sale August 11 at Cheekwood.org.