Where to Celebrate New Year’s Eve in Nashville
Ring in the new year at these parties, events, and dinners.
This year we’ve been blessed with a rare convergence: the combination of Nashville, New Year’s Eve, and a Saturday night. Put those three factors together, and you can bet that Music City this will be the rare NYE that’s actually worth the hype. That also means that you’ll have a myriad of opportunities how to celebrate the end of ‘22 and the arrival of ‘23 in Nashville, so choose wisely, friends.
Germantown
Year after year, the Jack Daniel’s New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash is the biggest celebration in town, with thousands of visitors and locals alike gathering in Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park for an event that stretches from the afternoon until long after midnight. This year’s headliner musical acts include Zac Brown Band, Kelsea Ballerini, and Brooks & Dunn, followed by fireworks as the calendar flips to 2023. It’s also being televised by CBS, so you can DVR it in case you miss something while you’re in line for the porta-potties.
Cost: Free
SoBro
Because this subterranean nightspot features multiple shows nightly by talented magicians, they prohibit photography to keep the secrets, well, secret. But they’ll have a photographer on hand shooting in black and white, keeping with the evening’s theme of Black Tie and White Glove service. Zebra-colored attire is suggested, but not required, as guests enjoy a magical night complete with food and drink specials.
Cost: $185
Midtown
The Rabbit Hole is the secret chef’s table in the kitchen at Henley, so it’s a special experience any night of the year. For New Year’s Eve, they’re stepping it up another notch with elevated cuisine like caviar, truffles, wagyu beef flown in from Japan and special cocktails. If you’re not up to paying the tariff for a Rabbit Hole dinner, Henley is throwing a Gatsby-themed gala in the main dining room.
Cost: $375
Downtown
Music superstar Justin Timberlake is an investor in The Twelve Thirty Club, the upscale supper club on the top floor of the Fifth + Broadway dining, retail and entertainment complex, and he insists that New Year’s Eve be a classy experience. Multiple musical acts will grace the stage over the course of the evening, and food stations will be set up around the restaurant so that guests can roam and graze to their hearts’ contents.
Cost: $325 - $5,000
Various
Downtown watering holes like Whiskey River Saloon and Lucky Bastard Saloon don’t necessarily get the same amount of attention as the celebrity-named clubs of downtown, but they’re actually where many locals go to let it all hang out on a weekend night. On New Year’s, you can pay for a Fast Pass to be treated like a VIP, including access to the front of the bar at both establishments. That sounds like a definite perk, especially when the crowds descend.
Cost: $100
Gulch
One of Nashville’s favorite rooftop bars, L.A. Jackson perches atop the Gulch on top of the Thompson Hotel, so that makes it an ideal spot to get above the fray on New Year’s Eve. For the occasion, they’re offering an open bar from 9 pm until 1 am, a champagne toast at midnight, late-night bites, and your first shot at brunch in 2023. It’s a masquerade theme, so bring your favorite disguise (that you’ll have to temporarily remove at check-in) and be whoever you want to be.
Cost: $300
SoBro
Harriet’s is the rooftop bar atop the 1 Hotel Nashville, smack dab in the middle of all the action of downtown. For New Year’s, they’re turning the clock back to the ‘70s with a Moonlight Disco Party. DJ Que Rico will be pumping up the jams and Maggie Wells will spin an old-school vinyl set of your favorite disco tunes. Admission includes an open bar from 9 pm until 1 am along with passed hors d'oeuvres.
Cost: $250
East Nashville
Lockeland Table is traditionally a laid-back neighborhood joint with fantastic food and drink plus a casual neighborhood vibe, but on New Year’s Eve they’re aiming to get “Fancy as F*@k!” This is a stand-up party where guests mingle and nosh on elevated dishes like oysters on the half shell, duck confit spring rolls and vegetarian risotto while enjoying champagne cocktails and specialty drinks from the bar. After the celebratory midnight toast, the kitchen will stoke up the wood-fired pizza oven to provide even more delectable snacks to keep the party pumping.
Cost: $225
Downtown
The Continental is famous chef Sean Brock’s homage to the refined hotel dining of the middle of the 20th century, and he’s created a wonderful mid-century dining experience at his restaurant in the Grand Hyatt. For New Year’s, Brock is rolling out the carving carts for prime rib, serving martinis from the Vesper Bar, and passing caviar. Buy your ticket and pretend you’re a lot richer than you actually are for just one night.
Cost: $150
Ring in the new year with three musical traditions
Various
It’s a sign of how entertaining New Year’s Eve is in Nashville, that some bands have made a habit out of playing here every year. Widespread Panic will be bringing their jams to Bridgestone Arena as part of a two-night ticket option on December 30 and 31, so you can bet you won’t hear the same song twice. You can’t say the same thing about Old Crow Medicine Show’s two-night residency at the Ryman, because if they don’t play “Wagon Wheel,” the audience would probably set the old wooden pews on fire. Nashville favorites Guilty Pleasures feature a rotating cast of talented local musicians and singers reprising classic hits from throughout the decades, and you never know who will join them on the stage at Third & Lindsley.
Cost: Various
SoBro
Arnold’s Country Cooking is globally known as one of the most important restaurants in the South, offering elevated versions of down-home food. For New Year's they’re staying open late for an “Arnold’s After Dark” experience with dinner, drinks and music. The theme is “‘80s and ‘90s Prom,” so dig deep into that closet or scour the thrift shops for the perfect outfit to show up and show out.
Cost: $35 - $100
Downtown
The rooftop deck at Fifth + Broadway offers unparalleled views of the craziness of Lower Broad, but with a safe distance away from the capers and vapers below. For New Year’s, the deck will turn into party central with sets by Segø, Cisco and DJ Dirty Darren and headliners Lost Kings, an LA duo who wowed the crowds at Coachella. Partiers will enjoy a glitter bar and specialty cocktails, with open bar options available.
Cost: $250 - $325
Downtown
For a man who built a compound that looks like a massive Mr. Coffee maker looming over the Vanderbilt area and that he literally named “Mt. Richmore,” John Rich sometimes strives to be a man of the people. That’s why he’s only charging $2,000 for a table for four with a view of the stage at his New Year’s Eve extravaganza on Lower Broad. Sure, that might sound steep, but it does include three hours of open bar, a champagne or whiskey toast as the ball drops, and a VIP lanyard autographed by the former Lonestar Liliput himself.
Cost: $300 - $3,000
Midtown
The Graduate Nashville hotel is all about having a good time without taking itself too seriously, and that’s why it has become such a popular destination within a few years of opening in the heart of Midtown. At their rooftop bar/restaurant White Limozeen, they’re throwing a Planet NYE party complete with open bar, a “chambong” at midnight, passed canapés, music and dancing until midnight. After the new year arrives, the party will move downstairs to their Cross Eyed Critters karaoke bar where guests can howl along with animatronic critters singing all the hits.
Cost: $175
East Nashville
Folk is generally considered a pretty chill restaurant and bar, where the kitchen and bar focus on the food and bev, and patrons concentrate on the amazing plates and drinks that are placed in front of them. For NYE, Folk is letting its hair down for an evening with DJ sets, dancing, amazing food and lots of champagne. Your ticket entitles you to a glass of boozy punch on arrival and some champers at midnight, but you can buy drinks from the bar all night long. After midnight, the kitchen will send out pizzas, chicken parm sandwiches and Italian clubs as fast as they can to help stave off tomorrow’s hangover.
Cost: $100