The Palace Theater at 146 North Water Avenue still has its original seats after its restoration. Starting Oct. 15, that one room has something on the Historic Downtown Gallatin calendar for six weeks in a row: a fashion show, a new film festival, a musical, three free family movie nights and a classic country benefit concert.
If you live in Gallatin, most of your evening plans on the square between now and late November start at the Palace. Two other things are happening around it, too. The new film festival is spreading into rooms most people have never been inside, and the daytime side of downtown picked up new places to eat and drink this year that fit neatly before a show.
Six weeks, one stage
WKRN's August feature on downtown gives the background. Bill Roth built the Palace in 1913 for his daughter, and today it's the oldest standing silent movie theater in Tennessee. In that same piece, Amy Nixon, executive director of Historic Downtown Gallatin, called it "sort of an anchor" for downtown and said many visitors "remember coming here as a child." Here's what the downtown calendar shows from now through late November:
- Thursday, Oct. 15, 6 to 8 p.m. The Downtown Gallatin Fall Fashion Show at the Palace, hosted by Honey & Suede, Sassy & Brassy and Tennessee Honey.
- Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16 and 17. The Town Creek Film Festival's first year, with the Palace as one of three venues.
- Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23 and 24, 7:30 p.m. "King's Road Cannibals," a musical the listing describes as being "about the horrors of letting your environment decide for you."
- Friday, Oct. 30, 6:30 p.m. The Gallatin Rotary Club's free family movie night.
- Friday, Nov. 6, 6:30 p.m. Another free Rotary family movie night.
- Saturday, Nov. 14, 7 to 9 p.m. "After the Fire Is Gone: The Music of Conway & Loretta," a benefit for Music Amplifies.
- Friday, Nov. 20, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. A third free Rotary family movie night.
The fashion show and the film festival land on back-to-back nights, so the week of Oct. 12 is the busiest of the run. The last four weeks are lighter: one show or one free movie each weekend, which makes them easy to add to a regular Friday.
The film festival uses rooms you may not have been in
The Town Creek Film Festival is new this year, and the Downtown Gallatin listing calls it the festival's debut. What's different about it is how it uses the square. Screenings aren't limited to the Palace. The festival's venue page lists three rooms:
- The Palace Theater, the main stage on North Water Avenue.
- The Annex at Prince Street Pizza & Pub.
- The Basement at 106 Public Square.
So a festival night has you walking between buildings on the square, with a pizza pub and a basement screening room as stops along the way. The published schedule lists about 30 different films, counting a couple that screen twice, in genres including narrative, horror, documentary, avant-garde and silent film. Silent films are a fitting choice for a building that opened in the silent-movie era.
On ticketing platform Eventeny, a two-day all-show-access pass costs $32 before fees, or $34.34 with fees. Single tickets run $10 to $12 before fees. That makes the pass worth it at about three screenings. Eventeny lists Historic Downtown Gallatin as the host. The festival's FilmFreeway page names Kevin Marshall Chopson, whom the Gallatin City Council named the city's Poet Laureate in 2021, as artistic director, with Ted Brown and Ryan Inman on the management team. The calendar says the films come from Tennessee, across the country and "select cities abroad," with Friday's program starting at 7 p.m. and Saturday's wrapping up around 9:30 p.m.
Oct. 30 fills both halves of the day
Friday, Oct. 30 is the one date on the calendar with something for families on the square both morning and evening.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., downtown merchants host trick-or-treat on the square for preschool-aged children. Historic Downtown Gallatin describes it as an alternative to evening trick-or-treating for the youngest kids. That evening at 6:30, the Gallatin Rotary Club's free family movie night opens the Palace's doors. With a preschooler, you can trick-or-treat at lunchtime, head home for naps and come back for a free movie in a 1913 theater, all on one day and in one place.
The Nov. 6 Rotary movie is listed for 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., a shorter window than the Oct. 30 showing. It's a good fit for families with younger kids.
What's new for the hours before a show
Downtown's evenings are built around one old building. The new additions this year are mostly daytime spots.
The Paper Mill, which Mount Juliet residents already know from 4066 N. Mt. Juliet Road, now has a second location at 118 North Water Avenue, on the same street as the Palace. The Tennessean reported in April that renovations were underway, with a target of late spring or early summer. The restaurant's website now lists Gallatin hours as every day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., an hour later on both ends than the Mount Juliet location's 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. The 3 p.m. close works well for a late breakfast before the Oct. 30 trick-or-treat or a lunch stop on a Saturday downtown. It closes well before the 7:30 curtain for "King's Road Cannibals."
Oak Grove Farms Grocery Store opened in early September at 517 West Main Street, west of the square. NewsChannel 5 reported that farm owners Zach and Kyndle Erhard stock more than 60 vendors and focus on local, seasonal and whole foods. The store also has a wall of baked goods, an in-house coffee shop and an outdoor turf area. Kyndle Erhard told the station they had "created an environment for people to come and stay longer," with space where "kids can run" and "moms can meet up for coffee." The same report says the parking lot was nearly full on a Tuesday morning and through the opening weekend.
That gives the square something it didn't have last fall: a coffee and grocery stop on West Main and a breakfast-and-lunch spot on North Water. Pair either one with an evening at the Palace and you've got a full downtown day.
After the run, and what's still unscheduled
The Nov. 14 Conway and Loretta show is the last ticketed concert at the Palace on the current calendar, with the Nov. 20 Rotary movie closing out the run. Music Amplifies is producing it as part of its annual #AMPUP4KIDS Night, with proceeds going toward Christmas help for local children. The listing says the group served 1,391 children last year and expects even more need this year. The organization supports families across Sumner, Robertson and northern Davidson counties. The event page links to tickets and offers group-rate information by email at [email protected].
After that, the square shifts to the holidays. A Merry Little Christmas Market is set for Saturday, Dec. 5, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The City of Gallatin tree lighting isn't on the calendar yet. The listing that's up still shows last year's date, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. Check the Historic Downtown Gallatin calendar again in November for the 2026 date and any parade schedule.
Further out, the Sumner County Source reported Oct. 6 on Project Phoenix, a possible downtown mixed-use plan that could add open green space, retail and restaurants. The report says it's still under feasibility review and "not a 'done deal.'"
Our team has spent a lot of fall Fridays on squares like Gallatin's, and we love seeing a room like the Palace stay this busy. If you're thinking about what your own home is worth in a part of town that has this much going on, the Eddie Poole Team would be glad to sit down with you. Schedule a free consultation, and we'll talk it through over coffee at one of those new spots downtown.
