On Saturday, October 28, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., the Tennessee State Museum will celebrate its 25th annual Haunted Museum Storytelling Festival. Begun in the fall of 1998, this family day has become one of the most anticipated days of the year at the Museum. It offers families a free, fun, and safe Halloween event for children of all ages, with snacks, games, costumes, ghost stories, and more.
Each year, the Museum dresses up in its Halloween décor and presents games, crafts, stories, and prizes. Kids wear their costumes and settle in to hear spooky stories from Tennessee’s past. A Ghost Trail through the Museum guides visitors through various strange and not-so-scary stories. The storytellers this year will be Tony Marr, Charlie McCoin, and Allen Dyer. The costumed interpreters in the Museum’s frontier printing press create commemorative posters for the occasion.
Partnering with TSM again are Nashville Public Library’s beloved Puppet Truck with performances throughout the day, and the Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation with free book giveaways.
This year the Puppet Truck will be sharing a story called The Stonecutter, based on a traditional Asian folktale and featuring Bunraku puppetry, this story teaches two life lessons: be happy with who you are and make your wishes carefully! Running time: 30 minutes. Performances at 10:30, 11:30 and 1:30, but we recommend checking the website at TNMuseum.org in case that changes.
Exhibition Highlight: The Tennessee Playlist Now Open
The Tennessee Playlist: The People, Places, and Roots of Our Music opened October 13, 2023. Musical traditions have deep roots in Tennessee. The state has inspired musicians for generations, whether they made music on front porches, at studios, or in arenas. Now open in the Curb Music Gallery, The Tennessee Playlist: The People, Places, and Roots of Our Music explores the diverse sounds of the state and the interplay of tradition and change, highlighting innovation and enduring traditions. On the TSM Stories blog, the Museum’s Assistant Chief Curator, Miranda Fraley-Rhodes, Ph.D., introduces the sections of the exhibition that highlight the state’s musical history and people who have contributed to Tennessee’s many music traditions.
The Tennessee Playlist: 95 Counties of Sound is an online component of the Tennessee State Museum exhibition. Visit it now at: https://tnmuseum.org/tennessee-playlist-counties
Listen to playlists that complement the show, with examples of all the genres represented, on their Spotify channel, including Folk Music Traditions, and Hymns and Spirituals; Tennessee Music on the Move, Innovation and Migration; Fisk Jubilee Singers Bring Tennessee Music to the World; Classical Music; The Blues (W. C. Handy, Bessie Smith and B.B. King); Gospel Music; The Origins of Country Music (The Bristol Sessions and The Grand Ole Opry); Tennessee, Technology, and the Music Business (Radio Revolution, Recording and Producing Record Albums, Jukeboxes); Music Venues; Tennessee’s Music, America’s Music; From Blues to Blue Suede Shoes; Rhythm & Blues, Rockabilly, and Nashville Rhythm & BluesRock and Roll; ; Elvis Presley; Nashville “Music City, U.S.A.”; Dolly Parton; Chet Atkins; Charley Pride; Soul: The Sound of the Civil Rights Movement (Stax Records and Southern Soul, and Isaac Hayes); Hip-Hop and Southern Rap (DJ Spanish Fly, Tay Keith, and Three 6 Mafia; Mariachi (Glencliff High School-Wright Middle School Mariachi Conjuntos Juntos; and Kurdish Music.
