Granville’s Mayberry-I Love Lucy Festival

Most towns on the outskirts of the Greater Metro Nashville Area earn local renown from a signature annual festival. But, though only 413 people call it home, the town of Granville in Jackson County can claim five of the state’s must-attend events. As if hosting Tenneessee’s largest display of scarecrows each fall and ringing in the summer with the Cornbread-Moonshine Festival weren’t enough, the former farming town’s Heritage days over Memorial Day weekend and Christmas celebration have carved out their own spots in many Middle Tennesseans’ holiday agendas.

Granville’s most recent endeavor to expand the town’s reputation for small-town charm is the Mayberry-I Love Lucy Festival, a two-day tribute to the Golden Age of Television’s most enduring shows that features original cast members, impersonators, reenactments of classic episodes, and a themed quilt show. “We are one of the few places in the United States that does this type of festival, and the only place in the United States that does a Mayberry Dinner Theatre,” Randall Clemons, President of Historic Granville, said. 

From April 11-12, Granville will honor the living cast members of both iconic CBS series, including Keith Thibodeaux (who pulled double duty as Little Ricky on Lucy and Opie’s pal, Johnny Paul Jason) as well as Dennis Rush–who did a recurring stint as Mayberry ragamuffin, Howie. In addition, the festival will host Dixie Griffith and Karen Knotts as they share stories of growing up the daughters of one of television’s greatest comedic duos. 

Nestled next to the Cumberland River, Granville earned a reputation as a flourishing riverboat hub and one of Tennessee’s agriculture centers in the early 20th century. However, it became an instant ghost town in the 1970s as the Cordell Hull Dam’s construction destroyed thousands of acres of farmland. 

Though the town limped into the twenty-first century, Clemons and 240 volunteers have spent the last fifteen years leaning into the area’s Mayberry potential as they refashioned it into a regional destination full of general stores, weekly bluegrass shows, pop-culture artifacts, and–in a perfect illustration of the town’s eclectic charm–the world’s largest decanter museum.

Now in its 5th year, the Mayberry-I Love Lucy festival offers a glimpse into the past and a model for small-town life experiencing a larger cultural resurgence. “It’s a great economic factor for Granville and for Tennessee, because we're bringing tourists from across the nation,” Clemons said. 

The festival runs April 11-12th. More information about Granville and its overflowing spring calendar can be found on the town’s website.