In 2023, Bell Buckle was described as a town of about 500 people that welcomes more than 100,000 visitors over one October weekend. WGNS gave a higher estimate the year before, reporting more than 120,000 people expected for the 2022 show. Neither number is an official count. Both put the festival weekend at a couple hundred visitors for every resident.
That weekend is almost here. The Webb Art & Craft Show runs Saturday, October 17, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, October 18, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.
Visitors only see the crowds. Neighbors know something more useful. Bell Buckle's whole fall runs on a few downtown spots: the old Sawney Webb lot on Maple Street, the Stage Lot behind the shops, and the downtown pavilion. In October those places hold hundreds of booths. In late October and December the same ground hosts events at a scale built for the town itself. Knowing the map pays off in both seasons.
Two lots, one festival
Most visitors think of the weekend as one big fair. The Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce runs it as two shows in two places.
The Webb Art & Craft Show is the juried one. It sits on the old Sawney Webb lot on Maple Street, and the Chamber says it has more than 100 booths. Exhibitors there work in pottery, metal, wood, textiles, jewelry, and old-fashioned soaps and lotions. The Chamber describes an "all-world food truck offering" at the Webb show site. The food court is at the back of the Webb lot, with cuisines from around the world and a hay bale seating area for taking a break between rows.
The Downtown Show is at the Stage Lot behind the downtown stores, down the alley next to the mural. Last year's iron-forging demonstration was on that lot, near the back corner of Bluebird Antiques and Ice Cream. WKRN's 2025 preview also put the forging near Bluebird.
Booth counts depend on the source. The Chamber's 2025 press release said more than 800 booths across town. Tennessee's tourism site counts an extra 700 booths downtown on top of the juried show. Either way, it comes to several hundred booths around a downtown you can walk end to end in a few minutes on a normal Tuesday.
| Spot | Festival weekend role | What's there |
|---|---|---|
| Old Sawney Webb lot, Maple Street | Webb Art & Craft Show | 100+ juried booths, world-cuisine food trucks, hay bale seating |
| Stage Lot, behind the downtown stores | Downtown Show | Rows of artists and crafters, iron forging near Bluebird Antiques and Ice Cream |
| Chamber tent at the festival entrance | Information | Volunteers, maps, Bell Buckle shopping bags for sale |
The Chamber tent is easy to walk past, and it's worth a stop. In 2025 WKRN reported that volunteers there would answer questions. The festival map also marks ATMs, lost and found, and first aid. The Chamber's press release also mentions Bell Buckle shopping bags sold at the tent.
How the streets have worked on festival weekend
All those people squeeze into a few blocks, so getting in and out takes the most planning. Here is how recent years have gone. No official 2026 detour plan or shuttle service had been published when this was written.
- Streets close. In 2025 the Chamber said city streets would be closed to cars for the whole weekend.
- Closures start early. The Chamber's show page tells exhibitors to be in their Saturday parking spaces by 6:30 a.m. to beat the road closures, and says nobody can get in once roads close. That is the exhibitor deadline, but it also shows how early the town shuts to car traffic.
- The drive in can be slow. In a 2023 preview from Experience Tennessee, the Chamber president said some visitors had spent an hour or more just getting into town.
- Parking is mostly private. In 2025 WKRN reported that the parking lots aren't run by the Chamber or the Town of Bell Buckle, and that most charge about $10 per car.
- The map is the best tool. The Chamber posts a map of parking, ATMs and restrooms on its Webb Craft Show page, and parking maps go up on the Chamber's Facebook page.
Once you're in, it's easy going. Tennessee's tourism guide says the festival runs along Bell Buckle's streets on a flat, paved surface the whole way through. If you live close, those Saturday morning closures affect your plans more than they affect a day-tripper's. It helps to check the Chamber's 2026 notices early in the week.
Why it's called the Webb show
The name goes back to a school event. The local Times-Gazette obituary for Webb School art teacher Anne White-Scruggs tells how, in 1976, headmaster Jack Heffner asked her and Carol Price to plan entertainment for the school's board meeting and alumni weekend. It credits the two women with planning the first annual festival. The show started on campus as the Webb School Art and Craft Festival and later grew into a fair for the whole community.
The Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce sponsors the weekend now. The juried show still carries the Webb name and still sits on the old Sawney Webb lot, which the Chamber calls "the site of the original Webb Art & Craft show." Last year was billed as the 48th annual festival. A weekend that started as entertainment for alumni now draws crowds hundreds of times the size of the town.
The same ground, at town scale
The festival wraps up Sunday afternoon. Five days later, downtown is busy again, this time with an event sized for the town.
The Chamber lists An Old Fashioned Haunted Evening for Friday, October 23, 2026, from 5 to 8 p.m. It has trick-or-treating, a haunted house and activities at the downtown pavilion. In December, the Stage Lot that held the Downtown Show in October opens again for an evening market, and the pavilion is where the quilt walk starts.
| Event | 2026 date | Time | Where it centers |
|---|---|---|---|
| An Old Fashioned Haunted Evening | Friday, Oct. 23 | 5–8 p.m. | Downtown pavilion |
| A Quilted Christmas | Dec. 4–5 | 11 a.m.–5 p.m. | Quilt walk begins at the downtown pavilion |
| Old Fashioned Christmas | Saturdays, Dec. 5, 12 and 19 | 11 a.m.–4 p.m. | Downtown, with Santa sleigh rides |
| Pet parade | Saturday, Dec. 5 | Noon | Part of Old Fashioned Christmas |
| Bell Buckle Holiday Night Market | Saturday, Dec. 5 | 5–8 p.m. | Stage Lot behind the shops |
December 5 is the busy one. A Quilted Christmas, the first Old Fashioned Christmas Saturday, the noon pet parade and the Holiday Night Market all land on the same day. A family could start on the quilt walk late in the morning, catch the pet parade at noon, and finish the evening at the Stage Lot. The October map works for all of it.
A newer stop on the walk
Shops in town see the festival traffic too. Bell Buckle Mercantile LLC opened on April 1, 2025, according to its Chamber member page. The Chamber's shopping directory lists it at 13 Webb Rd E. That puts it on Webb Road East, a short walk from Railroad Square, so it's an easy add to a festival loop or a December Saturday. The Chamber's dining directory also lists Bell Buckle Cafe on Tennessee 269 and Bell Buckle Coffee Shop on Railroad Square. Check hours before you go, since festival weekend can change a small shop's schedule.
I've watched this little town fill up and empty out every October for a long time, and its quieter December Saturdays are among my favorite days in Middle Tennessee. If you're planning a fall day in Bell Buckle and want to talk about the towns around it, from Murfreesboro to the farm country in between, Rita Ash would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.
