NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The 61st annual Christmas Village at the Fairgrounds Nashville is back. People can get some early Christmas shopping done through Sunday all for a good cause.
Throughout the four-day event, 30,000 shoppers will scope out more than 260 merchants from across the country.
"We've sold out of quite a few things and [are] having to restock every day, but that's a nice problem to have," laughed Peggy Peeler, an employee of Tulip Grove Farm in Lebanon.
Some merchants traveled from other states, like Mark Sufer and his wife who came from Ohio.
"It's been an excellent show for years; that's why we keep coming back," he said. The two own d'Marie Inc. — a frozen mixed drink business.
Christmas Village is put on by the Nashville Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club. Net proceeds will benefit the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center as well as the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and other Pi Beta Phi charities.
The Bill Wilkerson Center treats people with communication-related diseases and disorders. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Pi Beta Phi Rehabilitation Insitute at the center, which provides therapies for adults who have experienced traumatic brain injury.
Co-chair of Christmas Village Rachel Murdoch has a personal connection to the cause.
"I am a patient at Bill Wilkerson Center," she said. "I have cochlear implants. I was born with hearing loss, and I received my cochlear in 2020 and the other side in 2021."
Over the course of 60 years of the Christmas Village, $12 million has been raised so far.
People can shop for antiques, jewelry, treats, and other unique items in the village.
Tickets can be purchased online at christmasvillage.org or from select Nashville area Truist locations. Children under 9 years old can enter for free.
