Franklin Tomorrow’s quarterly Breakfast With the Mayors, presented by Pinnacle Financial Partners, drew a crowd on Tuesday, April 25, to hear from some of the county’s experts on the development of the area as a entertainment center.
Panelists Brandt Wood, co-founder of the Pilgrimage Music Festival; Ellie Westman Chin, president & CEO of the Williamson County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau; and Mary Pearce, executive director of the Heritage Foundation of Williamson County, talked about the evolution, the impact and the variety of the entertainment scene in Williamson County.
According to a story by Carole Robinson in the Williamson Herald, with only days left until she officially retires from the Heritage Foundation, Pearce took the opportunity to remind or inform those present about the impact historic preservation projects have had on what Franklin is today and the growth of entertainment opportunities.
So many newcomers think Franklin has always looked the way it looks now, Pearce said.
“The journey actually started 50-years ago when the Heritage Foundation started with historic preservation,” she said as pictures of Franklin in the 1970s and Franklin today flashed on the big screen.
For Chin, the goal is to bring visitors into the county and have them spend their disposable income and then return to their homes.
“What we try to do is bring ‘em in, have they stay a while and send them home,” Chin said.
For Wood, as Pilgrimage Music Festival heads for its third year and first potential sell-out, he was thankful for the support of leaders as well as the community in general.
“I want to take this opportunity to say thank you for supporting the idea in year zero,” said Wood. “It’s more than a festival; it’s intended to create an experience.”
Entertainment in Williamson County is more than music and festivals, said County Mayor Rogers Anderson. The Franklin Rodeo May 18-20, the Williamson County Fair, Aug. 4-12, and a variety of amateur sporting events are just a few examples of the variety of entertainment possibilities.
To watch the entire meeting, click on the link below.