"We filled our first barrel in April 2016," Lee Kennedy told The Spirits Business last November. Ten years after that barrel, Leiper's Fork Distillery is holding its anniversary party in the last few weeks of its outdoor season. A second local fixture, the vintage market called Pickin' Leiper's Fork, reaches its tenth year about a month later.
You can see the timing in the calendar. Through October, the dated events are at the distillery on Southall Road. In November they move into the village, to a gallery hosting a blacksmith and a glassblower and to a three-day market of antique, vintage and artisan goods. Everything below is listed in order, with each date checked against the organizer's own page wherever one exists.
The Anniversary Lands at the End of the Season
The Leiper's Fork Distillery 10-Year Anniversary Celebration runs Saturday, October 17, from 6 to 10 p.m. at the distillery, 3381 Southall Road. The evening includes live music and local food trucks. It also brings the release of a commemorative whiskey called "A Decade of Distilling: Grain to Glass," a blend of straight bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey.
The date matters because of the distillery's schedule. Its two standing outdoor traditions both run March through October. Live music plays Friday through Sunday in that window, and cigar nights fall on the last Friday of each month in the same months. So the anniversary falls in the final two weeks of the regular season.
The season's last cigar night is the themed one. Haunted Cigar Night is on the distillery's calendar for Friday, October 30, from 6 to 9 p.m. October 30 is the last Friday of the month this year, which makes it the final cigar night before the March restart.
The tasting room itself stays open year-round. The distillery lists its hours as Wednesday and Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is closed Monday and Tuesday. Guided stillhouse tours with a tasting last about an hour, and the cocktail bar serves self-guided flights without a reservation.
Why the Party Is Back on Southall Road
The distillery isn't just a village business anymore. Its House of Spirits in downtown Franklin is open, with food, cocktails, live entertainment and guided tastings. In June 2025 the company also announced a location at Nashville Yards. The announcement described nearly 9,000 square feet of bar, restaurant, retail shop, tasting room, live-music venue and on-site whiskey production. The launch announcement projected a mid-2026 opening. As of October 10, the distillery's Nashville Yards page still reads "Opening Fall 2026," with hours listed as TBA. That page gives a smaller footprint of 7,500 square feet.
Even with those two newer locations, the tenth-anniversary event is at the original property. That property is where the whiskey is made. The distillery sits on 27 acres outside the village, and a preserved 200-year-old log cabin serves as its tasting room and gift shop. Behind the cabin is a stillhouse built by Brown and Kennedy Construction using traditional mortise-and-tenon timber framing. Inside is a 500-gallon Scottish-style swan neck copper pot still.
The grain comes from nearby too. Kennedy told The Spirits Business that the distillery grows half its corn on the family farm. The other grains, including rye and barley, come from within ten miles. The release name, "Grain to Glass," describes a process that happens within a short drive of the village crossroads. The Williamson Herald has reported that Kennedy grew up running through the area's fields and fishing its streams, and that he knew this was where he wanted to settle his family and build the distillery.
The Galleries Carry the Same Idea Into November
The day after the anniversary party, the handmade-goods theme continues in the village. The Copper Fox Gallery has a run of maker events spread across four weekends, each with a specific artist or craft.
| Date | Event at The Copper Fox Gallery | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, Oct. 18 | Leigh Ann Hurst Fall Trunk Show | Noon to 3 p.m. |
| Saturday, Oct. 24 | 3rd Annual Pottery Weekend | See gallery listing |
| Sunday, Nov. 8 | Kristi Hyde Winter Trunk Show | Noon to 3 p.m. |
| Sunday, Nov. 15 | Anthony Martin Blacksmith Demonstration and Spees Studios Glassblowing Demonstration | Noon to 3 p.m. |
Third-party event calendars don't always agree with the gallery on these details. One local listing pairs the Spees glassblowing with the November 8 trunk show and gives a noon to 4 p.m. window. The table above follows The Copper Fox Gallery's own event pages, which put the glassblowing on November 15 alongside the forge.
The November 15 pairing is the busiest afternoon on the gallery's fall schedule. You can watch a blacksmith and a glassblower working in the same three-hour window, and that Sunday also falls during Pickin' weekend.
Fox & Locke Fills the Weeknights Between
The distillery and the gallery mostly cover weekends. Fox & Locke covers the other evenings. Its ticketed shows run Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, with an open mic every Thursday. Cover charges generally range from $7 to $20 and go to the musicians and production. Live music on Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. has no cover.
Sarah Potenza is on the schedule for Wednesday, October 21, from 7 to 9 p.m., four days after the distillery's anniversary.
A few of the venue's policies affect planning. Tickets generally go on sale three to four weeks before a show, so shows in the first half of November are coming on sale around now. Walk-ins are seated first come, first served. Groups are limited to fifteen tickets, and Fox & Locke does not host private events. Only adults 21 and older may sit at the bar, and anyone under 21 needs a ticket for table seating.
Pickin' Leiper's Fork Turns Ten the Same Weekend as the Forge
Pickin' Leiper's Fork reaches its 10th year in mid-November. It is hosted by PROPS, Leiper's Fork and The Vintage Vault at PROPS. It's a vintage, antique and artisan market, free to attend, rain or shine, with music and food trucks each day.
Public listings give slightly different schedules. Visit Franklin lists November 13 from noon to 5 p.m. and November 14 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. FranklinTN lists three dates, November 13 through 15. On the 2026 calendar that's Friday through Sunday. PROPS is the host, so its page is the best place to confirm daily hours before you go.
If the market does run through Sunday, November 15 has the most going on of the whole fall:
- Pickin' vendors at PROPS for the final market day.
- Anthony Martin at the forge and Spees Studios glassblowing at The Copper Fox Gallery, noon to 3 p.m.
- No-cover Sunday afternoon music at Fox & Locke, noon to 6 p.m.
Both tenth anniversaries this fall belong to businesses that make or sell things by hand. The distillery's falls on the last weekends of its season on Southall Road, and Pickin's falls on the weekend the gallery has a working forge.
What Hasn't Been Announced Yet
Two December and late-fall traditions have no published 2026 date as of October 10.
The Leiper's Fork Christmas Parade usually falls on the second Saturday in December. Last year it stepped off on December 13, 2025, at 2 p.m. No 2026 date has been posted yet. Second-Saturday timing would point to December 12, but it should be treated as unconfirmed until organizers publish it.
Ember – A Harvest of Art & Antiques was held October 25, 2025, from 5 to 8 p.m. Its hosts were Leiper's Creek Gallery, Patina Home & Garden, David Arms, and Robin Rains Interior Design + Antiques. As of this writing, Leiper's Creek Gallery's events page has no 2026 edition.
Until those dates appear, the distillery's live music, cigar nights and anniversary close the season in late October. In November the gallery demos and Pickin' take over, with the busiest Sunday on November 15.
At Franklin Homes, we pay attention to how things get built. A hand-framed stillhouse and a forge demonstration show the kind of care we put into every home on our factory floor in Russellville. If you'd like to see that work up close, visit our model center or find a retailer near you.
