Nashville's Annual Christmas, Veterans Day Parades Canceled Amid Pandemic

Two of Nashville's largest annual parades will reportedly not be held this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Nashville Veterans Day parade initially scheduled for November 11 has been canceled, the Davidson County Veterans Coordinating Council confirmed to FOX 17 News. John Furgess, who serves as vice chairman of the council, told FOX 17 News that a decision was previously made earlier this month due to the ongoing pandemic, although the announcement was made public on Tuesday.

Nashville officials had previously announced the cancellation of the annual Christmas parade in August, which will instead hold a virtual ceremony, FOX 17 News reports. Furgess said the council wanted to make a decision about the status of the parade before it was handled by Mayor John Cooper and Metro officials.

"We wanted to cancel it before the mayor canceled it," Furgess said via FOX 17 News. "When they did that we knew our parade was probably going to be canceled, so we did it ourselves."

Furgess said Metro officials had been very helpful with the parade in the past, as Nashville has been designated as a regional Veterans Day city for the past two decades.

"We're very proud of that, we’ve had that designation about 20 years now," Furgess said via FOX 17 News.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1970 will instead host an event on Veterans Day in which participants will properly dispose of unusable or tattered American flags in lieu of the parade's cancellation. The event will open to the public at 11:00 a.m. on November 3 with a ceremonial burning at the VFW Post 1970 building at 7220 Charlotte Pike.

Any individuals who are unable to attend the event can drop off unusable or tattered flags to the post from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on most other days.

On Wednesday, the Nashville Health Department reported 32,310 total COVID-19 cases, which included 110 new cases in a 24-hour span and 1,894 active cases.

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