We seek to preserve, steward and protect Warner Parks and all its time honored amenities, including our beloved historic picnic shelters. Guests are invited to reserve a shelter with catered dinner and drinks, and so too can individual dinners be ordered for sunset picnics throughout Warner Parks.
The shelters were built by the WPA more than 80 years ago during the height of the Great Depression, using limestone and cedar found in the Parks and surrounding area, and Nashville families, friends, and visitors have adopted the shelters as special gathering places ever since.
Friends of Warner Parks completely restored the shelters in 2012, but increased usage (and unfortunate vandalism) requires routine maintenance. Help us ensure these beloved shelters are here for all, forever!
Come on out to the barn and enjoy Nashville’s tradition of pickin’ in the park with 2,000 of your Warner Park friends! Bluegrass and Roots pickers jam in circles in and around the barn, while three headlining bands perform on the stage. All funds raised by the Pickin’ Parties go toward protecting the Parks as well as funding educational programs and special projects.
Hummingbirds are a big deal in the Parks. The Warner Park Nature Center is one of only a few places in the country where research takes place and observers can watch hummingbird banding in action. Bird research has been ongoing here since naturalist Amelia Laskey began her bluebird nesting box program in 1936, and the B.I.R.D. Program now conducts over 17 branches of research on an annual basis. Help support our legacy of avian research and join us for this delightful event on the Nature Center patio!
This ticketed event takes place each year at the height of Hummingbird season in early September at the Warner Park Nature Center. Proceeds from ticket and art sales support the Bird Information, Research and Data (B.I.R.D) programs, keeping these programs free and available for schools, families and Warner Parks visitors.
Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres are served while guests mingle, watch hummingbirds at the feeders at sunset, and shop local artwork on display from the Nashville Artist Collective.
Since October 1990, when Clare Armistead and Trudy Byrd planned the very first Sunday in the Park , the community has come together for a fall al fresco luncheon to share in their passion for Warner Parks. The event has grown each year and is a cornerstone of Friends of Warner Parks fundraising. Luke Lea Society Members, Bluebell and Trillium Club Members, underwriters and patrons provide insurmountable support for this impactful event that helps us to fulfill our mission to preserve, steward, and protect Warner Parks.
Featured in Marathon & Beyond and Runners’ World magazines, Flying Monkey Marathons are an homage to the origin of marathon racing, simplicity of sport in lieu of large-scale spectacle, and proceeds from race registrations support Friends of Warner Parks, and includes a full 26.2 mile race and 13.1 mile half marathon.
