Due to heavy flooding in middle Tennessee, with the Cumberland River reaching the Grand Ole Opry Entertainment Complex, this week’s Grand Ole Opry performances have been moved from the Grand Ole Opry House to other Nashville venues.
The Tuesday Night Opry performance scheduled for May 4 will take place at the War Memorial Auditorium in downtown Nashville. Weekend performances will move to the historic Ryman Auditorium, also in downtown Nashville. Thursday’s performance of Opry Country Classics will remain at the Ryman as previously scheduled. Both the War Memorial and the Ryman are former homes of the Opry.
The Opry House suffered damage as a result of the record-breaking rains and subsequent flooding in Nashville and surrounding areas. The last time the Opry had to relocate was in 1975 to Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium, just one year after the opening of the Grand Ole Opry House. That move was also caused by Cumberland River flooding.
The Opry Call Center is temporarily out of service, and other operations on the Opry Entertainment Complex including Opry backstage tours and the Grand Ole Opry Museum, have been temporarily suspended. In a statement, Opry officials say it is too early to determine how long Opry operations will be impacted at this time.
While waters did breach the Cumberland on the other side of the river, where Downtown Nashville’s tourism and entertainment district is located, waters did not reach the Ryman. However, the city’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Bridgestone Arena, Gaylord Opryland Hotel, Country Music Hall of Fame, and LP Field have all taken on varying degrees of flooding.
