Nashville restaurants and music venues need help after ice storm
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
The ice storm that clobbered Nashville last week couldn't have come at a worse time for the city's independent restaurants, music venues and shops.
Why it matters: Business is always slow in the winter, and that's before the storm knocked out power and disrupted at least a week of revenue for most of the city.
- In the aftermath of the storm, there's been a rallying cry to support neighborhood businesses.
State of play: Steadfast Coffee expressed gratitude for customer support since the storm in an Instagram post this week, while encouraging residents to support independent coffee shops across the city.
- Several coffee shops lost a week's worth of revenue from the power outage in addition to property damage.
"Weather like this hurts for long after it's over," Steadfast said. "Whenever you can support local, please do!
- "When all is back to 'normal,' be sure to keep us and your friends in mind when getting a coffee or lunch or a trinket!"
Zoom in: The 5 Spot in East Nashville was one of many to launch a creative campaign to help reboot after the outage. The venue created a "support pass," allowing customers to buy advance tickets that can be redeemed for future concerts.
"Our financial situation is pretty dire," the venue said on Instagram. "2025 was a year of struggles. Now with this awful ice storm causing a week of cancelled shows, 'just barely getting by' is not possible.
- "We have staff to help out from a week of no work, large bills piling up, repairs to make...."
Driving the news: The Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. is touting two events — planned long before the ice storm — to help support the hospitality industry.
- The 615 Indie Live festival on Saturday was designed to support the city's independent artists and venues. Fifteen venues across town will participate, including The 5 Spot.
- The Dine Nashville initiative this month shines a spotlight on local restaurants by pairing award-winning chefs for crossover meals. For instance, chef Kahlil Arnold from Arnold's Country Kitchen is doing a meal with chef Vivek Surti from the Indian food fine-dining restaurant Tailor.
The bottom line: "Local restaurants and independent music venues are essential to Nashville's identity, and the ice storm created real and immediate challenges for many of them," Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. president and CEO Deana Ivey tells Axios.
- "Dine Nashville and 615 Indie Live provide opportunities for residents and visitors alike to support local businesses at a time when that support matters even more."
If you go: Tickets to 615 Indie Live cost $20 for access to any concert.
- For information on chef collabs and tickets, visit the Dine Nashville site.