When the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. took over production of the city's July 4 celebration in 2004, country artists like Phil Vassar performed on top of a barge on the Cumberland River. A tasteful fireworks display brought the festivities to a close.

Why it matters: From there, the event has ballooned into one of the best-attended and most highly regarded July 4 events in the country. It is headlined by artists representing a wide variety of genres, and the fireworks show puts most other cities' to shame.

• July 4 planners took things to another level for the nation's 250th anniversary, turning the party into a two-day event that will culminate in a live national broadcast on ABC.

Stage of play: The stage itself is a metaphor for how the event has grown. The river barge has been replaced by a multistage festival.

• This year's headliners — including Boyz II Men, The All-American Rejects, Brothers Osborne, Lauren Daigle and Nick Jonas — will perform on the colossal Jack Daniel's stage at the intersection of First Avenue and Broadway.

What they're saying: "This broadcast is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate everything Nashville has built over the years and share the best of Music City with audiences across the country," Convention & Visitors Corp. president and CEO Deana Ivey said in a news release.

Fun fact: Ascending country singer-songwriter Taylor Swift performed her early hits "Teardrops on My Guitar" and "Picture to Burn" with the Nashville Symphony at the 2007 event.

By the numbers: The July 4 celebration, which organizers call Let Freedom Sing!, first exceeded $5 million in direct visitor spending in 2010.

• The next year, AOL called it one of the biggest shows in America. Then Forbes dubbed it one of the nation's top fireworks displays in 2012.
• The event set a record for attendance last year with 365,000 attendees, generating $23.8 million in visitor spending.

"The amount of people this event draws impacts tourism significantly over several days," Barrett Hobbs, who owns several hospitality businesses in Nashville, tells Axios. "Lots of money for the school system."

If you go: Nashville's celebration of the nation's 250th anniversary begins tomorrow in Walk of Fame Park with live music, food trucks, inflatables and other games for kids.

• July 4 performances begin at 11am at Walk of Fame Park and at noon on the Riverfront stage.
• The Nashville Symphony performs at 9:30pm Saturday at Ascend Amphitheater for the fireworks and drone show. Gates open at 4:30pm.

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Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce haven't said much about their wedding plans, but that hasn't stopped fans — or reporters — from speculating about the mysterious event.

The latest: Hopes that she would stick closer to home for a Nashville wedding are crumbling. Instead, clues have coalesced around a possible event during the July Fourth holiday weekend at Madison Square Garden.

• The New York Times reported yesterday that the New York Police Department has circulated a memo detailing safety plans for the "Taylor Swift wedding at Madison Square Garden."
• The memo describes a rehearsal dinner for about 100 people today followed by a lavish ceremony and reception tomorrow with up to 1,000 guests, per the NYT.

▶️ State of play: We're marking the occasion with a special playlist featuring Swift's most wedding-ready love songs.

Follow our playlist on Spotify

Cheekwood Estate & Gardens is once again at the center of legal drama, with a group of neighbors suing the city this week to stop construction of a new parking structure.

Why it matters: The lawsuit is an escalation in the yearslong fight over traffic around the historic botanical garden, which has become one of Nashville's most popular attractions.

The latest: The lawsuit argues, "Metro has allowed Cheekwood to operate illegally for decades." The lawsuit claims heavy traffic and large events at Cheekwood exceed its intended zoning rules.

• The group asks a judge to stop Cheekwood's parking construction and force Metro to enforce stricter zoning, traffic and noise rules.

The other side: Cheekwood has pushed back with a "Save Cheekwood" campaign. Leaders argue the legal challenges could limit visitor access or shutter the institution completely.

• An online petition supporting Cheekwood has more than 25,000 signatures.
• Cheekwood said in a statement the lawsuit "is further proof that the neighborhood group is intensifying their efforts to shut down Cheekwood."

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🏥 Nashville General Hospital's new CEO is eager to move on after seeing the facility in a "state of crisis." (Nashville Business Journal)

💼 The Nashville Electric Service announced Wednesday it had hired Gov. Bill Lee's former spokesperson Laine Arnold as the first-ever chief communications officer.

A former employee at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, Tennessee's largest prison, described finding an inmate who had been dead in his cell for days, despite having been included in several guard head counts during that timeframe. (Tennessean)

Days before the country celebrates its 250th birthday, the University of Tennessee has approved a new undergraduate degree in civic and constitutional thought.

Why it matters: Leaders say the degree will offer a "comprehensive study of the American constitutional political tradition."

Behind the curtain: The program was an outcropping of UT's Institute of American Civics, which state lawmakers established in 2022 with broad bipartisan support.

What they're saying: Josh Dunn, executive director of the institute, tells Axios "we are trying to create thoughtful citizens who will go on to be civic leaders regardless of their profession."

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