Nashville's Bellevue Baptist Church was first established in 1967 with a congregation of 38 parishioners. Since its move to its current sanctuary in 2000, the congregation has grown; in 2012, the church began building more space to accommodate growing Sunday School attendance. A part of Bellevue Baptist's outreach ministry, the Bellevue Baptist Fall Festival was created to bring new members to the church and designed to help children and their families enjoy the season.
Before the festival begins, Sunday school classes at the church compete to see which group can collect the greatest amount of candy. In recent years, a winning class collected 87 pounds. During the festival, which lasts for about three hours, from late afternoon until mid-evening, kids can play games, jump on inflatables, win prizes, collect candy and interact with animals in a petting zoo. At time of publication, more than 200 children had attended a recent festival with their families.
The festival also hosts activities for older kids and their families. Adults can compete in a chili cook-off and distribute their offerings to festival-goers. After the chili has all been sampled, the church crowns a cook-off winner. Once the children's portion of the festival is over, the church hosts a Movie Night for teens. At dusk, seventh graders through college-aged students can watch a movie at the church while eating free pizza, popcorn and dessert.
Located in Nashville's Bellevue community, the Bellevue Baptist Church, an affiliate of the Southern Baptist Convention, is situated at the intersection of Highway 70 South and Cross Timbers Drive, approximately a mile and a half from exit 196 off Interstate 40.
