It was a beautiful Autumn afternoon this past Saturday when I arrived to see what was happening at the Opry Birthday Bash, held in the Opry Plaza, outside the main entrance of the Grand Ole Opry House.

This October, the Grand Ole Opry and WSM Radio are celebrating 91 years of broadcasting the show that made country music famous. And to celebrate, every Saturday this month in October, the iconic show and radio station are throwing a Front Porch Party in the plaza of the Grand Ole Opry House, the home for the Grand Ole Opry since 1974. The Grand Ole Opry, WSM Radio, and The Grand Ole Opry House are all owned and operated by Ryman Hospitality.

The event included lots of food vendors, such as the super popular Blue Monkey Shaved Ice Truck and Ryman Hospitality’s own Opry Backstage Grill. Many other popular Nashville destinations organized pop-up party tents at the event, including the Country Music Hall Of Fame, iHeart country music station The Big 98 WSIX, and of course, 650 WSM Radio. Some of WSM’s on-air personalities were also there including Bill Cody and Charlie Mattos from the station’s morning show, Coffee, Country and Cody.

Mattos served as Master of Ceremonies for the day, announcing and introducing each of the musical acts before they performed on the huge stage at the center of the plaza.

One of the first acts I got to see was a new duo, Ben & Sara, consisting of Sara Haze and Ben Caver, who performed an impressive set featuring original songs such as Switch To Wine and Empty Sky. The duo also performed songs they have written together and that have been recorded by other artists, such as Hey Heartbreak, which was recently recorded by Jennifer Nettles and is her latest single, Relapse by Carrie Underwood, and Riot by Rascal Flatts.

There were several other acts as well, but the main act of the evening was traditional country crooner, Mo Pitney, who released his brand new album just 1-day prior, titled Behind This Guitar. Pitney performed the title track from the album along with the first single from the project, A Boy and A Girl Thing, and his current single, Everywhere.

If you want to see more photos or videos from the event, click here to check out the gallery on our Facebook page. And if you’re going to be in the Nashville area during any of the remaining weekends this October, be sure to check out the Front Porch Parties every Saturday in front of the Grand Ole Opry House.

Want to wish the Grand Ole Opry or WSM Radio a Happy 91st Birthday? Leave them a comment below or on our social media pages!