From live theatre to music and the visual arts, Robertson County boasts a vibrant arts scene! The annual Bell Witch Festival brings professional productions to September and October weekends. At 1st Friday Night Market during the spring and summer months, you’ll find artists, artisans, and food trucks on the downtown Springfield Square. Restaurants across the county host singers, songwriters, and bands in the evenings and weekends year round.
RobCo Arts and Culture
LIVE PERFORMANCES
Check out some of our local opportunities to enjoy quality theatrical productions. Since 2002, the annual Bell Witch Fall Festival has brought together amateur and professional actors, musician and technical staff to preserve and celebrate the unique history and culture of the area through original productions. Visit their website to learn more.
Just as the earthen, spicy aroma of the dark fired tobacco smoke fills the Robertson County air, the greatest story tellers from the area gather for The Red River Tales.
From the heart of The Black Patch arises hauntings, heroes, the heart of the south. Discover the history as rich as the land from which it was born, and explore the stories and melodies from the hills and hollers of Tennessee. Join us for an afternoon of FREE music and history to kick off the Bell Witch Fall Festival.
This long-suppressed local story of the dark history of the Black Patch Capital of the World and its tobacco war of the early 1900s unfolds through the gut-wrenching emotional ride of the Hartley family. Witness the struggles that affected not only them, but all the families who farmed in this region of Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee and grew dark-fired tobacco. You will see big business at its worst and the tobacco company’s role in turning farmer against farmer, brother against brother, and its backlash–giving birth to the masked vigilantes: The Night Riders. This superior production will thrill you with its lyrical, inspiring bluegrass music and top-notch acting. Six outdoor performances open to the general public will be presented.
Each Fall since 2002, David Alford’s play, Spirit: The Authentic History of the Bell Witch of Tennessee, has been produced on the grounds of the Bell School in Adams, the very land settled by John Bell and where the hauntings took place. As the play says, “In this place, on this ground” — only yards from the graves of the Bell family. The play is performed by professional actors from Nashville as well as local talent.
SPIRIT is based on Richard Williams Bell’s memoir entitled Our Family Trouble. Richard Williams Bell’s memoir is the only known eyewitness account of the Bell Witch hauntings, which took place between 1818 and 1820 in the Bell home in Adams. Ingram honored the Bell family’s request that the account not be published until after all of John Bell Sr.’s immediate family had passed away.
Mandie Neblitt
Robertson County Players
Founded over 40 years ago by a talented group of citizens which included a Church of Christ pastor and the director of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, the Robertson County Players put on community theater productions of Broadway plays and musicals in local venues. It all began with Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite in 1978 and continues to this day with over 100 different performances held. The troupe hosts events throughout the year with tickets ranging from $10-15. Visit their website for season and ticket information.
