Overview The Cornelia Airpark Concerts put Americana, folk and indie bands on the old runway of Cornelia Fort Airpark in East Nashville, one Saturday evening a month from May to August, and all proceeds go to the park around it. The series started in 2015 as the Cornelia Fort Pickin' Party, and 2026 was its 11th season. Friends of Shelby Park and Bottoms, the nonprofit that works with Metro Nashville Parks on Shelby Park, runs it. The airpark was built in 1945 and named for Cornelia Fort, a Nashville pilot who was in the air over Pearl Harbor when the attack began and in 1943 became the first female pilot in American history to die on active duty; the city folded the closed airfield into Shelby Park in 2011. On site Doors open at 5:30 and three acts play from 5:45 to 9 on the main stage. The grounds carry craft beer, food trucks, a cornhole area and a Kids and Family area with crafts, music and treats, and kids' games run between sets. Past activity partners in the family area have included Bach to Rock, Tenn Little Birds, the Shelby Bottoms Nature Center and Woodland Play Cafe. Children 15 and under get in free. Talent and Influencers The bills are mostly Nashville artists with a few from out of town. Sierra Ferrell played the series in 2019, before her four Grammy wins in 2025, and Kyle Tuttle and Michigan Rattlers played early editions. The 2025 season brought in 11 new artists, among them Chloe Kimes, The Watson Twins and Madeleine Kelson. In 2026 the four nights carried Blue Cactus, Milly Raccoon and Hwy '94; Bonner Black, Blanket Approval and Together Breakfast; Sweet Magnolia, Mudbug Stompers and Forever King Clark; and Mikki Zip, Rae the Band and JesseLee Jones and Brazilbilly, the house band from Robert's Western World, closing the season. Track record The series drew more than 30,000 guests over its first ten years, and more than 4,000 across the four 2025 shows, when website visits rose 46% on the year to 29,000. Friends of Shelby puts the money into forest restoration, playground upgrades, pickleball courts and its Park Explorers education program. Brand presence The presenting sponsor's name goes into the series title as "presented by," onto every ticket, the main-stage branding and the wrap-up videos, and it gets a 10-by-20 booth or a giveaway handed to every attendee. The Kids and Family sponsor can put a branded activity bag in every child's hands. Ground Crew sponsors take the main entrance, the tickets or the cornhole area. Marketing runs through the Nashville Scene, Do615, Nashville Guru and The Nashvillian, posters in local storefronts, and the social accounts of Friends of Shelby, with more than 11,000 followers between them.