Website: https://nashbashrugby.com/
Nash Bash Rugby Festival is an annual spring rugby tournament and festival held in the Nashville, Tennessee, area. The event hosts youth, college, men’s, and women’s rugby teams from across North America, pairing competitive matches with music, social activities, and on-site camaraderie. It runs as two separate weekends each spring, one for its open and club divisions and one dedicated to youth rugby.
Services
Nash Bash organizes rugby tournament play in the 15s format, with multiple divisions grouped by level of competition. The divisions span a wide range of age groups and skill levels, including:
- Men’s Club (Elite and Social)
- Men’s Old Boys (40+)
- Men’s College
- Women’s Club (Elite and Social)
- Women’s College
- U19 Boys, Girls, and Middle School
Beyond the matches, the festival features live music and social events, on-site rugby equipment and apparel vendors, and professional photography and videography of the games. The combination of competitive rugby with music and social gatherings is central to how the festival describes itself. The 15s format, played with fifteen players per side, anchors the on-field schedule, while the surrounding festival programming gives players, families, and spectators reasons to stay throughout each tournament weekend. Grouping teams by competition level across club, college, old boys, women’s, and youth brackets allows squads of differing experience and age to find appropriate matchups.
The organization runs two main events:
- Big Bash, scheduled for March 21 to 22, 2026, billed as the 42nd annual edition.
- U19 Bash, scheduled for April 11 to 12, 2026, billed as the 21st annual edition.
About
According to the organization, Nash Bash Rugby Festival has been operating for 41 years, a figure it notes accounts for interruptions caused by the pandemic and a flood. The U19 division was added in 2004. The 2026 events are billed as the 42nd annual Big Bash and the 21st annual U19 Bash, reflecting the festival’s standing as one of the long-running rugby tournaments in the region. The event draws youth, college, men’s, and women’s rugby teams from across North America, and its programming pairs on-field competition with the broader social and festival atmosphere that gives the gathering its name.
Location & Contact
The two events are held at separate venues in the greater Nashville area, with the adult and club competition in Nashville proper and the youth competition just north of the city in Hendersonville:
- Big Bash: Nash Bash Fields, 2131 Lebanon Pike, Nashville, TN 37210
- U19 Bash: Hendersonville Rugby Park, Hendersonville, TN
Contact information for the festival:
- Director: Chris Gower
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: 615-415-6584
Additional Information
The festival maintains a presence on social media via Facebook, Twitter (@NashBashRugby), and Instagram (@nashbashrugby). The website provides a Schedule and Welcome Packet for participants along with a teams list of participating clubs. With the Big Bash held in Nashville and the U19 Bash held in nearby Hendersonville, the festival’s footprint spans the greater Nashville area, drawing players, families, and spectators across its two weekends each spring.
Profile compiled from the organization’s official website (nashbashrugby.com).