Garth Brooks’ Nashville Bar Names Sept. 25 ‘Dolly Day’ With a Meaningful Tribute to Dolly Parton
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are turning their Nashville honky-tonk into a tribute to Dolly Parton with a gesture that reaches far beyond music.
On Sept. 25, Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk will celebrate what the couple is calling Dolly Day, and every dollar the venue brings in that day will go toward children’s literacy through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
The choice of date is deliberate. Written as 9/25, it recalls Parton’s iconic song “9 to 5.”
The plan comes shortly after Parton’s death on Aug. 25, 2026, at age 80. Her family has asked that people who wish to honor her consider supporting the Imagination Library, the literacy program she founded in 1995.
Why Sept. 25 Is Becoming Dolly Day
The idea of setting aside Sept. 25 in Parton’s honor has quickly gained momentum.
California lawmakers have designated Sept. 25 as Dolly Parton Day through Senate Bill 931. The legislation requires the governor to annually proclaim the date, with the 9-2-5 reference serving as a tribute to Parton’s “9 to 5.”
Other communities are also embracing the date. In New York City, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal proclaimed Sept. 25, 2026, as Dolly Parton Appreciation Day. New Orleans is also planning a Sept. 25 celebration through the Krewe of Dolly.
For Friends in Low Places, though, the tribute has a very specific purpose: putting money behind one of the causes that mattered most to Parton.
Friends in Low Places Is Giving Away Its Entire Day’s Income
Rather than simply decorating the bar for the occasion or creating Dolly-inspired drinks, Friends in Low Places is donating its entire income from Sept. 25 to children’s literacy.
Yearwood explained that whatever the cash register brings in will support Parton’s passion for children’s literacy, emphasizing that the day is centered on Dolly and the work she devoted herself to.
Brooks has also reflected on the lasting impact Parton leaves behind, saying, “Dolly may be the perfect example of if you spend your whole life loving, you WILL live forever.”
The couple hopes Dolly Day will become an annual event at Friends in Low Places.
The bar, located at 411 Broadway in downtown Nashville, is Brooks’ four-story Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk. The venue takes its name from his signature song and has become part of the entertainment scene along Lower Broadway.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Has Reached Five Countries
The charity at the heart of the celebration has a deeply personal connection to Parton’s childhood.
She launched the Imagination Library in 1995, initially serving children in her home county of Sevier County, Tennessee. Her father, who could not read or write, was a major inspiration behind the program.
The concept was straightforward: put high-quality, age-appropriate books into children’s hands and make them available regardless of a family’s income.
What began as a local effort eventually expanded far beyond East Tennessee. The program now operates in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Republic of Ireland, sending millions of free books to children each month.
Today, children from birth through age five can receive a book every month at no cost to their families in participating areas. The Imagination Library says it has gifted more than 300 million books since its launch.
A Legacy Built Around Books and Dreams
Parton’s own explanation of the program has always connected reading with the ability to dream about a different future.
Her Imagination Library vision speaks of children growing up with dreams of becoming doctors, inventors, ministers, writers and singers. Books, she believed, could provide the starting point for those dreams.
That philosophy has remained at the center of the program as it has expanded internationally. The organization says its goal is to inspire a lifelong love of reading while making sure children have access to books during their earliest years.
That makes Friends in Low Places’ Dolly Day particularly fitting. The tribute uses one of Nashville’s busiest honky-tonks to raise money for the very cause Parton spent decades building.
And with Sept. 25 deliberately tied to 9 to 5, the date carries a little piece of Dolly’s music with it too.
For Brooks and Yearwood, the hope is that Dolly Day will continue year after year, keeping Parton’s name connected to something she cared about deeply: giving children books, encouraging them to read and helping them imagine what their futures could become.