Festival honouring Dolly Parton set for Nashville and London

What the report says

Dolly Parton’s estate has announced DollyFest, a two-city festival in London and Nashville that will honor the singer’s life and legacy, according to BBC World News. The event is being positioned as a substitute for a traditional public memorial, reflecting Parton’s reported wishes. The estate said the “star-studded” celebration will take place over two consecutive weekends in 2027, with exact dates to be announced later.

BBC reported that Parton had earlier imagined a related event in which she would host and perform with other artists, but that a planned January 2026 version was canceled before it was ever publicly announced because of her health struggles. Organizers said the new festival concept was developed by Parton and is intended to be something fans and performers can share while still allowing time for mourning and planning.

Parton, who died at 80 on 25 August after a brief battle with cancer, was one of country music’s most prominent figures. BBC noted that she was buried in a private family funeral in Nashville and placed beside her husband, Carl Dean, at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum. Her estate and festival organizer Danny Nozell said people are free to celebrate her in whatever ways they choose, but that a conventional memorial was not what she wanted.