Dolly Parton had one more big party in the works before her death, and her team intends to throw it.
Parton’s estate has announced DOLLYFEST: The Celebration of a Lifetime, a pair of celebrations taking place across consecutive weekends in Nashville and London in 2027. Details about the celebrations, including dates, venues, ticket information, and lineup, have yet to be revealed.
The idea predates Parton’s death. DollyFest was originally being planned as a multi-artist Nashville event around her 80th birthday, with Parton herself set to host and perform. Longtime manager Danny Nozell says a venue had already been booked and an announcement was ready before Parton’s health forced her to step away from the plans in 2025.
“What Dolly started, we will ensure is brought to life,” Nozell said, adding that the festival was something Parton truly wanted to happen. Her family held a private funeral following her death, and no traditional public memorial is currently planned.
“As far as a traditional memorial goes, that is not something Dolly wanted,” Nozell explained. “This [event] is something that is authentic to her, something that feels right to me, and something that artists and fans around the world can participate in, while also giving everyone time to grieve, and giving everyone time to plan.”
That doesn’t mean the tributes are slowing down. Since Parton’s death at age 80, artists across generations have honored her onstage and online. Many artists have already begun turning their own concerts into impromptu celebrations of her music. Jack White and Ella Langley have both performed “Jolene,” while Kacey Musgraves dedicated a two-song stretch of her Boston show to Parton with “Rainbow” and “Here You Come Again.”
DollyFest also appears to be part of a much larger plan Parton had for keeping her work alive well into the future. Her team has said she spent years mapping out unreleased music, books, television projects, merchandise, and other ventures that could continue after her death. That includes at least one song we won’t hear for quite a while, which the late icon locked away until 2045.
For now, though, DollyFest will be the biggest public celebration directly overseen by Parton’s estate — and, appropriately, it sounds a lot more like a party than a funeral. As Nozell put it, the goal is to see through something “truly dreamed up by Dolly” and give fans around the world time to celebrate her on her own terms.
The estate says additional details on both events will be announced soon.
