Monica

City officials making more accommodations for downtown party on Monday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The fight for the cup continues Monday night at Bridgestone Arena. City officials are ready for another large crowd as the Predators and Penguins face off in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final! After an overwhelming response to the Broadway Smash party in downtown Nashville Saturday night, officials are making changes to accommodate more fans. With estimates of around 50,000 people in the streets of downtown Saturday night, officials underestimated the turnout. “It was too crowded and we know that. It’s a pleasant problem. You would always like to be, you know, estimated perfectly – but the only issue really was sidewalks got jammed and, you know, people were packed in. Some of that you want because that’s the spirit of the event and what’s going,” Butch Spyridon president of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. told News 2. A crowd lined up hours before the gates to the Broadway Smash opened. Security lines then kept the crowd backed up, grid-locking the sidewalks and causing a safety concern for some. “The original thought was to put the bike rack to keep the sidewalks moving and not let the crowd flow in, but the opposite happened. So we are making those adjustments for tomorrow night. It will be different,” Spyridon explained. He also says they plan to add more security and an additional video screen further down Broadway that will air the game. This would give the fans more room to spread out through downtown. “The Preds are back in it, the people are behind it and everybody wants to be part of history in the making. You know our goal in the beginning was let’s bring Nashville into this. The whole city needs to enjoy this, not just the 17,000 that can get in the building. The Preds feel like that, the mayor feels like that, we certainly do and unfortunately there’s going to be some growing pains. Unfortunately, this is the first time we’ve done this, but hopefully it won’t be the last time that we are doing this.” Spyridon says he’s meeting with police, fire and OEM officials at 9:00 a.m. to come up with the final details. The downtown party starts at 1:00 p.m. and will feature Rodney Atkins, Kip Moore and Brett Young.

Recent Headlines

2 days ago in Entertainment, Trending

Ryan Coogler aware of potential Oscar history ahead but focused on ‘Sinners’ team before ceremony

Ryan Coogler understands what Sunday night could mean for Oscar history. He's just not dwelling on it. Instead, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker is looking forward to spending one more night with his "Sinners" collaborators who helped bring the film to life.

2 days ago in Entertainment, Music

Morrissey calls off concert in Spain after local festivities deprived him of sleep

British rock star Morrissey won't perform a concert in Valencia after festivities in the Spanish city kept him from getting a proper night's rest, the former frontman of The Smiths said Thursday.

2 days ago in National, Trending

US forecasts blizzard, polar vortex, heat dome and atmospheric river all at once

Days of downpours have begun in Hawaii. The Southwest will soon bake with day after day of record 100-degree-plus (38 Celsius-plus) heat. Two storms will dump snow by the foot over northern Great Lakes states. And the dreaded polar vortex will again invade the Midwest and East with soul-crushing Arctic chill. This forecast of extremes comes as weather whiplash has already hit much of the East.

2 days ago in Entertainment

Two long-lost episodes of ‘Doctor Who’ have been found. Fans will soon be able to watch them

Over six decades of "Doctor Who," the intergalactic adventurer's adversaries have included evil robots, rampaging Yeti — and the BBC, which erased many early episodes of the now-iconic sci-fi TV series. A film charity announced Friday that it has found two previously lost 1960s episodes among the possessions of a deceased collector.

4 days ago in Entertainment

Oscars preview: Producers tease ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ and ‘Sinners’ celebrations

The producers behind the 98th Academy Awards have set out to celebrate not just the hit song "Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters", but the cultural phenomenon of the film itself. That logic is why the only other nominated song that will get a moment on the broadcast is "I Lied to You," from "Sinners," a blockbuster hit and the most-nominated film of all time.