Mule Day 2026

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It’s time for Mule Day

Event Snapshots you won’t want to miss

The Parade
2026 Mule Day Parade

Saturday - April 11 11:00 

Downtown Columbia 

Mule Day is excited to Announce the 2026 Mule Day Parade Grand Marshal, Sterling Marlin. Marlin, a proud Maury County native, celebrated for his back-to-back Daytona 500 victories in 1994 & 1995. He is also recognized as one of NASCAR’s top 75 drivers of all time!  Inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, Sterling still calls this community home. His family has farmed this land for hundreds of years, and his roots run deep, just like his legacy.

Mule Day Queen and Court 2026

The 2026 Mule Day Pageant was held on Saturday February 21 at Columbia State Community College. Pageant winners are pictured l to r:  4th runner up, Lailah Webster; 2nd runner up, Graciee English; 2026 Mule Day Queen, Ava Sykes;1st runner up, Phynlee Keeling; and 3rd runner up, Cayley Crews.   photo by Mark Herron

Community Impact

MULE DAY WORKS SCHOLARSHIPS

After decades of charitable support that has largely taken place behind the scenes, the Maury County Bridle and Saddle Club and Mule Day have elected to focus their efforts on providing support for CTE (Career & Technical Education) and Vocational Training. For nearly 50 years funds raised from Mule Day have supported local schools, civic organizations and multiple construction and site improvements at the Maury County Park. 

Career & Technical Training and Vocational Training is an extremely broad umbrella, covering careers from lineman, welding, auto technicians, HVAC and construction trades to medical certification, beauticians, pharmacy tech, administrative technology, criminal justice fields and musical careers. Bottom line is this, Mules moved the world for hundreds of years, now Mule Day is working to positively impact the lives of young people in Maury County.

The Mules the star of the show

Each year, many events focus on the stars of the event, the mules! From the feed time races, old fashioned log pulls, the driving show, riding mule show, and other mule centric events, the mules take the stage. In addition, Mule Day also includes The Gaited Mule Tennessee State Championship, and The Mule Pulling Tennessee State Championship.

More fun for everyone

Mule Day’s schedule offers much more than mules. The event will also include the Annual Fun Dog Show on Thursday April 9th, at 1pm. This event highlights best costumes, tricks, and much more. 

On Saturday night, don’t miss Clogging and Line Dancing. Held at the 4-H Ridley Center, the event will feature the Muletown Stompers and the Urban Cowboy Line Dancing Company. 

New to the Mule Day line-up this year, the Classiest & Trashiest Wagon Show. From the fancy to most basic, come join the fun.

Mule Day 2026 would not be complete without live music, the Liar’s Contest, the Auctioneers Championship, craft fair, children’s activities, food and so much more. Visit muleday.com for the complete schedule of events and plan your week. 

Take home a memory

Don’t forget to commemorate your visit with a Mule Day souvenir. This year be sure and get a tee shirt or a cap on your way home. The collectible merchandise, available in the Baker Building, will also offer hoodies, harts, buttons, pins, mugs and a few more Suprises. At the annual knife auction, collectible knives from the past events will be sold to the highest bidder. Collectible knives honoring the 2026 will also be available for purchase, with a limited number available. It attracts locals and people from all over the country, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. And this year's Maury County Bridle and Saddle Club Mule Day's Festival promises to be bigger and better than ever.

"This year marks our 50th anniversary," says Parade Director, Mandy Mills," and we're really excited."

The festival celebrates Columbia's heritage as the "Mule Capital of the World" and features mule shows and competitions, live music, food concessions, a parade, and so much more.

Although the actual festival starts Thursday (April 4th) and goes through Sunday (April 7th), things kick off earlier in the week with the much-anticipated wagon train.

"We have a wagon train that starts on Monday, and people come from far and wide to be part of it," Mills says. "They ride through the rural parts of Maury County and surrounding counties and see the beautiful countryside and scenery, and then get here Wednesday and ride into Maury County Park."

Mills says riders with the wagon train send word ahead so people know when they'll arrive and can gather to watch them roll into the park."

Then, it's four days of back-to-back festival events from Thursday to Sunday. There will be food, live music, arts and crafts, and mule shows that include old-fashioned log pulling, jackpot mule races, driving mule shows, a mule pulling contest, and more. 

"On Saturday, we have our mule pull, which is a huge event," says Mills. "It draws a huge crowd. These are mules that go all over and pull blocks on sleds. You'll be amazed at how strong they are."

That's also the day of the annual Mule Day Parade. It's fitting for Mills to help with the parade planning. She grew up in Maury County and has gone downtown to watch it almost every year since she was a child. 

"The only parade I ever missed was the year I had chicken pox," she says with a laugh. "From the time I was born I've been to every parade, and then started coming out to the park. My husband logs with mules, so he brought mules, and we helped start a couple of events, and it's grown from there. We're thoroughly involved with Mule Day and very thankful to be."

The parade, she says, is always full of creative floats and lots of surprises.

"The parade is for everybody. Even if you're not a mule person, we have so many fun floats. Last year, we had a giant solo cup, and people actually got married in the solo cup. There have been a lot of Mule Days where people got married at the parade. It's so much fun. And the parade gives us a chance to celebrate our businesses here in Maury County, and that's important."

The itinerary for each day is posted on the muleday.com website. Tickets to get into the park are $10 per day for an adult, while kids under 12 are admitted for free. A four-day pass is available for $25.00.

Mule Day Festival has something for everyone. 

"People come from everywhere and, despite our differences, enjoy the time together. It's like a big family. You won't meet better people than mule people.