Warren Wells, who became TWHNC Chief Executive Officer in June, can be seen driving around the grounds in his side-by-side ATV.  

Since taking the reins, Wells said, it’s been a run to carry on the 83-year tradition of the Celebration all while making it ready for the future.  

Growing up in Bedford County, Wells attended the Celebration as a kid, working at the popcorn booth while his mother tended bar at the Blue Ribbon Circle. He says all he wanted to do was to get out of Bedford County— much less run its biggest industry.  

And he did, eventually joining the Tennessee National Guard in Shelbyville in 2001. Wells was deployed to Iraq in 2005. He served in the Guard until 2010, where he rose to Sergeant.  

After reuniting with his childhood friend, Jessica, they married and moved to Murfreesboro. Wells became involved in politics, serving in the offices of State Sen. Jim Tracy until 2011 and then former Gov. Bill Haslam for another seven.  

While working in those offices, Wells said he helped establish Tennessee Promise—a cause that has always been near to his interests as a first-generation college student, having graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro in 2009.  

In doing so, he said he found fulfillment in community work and “helping kids just like you.”  

“I got into politics because I wanted to help people who grew up in neighborhoods like I did... and so I was like, I want to get back into serving the community somehow,” he said.  

After leaving Haslam, Wells went on to work for a Fortune 500 company just outside of Chattanooga that dealt in employee benefits.  

The work-family balance was great, Wells said, as he got to spend more time with his now 10-year-old-son. But the career fulfillment wasn’t there.  

He says Bedford County Mayor Chad Graham approached him about taking on the Celebration job.  

“I told my wife, ‘I think this maybe it.’ This may truly be where I can be happy every day going to work thinking that I’m helping people like me,” he said.  

He accepted the position in January, and now he’s seeing the Celebration through new eyes. He’s learned just how much of an economic impact it has on the Shelbyville community.  

“The other thing that I’ve learned that I love is how much the people who aren’t from Shelbyville, what they think of Shelbyville. They’ve been coming here since they were kids for vacation and how much they love it,” he said, remembering he used to wanted to vacation anywhere else but Shelbyville.  

“I’m hoping that we will spend this next year trying to think about how to change the fan experience to make it more enjoyable,” he said.  

He described his plans as being like a carnival atmosphere that brings more people to the actual grounds—a much needed change from the virtual worlds created by last year’s pandemic.  

Wells and his team at the Celebration are wanting to add more events to the Celebration grounds year-round.  

It’s a change everyone may not like, but the Celebration is “competing with more” today than in the past, according to Wells, which necessitates change.  

Still, he assures that “the Celebration will always be the Celebration.”  

What’s new this year?  

• Hat Night will have no contest.
• Veterans’ night will also include first responders. Each military branch’s anthem or fight song will be played.
• Prices were lowered to encourage more vendors, Wells said.
• Food trucks are planned to be underneath the water tower on the first Friday and Saturday, and second Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
• A new Celebration website is forthcoming, Wells added.

Correction: An earlier version of this article said Wells began as Celebration CEO in Janurary . He began in June 2021.