NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Williamson County is getting a new kind of wellness event. One rooted not only in fitness, nutrition and physical health, but also in mental health, faith, education and community connection.
WillCo WellFest 2026, short for the Williamson County Family Wellness Festival, will take place Saturday, May 16, 2026, at The Factory in Franklin. The free, family-friendly event will bring together more than 50 health, wellness, nutrition and lifestyle vendors, along with local and national practitioners, interactive demos, giveaways and a live podcast experience featuring Dr. Chris Motley, Dr. Anis Khalaf, Jordan Rubin and Fr. Dan Reehil.
For Dr. Anis Khalaf, medically trained acupuncture physician and founder of Acupuncture Fit, the event is more than a wellness expo. It is personal.
“This is not just an event,” Dr. Khalaf said. “It’s really a starting point for people to take ownership of their health in a way that actually makes sense.”
Dr. Khalaf’s passion for wellness began long before he became a practitioner. At 22, just after graduating college, he found himself facing what he described as a severe health condition.
“I found myself sitting on a very cold doctor’s office table, in a paper thin gown, with a very grim diagnosis,” Khalaf said.
After experiencing symptoms including bleeding, brain fog and fatigue, Khalaf said he began searching for another way forward. That search eventually led him to traditional Chinese medicine and natural health practices, including acupuncture, personalized nutrition, lab testing and emotional wellness work, all services he now provides himself.
“About 90 days later, I went back to the specialist because my bleeding was gone, my brain fog went away and my headache was gone,” Khalaf said. “And after they checked me out, they said, ‘Everything is gone. What did you do?’”
That experience changed the direction of his life.
“At that point is when I decided to devote my life to this [type of] medicine,” he said.
WillCo WellFest is designed to bring wellness resources under one roof in a way that feels approachable instead of intimidating.
The festival will feature more than 50 vendors across health, wellness, nutrition and lifestyle, along with clean food, natural products, innovative wellness tools, family-friendly activities, demos and giveaways.
Dr. Khalaf said the goal is to help people answer questions like: Where do I go? Who do I trust? What actually works?
Onsite vendors and community partners include Symbiotic Wellness, The Clay Walker Foundation, Plus One Pelvic Health, Miso Healthy and more.
“We didn’t just need more content,” Dr. Khalaf said. “We needed community. We need a space where people can experience this in real life, ask questions, meet providers and feel supported.”
The event will include practitioners and businesses focused on functional health, acupuncture, chiropractic care, mental health and therapy services, fitness, nutrition, family resources and support for people navigating chronic pain, fertility, addiction, weight loss, sleep issues and mental health concerns.
“This is gonna be a place where people can come as they are,” Khalaf said. “No pressure, no judgment, no expectation that they have to figure it all out.”
One of the featured elements of the festival will be a live podcast experience with Dr. Chris Motley, Dr. Anis Khalaf and guests including Jordan Rubin, Fr. Dan Reehil and others. Rubin is a New York Times bestselling author of The Maker’s Diet and The Biblio Diet. Reehil is host of the Battle Ready podcast. Tickets are still online.
Dr. Khalaf said the podcast portion is meant to go beyond surface-level wellness talk.
“The goal with the podcast isn’t just interviews,” Khalaf said. “It’s real conversations that people can sit in on and walk away feeling super impacted.”
Today, Dr. Khalaf practices an integrative model he describes as “marrying ancient wisdom with modern technology.” His work includes acupuncture and root-cause wellness support for people dealing with pain, infertility, addiction, weight loss, depression, anxiety, sleep issues and more.
But Khalaf said he became increasingly aware that many people who need deeper wellness support often cannot access it.
The nonprofit behind this event is the Acupuncture Fit Initiative, with its Giving Health program. Dr. Khalaf’s Nashville location is serving people all over Middle Tennessee at their Brentwood office.
“At its core, [Giving Health] is about making high quality, root cause wellness accessible to people who would normally never have access to it,” Khalaf said.
That support may include wellness evaluations, lab testing, personalized protocols, ongoing guidance and education.
“We’re not just focused on symptom relief,” Khalaf said. “We’re focused on helping people understand their body, get clarity on what’s going on, and then giving them a plan that they can follow with support through education.”
Dr. Khalaf said one of the driving ideas behind WillCo WellFest is the difference between what he calls “life-saving” medicine and “life-giving” medicine.
“I believe in all forms of medicine,” he said. “But, I believe that there needs to be clarity on which silo somebody should enter into and that there are three silos of medicine. There’s disease treatment, disease prevention and health promotion.”
For Dr. Khalaf, WillCo WellFest sits in that third space: health promotion. “I live and work in the area of health promotion, and that is very life giving,” he said.
The inaugural festival is planned for May intentionally, Dr. Khalaf said, because May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
“We just wanted to honor that month,” he said. “And just really serve that month to bring more awareness to both mental and physical health.”
WillCo WellFest 2026 will take place Saturday, May 16, 2026, at The Factory at Franklin. The event is free, with tickets available through the festival website. The official will kick off at 9 a.m. and conclude 6 p.m.
“Whether you want to attend, partner, or serve, there’s a place for you,” Dr. Khalaf said.
Scan the QR code for more information and follow Dr. Khalaf on Instagram, where he gives behind-the-scenes wellness tips and tricks.
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