Life in Knoxville
Weekend Guides
What to do on a Saturday, in town and within about ninety minutes of it.
The question I get after “where do you eat” is “what is there to do here?”
More than people expect. Knoxville has a 1928 movie palace, a free art museum, a farmers market that takes over the whole square, and a music festival that draws people from other countries. Then there is everything within a ninety minute drive, which is where a lot of the good weekends actually happen.
Here is the standing list. Recurring events are noted by season rather than by date, because dates move. Check before you go.
01
Downtown on a Saturday
Market Square
Downtown
Historic pedestrian square ringed with restaurants and shops, and the center of most downtown weekends.
Market Square Farmers Market
Downtown
Local growers and makers fill the square on Saturdays, with a smaller winter season indoors nearby.
Krutch Park
Downtown
Green walkway linking Gay Street to Market Square, with sculpture installations that rotate each year.
The Old City
Downtown
Victorian warehouse district of galleries, maker studios, breweries, distilleries and live music venues.
Sunsphere
World’s Fair Park
Ride the elevator up the 1982 World’s Fair tower for a full circle view of the city.
Mast General Store
Gay Street, downtown
Two floors of outdoor gear, apparel and home goods in a restored Gay Street storefront.
02
Museums, music and culture
Knoxville Museum of Art
World’s Fair Park
East Tennessee’s visual culture, plus a standing contemporary glass installation. Always free to walk through.
Historic Tennessee Theatre
Gay Street, downtown
The Official State Theatre of Tennessee, a 1928 movie palace now booking Broadway, concerts and film.
Bijou Theatre
Gay Street, downtown
Small historic room where touring acts, comedy and orchestra dates feel close to the stage.
Knoxville Symphony Orchestra
Downtown
Eighty professional musicians playing the Tennessee Theatre, the Bijou and unexpected rooms around town.
Museum of East Tennessee History
Gay Street, downtown
Regional history from settlement through the present, inside the East Tennessee History Center.
Beck Cultural Exchange Center
East Knoxville
Museum and archive preserving African American history and culture in East Tennessee since 1975.
WDVX Blue Plate Special
Downtown
Free live radio show at midday, bluegrass to funk, broadcast in front of a walk in audience.
Museum of Appalachia
Clinton
Smithsonian affiliated living history village of log cabins, farm buildings and a vast artifact collection.
03
Festivals and seasonal traditions
Big Ears Festival
Downtown
Four days each spring of adventurous music across theaters, churches, warehouses and galleries.
Dogwood Arts Festival
World’s Fair Park
Spring tradition with juried artists, two stages and a maker market. Free to walk in.
Knoxville Opera’s Rossini Festival
Market Square
Spring street fair with four outdoor stages of music and dance, plus a craft market.
Kuumba Festival
Market Square
East Tennessee’s largest annual celebration of African and African American culture, held in summer.
Festival on the 4th
World’s Fair Park
Independence Day music, food and fireworks, with the Knoxville Symphony playing the lawn.
HoLa Festival
World’s Fair Park
Fall celebration of Latin American cultures with live music, dancing, food and craft vendors.
Tennessee Valley Fair
Chilhowee Park
A September fair over a century old: rides, livestock, competitions and a nightly concert lineup.
Christmas in the City
Downtown
Six weeks of holiday events including the Market Square ice rink and the Gay Street parade.
Where you live decides your weekends
Some of this you can walk to. Some of it is a drive.
Living downtown, in Bearden, in Farragut or out toward the lake gives you a completely different default Saturday. That is worth thinking about before you pick a neighborhood, not after.
04
Day trips within about ninety minutes
Cades Cove
Townsend
Mountain valley with a one way loop road past 1800s cabins, churches and a working gristmill.
Sugarlands Visitor Center
Gatlinburg
The northern gateway into Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with exhibits and trailheads out the door.
Dollywood
Pigeon Forge
Dolly Parton’s mountain theme park, with rides, craftspeople and live music built into the hillside.
Manhattan Project National Historical Park
Oak Ridge
Park Service site interpreting the secret city that enriched uranium during World War II.
Norris Dam State Park
Norris
Lakeside park with trails, a 1798 gristmill and the Lenoir Museum’s Appalachian collection.
Cherohala Skyway
Tellico Plains
National Scenic Byway climbing over five thousand feet, with fifteen overlooks toward North Carolina.
Historic Rugby
Rugby
Victorian colony founded in 1880 by British author Thomas Hughes, still standing on the Cumberland Plateau.
05
The University of Tennessee and game day
Neyland Stadium
UT campus
Sixth largest college football venue in the country, checkerboard end zones and all.
The Vol Navy
Tennessee River at UT campus
Hundreds of boats tie up on the river below the stadium and tailgate from the water.
Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center
UT campus
Home of Tennessee basketball, renamed under a naming rights deal with Food City.
Ayres Hall
The Hill, UT campus
Orange and white Collegiate Gothic landmark crowning the Hill, on the National Register.
McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture
UT campus
Free campus museum covering archaeology, paleontology and regional culture in one manageable visit.
Clarence Brown Theatre
UT campus
Professional theatre company on campus, pairing working actors and designers with students each season.
The weekends are the reason people stay.
Tell me what a good Saturday looks like for you and I will tell you which parts of town make it easy.
Hours, seasons, access and rules change, and some places close for weather or maintenance. Please confirm directly before you go. Dailey Dream Homes with Greater Impact Realty has no business relationship with any place named here and receives nothing for including them.