Culture
Knoxville Poetry Slam Provides a Brave Space for Over 30 Years
New years always prompt reflection for me. Rather than making resolutions, I look for ways to challenge myself as one year gives way to the next (probably semantics, but it works for me). As 2025 prepared...
Meet ‘Hellmouth,’ Knoxville’s New Arts & Culture Magazine (& Movement)
In the Year of Our Lord 2026, I can’t think of many ideas more audacious than launching an ad-free print magazine. Enter Hellmouth, whose inaugural edition landed with a splash last fall. The publication is the...
The 8 Great: January’s Can’t-Miss Arts & Culture Picks
Editor’s note: New for 2026 we are excited to partner with local arts nonprofit Hellmouth Magazine, whose team will be curating a monthly lineup of can’t-miss arts and culture events, exhibitions and more. Hellmouth is dedicated...
Tarik’s North African Hosts ‘The JFG Exhibit’ Honoring Iconic South Knoxville Sign
The spirit of South Knoxville’s venerable and beloved JFG Sign is alive and well at Tarik’s North African. While the sign itself remains in storage, the restaurant is hosting a small but intriguing exhibit featuring artistic...
Business
Old City Welcomes Chic Vintage Just in Time for Vintage Bingo
Chic Vintage opened January 2, after a months-long transformation. My husband and I happened along on that First Friday of 2026, and I took a not-so-sneaky or professionally framed iPhone photo so I could figure out...
PostModern Spirits to Close After Nearly Decade-Long Run in Old City
An Old City craft staple is preparing to pour its final cocktail. Both the PostModern Spirits tasting room and its production arm, PostModern Distilling, will close on Jan. 31, ending a nearly 10-year run at 205...
Two Downtown Chefs Are 2026 James Beard Award Semifinalists
Joseph Lenn, chef and owner of J.C. Holdway, and Laurence Faber, co-owner and chef at Potchke, have been named semifinalists for the 2026 James Beard Awards. Joseph is competing in the Outstanding Chef category, one of...
A First Look at Earl’s, a New Restaurant Opening Today on the South Waterfront
If you watched the South Banks development take shape on the South Waterfront, you have probably wondered what would happen to that standalone retail space along the river. With the gorgeous asphalt tower mural by Curtis Glover on...
Development
GBX Buys the former Old City Performing Arts Center and The Standard; Former Sweet P’s Building Sold
GBX, a historic real-estate investment company based in Cleveland, Ohio has purchased several downtown buildings, marking their first incursion into the Knoxville market. Late last year the group acquired the building at 111 State Street, most...
Cumberland Avenue, Then & Now — Part II: What’s New
In Part I: The Old Guard earlier this week, we went searching for the businesses of yesteryear that are still standing on Cumberland Avenue. In Part II, we step into the present tense. I’m not exaggerating...
Downtown Development Update, January 2026
Four months have clipped by since the last set of photographs of the major developments underway in the heart of downtown. There’s been quite a bit of movement as you’ll see in the photos if you...
Cumberland Avenue, Then & Now — Part I: The Old Guard
Time stops for no man on “the Strip,” but memory does. It hangs like a dead clock on the wall, frozen at the moment you last walked out of your favorite college haunt, whether five years...
Events
10-Day Downtown-ish Planner: February 1-10
Welcome to the 10-Day Planner! If you want your event included, please create a Facebook event, invite editor Leslie Wylie Bateman via the “invite” button on the event page (you’ll need to friend her), and it...
10-Day Downtown-ish Planner: January 25-February 3
Welcome to the 10-Day Planner! If you want your event included, please create a Facebook event, invite editor Leslie Wylie Bateman via the “invite” button on the event page (you’ll need to friend her), and it...
10-Day Downtown-ish Planner: January 18-27
Welcome to the 10-Day Planner! If you want your event included, please create a Facebook event, invite editor Leslie Wylie Bateman via the “invite” button on the event page (you’ll need to friend her), and it...
2026 Festival (& Other Big Events) Planner
January is for recovery and resolve. February, we start feeling a little stir-crazy. And then, somewhere around March, we start to remember that leaving the house is actually kind of fun. Spring kicks off festival season...
Life
Five Things That Got Me Through Friday
It’s been a long year already for a lot of people. Personal hardships, anxiety about the present, uncertainty for the future … everyone is carrying something and it can often feel like you’re carrying it alone....
Honored in Name, Owed in Investment: The Story of Knoxville’s MLK Avenue
Every year, as the third Monday in January approaches, I feel the same unease settle in. I prepare myself for a week of service and celebration and for the familiar sanitizing of a man much of...
How to Get Your Visit Knoxville & WDVX Blue Plate Special Fix During Visitors Center Renovation
The Visit Knoxville Visitors Center at 301 S. Gay Street is a kind of front porch for downtown Knoxville. Tourists wander in clutching maps. Locals pop by for a last-minute gift. And, right on cue almost...
A New Year & a Lovely Day in a Future We Can Say YES! To
You’re back at work. As with every December, the long, end-of-year break that comes with the onslaught of various holidays has gone by too quickly. And now, here you are, already one week into January of...