Downtown Knoxville celebrates the first Friday of each month by having stores extend their hours. Music pops up in the usual places such as outside on Market Square and inside bars and restaurants, and in more unusual places such as art shops and stores. The focal points of the event have become, art, music and free food and beverages at various stops. The open container law seems to be more of a suggestion than an absolute rule for the evening.
All taken together, it is a festive event that draws families from the suburbs, students from UT, as well as people from the rest of the city and region, all mingling happily with downtown residents. Often something unexpected or interesting presents itself – usually of the pleasant variety. So far, I don’t think a controversy has arisen about this event (unlike Sundown – see below), other than the fact that another part of town started doing the same thing and feathers were duly ruffled. In the past, the buzz on this night seemed more of a contrast to a typical Friday night. Any Friday night downtown is exciting now, but once a month there is a little something extra.
Last Friday being the first Friday in June, the festivities commenced once again. The first thing I ran into was the race for the “less competitive” runners in the one mile run sponsored by City People. The race is an annual stand alone event, but this year blended into the first annual International Biscuit Festival. More on that later. The race started at Pete’s (Did you eat breakfast there yet? I’m going to keep asking until you do.) and finished on Market Street beside Krutch Park. Great fun. A number of recognizable downtown faces brought up the very end. I’ll not name names in a public forum. You’ll just have to look at the pictures.
The Athletes wait impatiently for the starting gun!
After that little bit of unexpected fun, I talked to Daniel (see story below) in the park and stopped by the Holston Building to speak to the good folks at the reception offered by Church Street United Methodist and then crossed Gay Street to have dinner at the French Market which serves delicious crepes Parisian style, complete with batter they import from said city. The lovely couple who own the restaurant lived in Paris and have done their best to recreate the kind of sidewalk cafe they loved there. They pushed me to vary from my standard ham and cheese crepe to try one with egg inside. It was great and they tell me that next time I have to eat one with a poached egg on top – “very traditional.” I’ll probably do just that. They haven’t steered me wrong, yet.
I ate at an outside table, of course, and watched Daniel painting, talking to people and playing his guitar. Gay street isn’t quite as good for people watching as Market Square, but it isn’t bad, especially on a First Friday. As for inside seating, unless it is pouring rain or extremely hot or cold, how could you do anything else but sit outside? I wonder how many outside seats Knoxville has now on a Friday night. If any of you would like to count, I’ll be happy to post the results. You could get the second Urban Blues award ever commissioned! Or not.
After dinner I walked down Gay Street toward the 100 block. That spot has been tortured with very complicated construction project for more than a year. I feel for them and try to visit often. They also have several excellent art galleries and you never know what art you might find. For example, you might just find an amazing showing of a rare print collection by Salvadore Dali! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I try to stay in touch with what’s happening downtown, but somehow I missed an entire Dali Exhibition at the UT Downtown Gallery. Dali was commissioned to illustrate Dante’s Divine Comedy. One of the few sets of prints to remain intact was shown and it was chilling. I’m not an artist and certainly not an art critic, so I can’t do it justice. It was overwhelming in its scope and more than slightly creepy. I’m not sure I’m any more keen on Dali’s version of Dante’s vision of Paradise than I am on their collective presentation of Hell. I’ll have to ponder that on a second visit. Disturbing doesn’t really cover it, but isn’t that a primary function of art?
After leaving the gallery, I walked down Jackson Avenue, which is purported to be next on the make-over list for downtown. I wanted to walk through the Old City to see what was happening and to check in on Aisle Nine, the latest effort to bring groceries to the neighborhood, before ending the evening at Coffee and Chocolate. I’ll write a piece on grocery stores sometime, since that is such a hot topic when downtown is mentioned. For now I’ll say that I’m wanting to see the vegetables. There is a large candy aisle and more beer than I ever imagined seeing in one small place, but I’ll try to hold out a little hope for now, that it will grow into something a little more, well, grocerieish..
