A Feast for the Senses: 2025 Knox Asian Festival in Photos

Words by Leslie Bateman; photos by Scott Thompson. 

The 12th annual Knox Asian Festival was a sensory overload in the best possible way. Music, dance, art, street food—if you weren’t sweating and smiling, you weren’t doing it right.

The party actually started Saturday night at the Sushi & Sumo VIP event, where festival mastermind/executive director of the Asian Culture Center of Tennessee Kumi Alderman (tiny, fierce, unstoppable) went head-to-head with Hiroki, the heaviest sumo champ on earth (6’4”, 570 lbs). Guess who sent who flying (well, *flying* might be a slight exaggeration) out of the ring? Spoiler: Knoxville’s got a new sumo queen. Proceeds from Sushi & Sumo benefited the Asian Culture Center’s educational programming, including outreach to K–12 schools across East Tennessee.

By Sunday, World’s Fair Park had turned into a kaleidoscope of color and culture. More sumo, Kpop, martial arts, all manner of international dancing and music, vendors for days, and food lines that were 100% worth the wait. This year’s addition of an “Asian Diversity Fashion Show” was a creative twist. Did we mention it was HOT? After the morning rain stopped, you could’ve steamed dumplings on the sidewalk.

Big cheers to Kumi and crew for once again pulling off Knoxville’s most colorful party of the year.

Scott Thompson (Facebook | Instagram) was there all day taking photos. A picture being worth a thousand words, we’ll let him take it from here!