Scenes from Knoxville Opera’s 2026 Rossini Festival 

Downtown always feels fully lived-in during Rossini Festival weekend, Knoxville Opera’s annual international street fair featuring four performance stages, food, vendors and much more. I came out for a while both days to roam and enjoy one of our city’s most engaging and accessible arts showcases that is also a critical fundraiser for the Opera’s community programming. 

When you think of Knoxville Opera, you might think of its big marquis performances, such as the upcoming Gianni Schicchi taking place Friday, May 8 and Sunday, May 10 at the Bijou Theatre. But the Opera’s work in our community is much more expansive, including education programs, Opera Studio, Children’s Choir, Gospel Choir and Military Chorus. Rossini Festival helps raise funds for that programming and reinforce its mission. 

“It’s a way that we can serve our community by providing free access to music and creating this experience that not everyone is going to have an opportunity to have,” said Katie Spencer, Knoxville Opera’s director of advancement, said. “A part of our mission of giving voice to the stories that connect us. We want to connect our community through the arts, and that is why we do this.”

Rossini Festival was conceived in 2002 as an Italian street fair, inspired by then-director and principal conductor Francis Graffeo’s trip to the seaside town of Pesaro, Italy. Known as ​​the “City of Music” (Città Della Musica), Pesaro is the birthplace of legendary 19th-century opera composer Gioachino Rossini, and for 45 years it has hosted an annual festival in his honor.

“Frank came back and was like, ‘We can do this in Knoxville. We have the talent. We have the place. Let’s make it happen,’” Katie said.

That first year, Gay Street was closed – an easier feat, in those days – and populated with authentic Italian food and vendors. The Festival featured Rossini’s “Cinderella” (La Cenerentola), performed in a dustier, more dated version of the Tennessee Theatre, which was on the cusp of a major restoration to its jewel-box prime. 

“This is back when downtown Knoxville didn’t have a whole lot to offer,” Katie said. “Part of it was they wanted to bring people downtown and show people that, you know, the arts are here, and that Knoxville has an art scene to start supporting. Twenty-something years later, we have a massive art scene that people love, love and appreciate.”

That first event drew an impressive 6,000 people, which doubled the following year and continued to grow. Katie says, “We didn’t have enough Italian vendors to keep up with the audience and we couldn’t maintain our solely Italian flair, so we expanded to be an international street festival celebrating all cultures and all cultural arts that we have represented here in East Tennessee.”

The 2026 festival occupied Market Square, Market Street and a block-and-a-half each of Union and Clinch Avenues. It featured non-stop entertainment on four outdoor stages showcasing opera, classical, jazz, gospel, ethnic music and dance. The stages are an awesome opportunity for local performance groups, including several youth programs, to show what they’re about. They remind the community that Knoxville has an enormous assortment of access points through which to get involved with the performance arts. 

There were food vendors aplenty and more than 75 artisans throughout the market, along with a Kids & Family Fun Zone. New for this year were different cultural promenades and “La Piazza” tents sponsored by Y-12 Credit Union where festival-goers could rest or enjoy their food and drink in the shade. 

Knoxville Opera’s final production of the season is Gianni Schicchi, taking place Friday, May 8 and Sunday, May 10 at the Bijou Theatre. Its annual Croquet Tournament takes place May 17 at UT RecSports Complex. 

We are so fortunate to have Knoxville Opera in our city!

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My very favorite thing to photograph which I think just really captured the spirit of the festival … the dance floor!