Eat Your Way Around the World in Knoxville This Month

Knoxville is about to embark on a month-long international food and culture crawl, no passport required.

Beginning this weekend and stretching into mid-September, a veritable United Nations of events is headed our way: Irish Fest on the Hill (Aug. 8), St. Cugino Day (Aug. 9), European Culture Festival (Aug. 16), GermanFest (Aug. 22), Ciao Knox Mercato (Aug. 23), Knox Asian Festival (Aug. 29-30) and Greek Fest (Sept. 11-13). If I’m leaving anything out, let me know in the comments! 

Here’s your itinerary.

Irish Fest on the Hill

Saturday, Aug. 8, 4-10 p.m. | Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (414 W. Vine Ave.) | Tickets are $15 for adults; kids (12 & under) free. Cash or card accepted at gate. 

First stop: Ireland, by way of one of downtown Knoxville’s oldest churches.

Irish Fest on the Hill features Irish food, drinks and desserts alongside Celtic entertainment. Music will spread across two stages, with Red-Haired Mary, Knoxville Pipe & Drums, Jeff Nelson, Nancy Brennan Strange and Friends, Four Leaf Peat, Tim and Cherry on the Strings, The Missing Goats and Tracy Jenkins & Will MacMorran among the performers. Tennessee Irish Dancers will also take the stage, and there will be a demonstration of Gaelic games.

You can also browse a silent auction or tour Immaculate Conception, one of the oldest Catholic churches in the Diocese of Knoxville.

St. Cugino Day

Sunday, Aug. 9, 4-8 p.m. | The Mill & Mine (227 W Depot Ave.) | Tickets are $85 with food + three wine tastings; $75 without alcohol. All ages; ticket required for everyone.

The second annual St. Cugino Day is an Italian-inspired, entirely vegetarian feast dreamed up by Cugino Fratello’s Kory Robinson and Andrew Sayne.

As I wrote last year, St. Cugino is not technically a real saint. Kory and Andrew made him up after Kory attended a St. Joseph’s Day festival in Philadelphia and returned home thinking Knoxville needed its own summer feast.

The inaugural event sold out, allowing Cugino Fratello to raise money for beneficiaries CAC Beardsley Community Farm and Pilot Light. When they began putting out feelers to restaurants and vendors this summer, people wanted back in, and more wanted to join.

This year’s menu:

The festival also includes espresso from Adrift Coffee Cart and makers including Husmus Studio and Wildwood Pottery. The Zero/Zero wine-tasting station is getting more room after proving particularly popular last year.

DJ Dozibrion returns to spin music, and there will be raffles plus a cash bar serving Italian wines, beer and spritzes. Also, it’s The Mill & Mine’s 10th anniversary!

This year’s beneficiary is Mountain Access Brigade.

European Culture Festival

Sunday, Aug. 16, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. | Market Square | Free but RSVPs appreciated 

Can’t decide which European country to visit? That’s fine! Have several.

The Center for European Cultures and Connections is bringing Knoxville’s first European Culture Festival to Market Square. The free festival promises what organizers describe as a culinary tour of the continent, with traditional dishes and treats representing a variety of European cultures.

There will also be folk dancing and live music throughout the day, an artisan market filled with handmade and heritage goods and free traditional craft workshops for children.

GermanFest

Saturday, Aug. 22, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. | First Lutheran Church and School (1207 N. Broadway) | Admission is $5 for adults; children under 12 get in free.

The 23th Annual GermanFest Knoxville returns once again to unite German culture with Southern hospitality. Most importantly for our purposes, there will be schnitzel, bratwurst, pretzels, loaded pommes frites, strudel, beer and root beer.

There will also be oompah bands, a Kinder Choir and an organ Konzert performed by the UT Organ Studio, plus a marketplace of local artisans and German wares. The festival includes a German car show, stein-holding competition and — objectively the marquee athletic event of the entire international festival season — dachshund races.

Admission is $5 for adults; children under 12 get in free.

Ciao Knox Mercato

Saturday, Aug. 23, 4-7 p.m. | The Plaid Apron (1210 Kenesaw Ave.) | Free but RSVPs appreciated 

The third quarterly Ciao Knox Mercato pops up for a Festa della Vendemmia celebrating the late-summer harvest. 

The Italian-style market brings together local producers, makers and purveyors for an afternoon of sipping, shopping and eating in the parking lot outside The Plaid Apron and Sequoyah Realty.

This installment has a Tennessee-meets-Italy orange theme: Cordoni Maser will launch an orange wine, Corks Wine & Spirits will pour orange spritz mocktails, Chef Drew will make summer-harvest pizzas and Tesoro Gelato is bringing orangecello gelato. Big Orange attire is encouraged.

Other vendors include Cordoni Maser Olive Oil and Wines, Wine Forte, Mucho Gusto Food Truck, The Italian Apron, The Spice & Tea Exchange, Il Mercato Balsamic Shop, Traveler’s Caffe and Terra Bella.

There will also be Italian music from DJ Spritz, representatives from several local Italian cultural groups and the launch of a vintage Italian car showcase.

Upgraded tickets are available for a Cordoni Maser passport pizza-and-wine tasting experience inside The Plaid Apron; reserve your table here.

Knox Asian Festival

Sunday, Aug. 30, 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. | World’s Fair Park | Advance tickets are $3 or $5 at the gate; children under 12 are free. 

The 13th annual Knox Asian Festival returns to World’s Fair Park at the end of the month, celebrating cultures from Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Vietnam and beyond.

The main festival kicks off with the Asian Cultural Parade from the Festival Lawn fountain. Cultural booths representing countries across Asia will offer food, activities, art and ongoing performances throughout the day.

Organizers are spreading the Asian Foods Market across both World’s Fair Park lawns this year, while the Knoxville Museum of Art will also be incorporated into the festival footprint. A VIP night show takes place from 6-8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29 (purchase advance tickets here). 

The annual passport program will return, with the first 3,000 visitors receiving a booklet to stamp as they travel among cultural booths.

Here are some of the authentic Asian foods that visitors can enjoy at this year’s Knox Asian Festival.

 

Greek Fest

Sept. 11-13, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday/Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday; St. George Greek Orthodox Church (4070 Kingston Pike) | Admission is $5 for adults, with children under 12, UT students and veterans admitted free.

And finally: OPA.

St. George Greek Orthodox Church will celebrate its 47th annual Greek Fest this September, bringing one of Knoxville’s longest-running and best-loved cultural festivals back for another weekend of food, music, dance and Greek hospitality.

The festival began in 1977 as a way to introduce Knoxville to Greek food, culture and dance and now draws thousands of visitors over the course of the weekend.

And yes, there will be food. Lots and lots and lots of Greek food; you can download the menu here.

Visitors can also take an introductory church tour to learn about Greek Orthodox history and faith. Proceeds support the church’s Theotokos Fund.