2025 Festival Planner

It’s time to get those dates on your calendars and start making plans!

JUNE

June starts with Rhinestone Fest, which we can’t call Dolly Fest, anymore, but celebrates all things Dolly. The great, annual downtown home tour is back. Brewfest and SoKno Pride, which has exploded in the last couple of years, anchors the second half of the month.

JULY

In July, we slow down a bit and settle into our summer routine of Jazz at the Emporium and the Market Square Farmers’ Market. There are a couple of notable exceptions, with our annual July 4 celebration on the World’s Fair Park and the beginning of the wonderful Knoxville Shakespeare series produced by the Tennessee Stage Company.

August is hot and so are the festivals that month, with a festival nearly every weekend. The Asian Festival has returned to August, as has the Big Kahuna Wing Festival.  They are simply too good to miss, so dress lightly and sweat it out!

Natana Manohari Indian Dance, Asian Festival, World’s Fair Park, Knoxville, 2024

AUGUST

While the festivals wind down as we enter a certain sporting season, two major events conclude the year’s festival events:

SEPTEMBER

  • Hola Festival, World’s Fair Park Performance Lawn,  Sept. 21 – 22

OCTOBER

  • Pridefest, Gay Street (parade, 10/4), World’s Fair Park, Oct. 5

NOVEMBER

  • Regal Festival of Lights and Lighting of the Christmas Tree, Krutch Park, Nov. 28
Christmas Parade, Gay Street, Knoxville, December 2024

DECEMBER

  • Christmas Parade on Gay Street, Dec. 5
  • New Year’s Eve Celebration, World’s Fair Park, Dec. 31

If I’ve missed something you think I should have included, say so in the comments and at the least you’ll have plugged another event, and maybe I’ll bring it onto the main list. See errors? I’d like to hear about that, as well. Are you tired already? See you at the festivals!