The Trails became so popular, attracting people from all over, that finally additional entertainment was required. A charter of incorporation was signed on March 31, 1961, and that official document listed the Festival's purpose as "advancing, promoting, supporting, and fostering the natural beauty of the City of Knoxville, Tennessee, and the surrounding area and advancing, promoting, supporting, and fostering educational programs, charitable undertakings, historical, horticultural, canine and equestrian societies, arts, music, drama, crafts, tours, lectures, and other related activities, either singularly or in cooperation with other organizations, for the purpose of emphasizing the cultural opportunities of the City of Knoxville, Tennessee, and for other related purposes."

The Festival has matured into one of the largest and finest annual festivals in America and has been termed "The Best 17 Days of Spring in America" by the Southeast Tourism Society. With the flowering of the dogwoods in the spring, the Festival always has a newness and wonderful freshness every Opening Day. The Dogwood Arts Festival manifests the very best of the nature and the people of East Tennessee, and its commitment to that goal shall continue to be in its forefront.
www.dogwoodarts.com

Dogwood Village House and Garden Show
Held annually in February at the Knoxville Convention Center, the House and Garden Show features beautiful gardens, beautifully decorated homes, house and garden products, speakers, and children's activities.
www.dogwoodvillage.org

Earth Fest
Events include live bands, exhibits teaching adults and children about recycling, composting, alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs), green power, and more. Held at the World's Fair Park.
www.knox-earthfest.org

Fantasy of Trees
The Fantasy of Trees at the Knoxville Convention Center has been a holiday tradition in East Tennessee since 1985. All proceeds from the Fantasy of Trees benefit Children’s Hospital.
www.etch.com/Fantasy.cfm

Feast with the Beasts
Includes samplings of food and beverages. Music provided by live bands throughout the zoo. Silent auction. All proceeds benefit Knoxville Zoo.
www.knoxville-zoo.org/feast.htm

Festival on the Fourth
Held at the World's Fair Park. Activities begin at 4 p.m. with a Salute to Our Troops. Bluegrass bands begin entertaining on the stage of the North Lawn at 4:15 p.m. The lineup includes Union Grass, RMS and Robinella and the CC String Band. The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and the Knoxville Symphony Festival Choir will take to the main stage of the South Lawn at 8 p.m. for the 20th Annual Pilot Free Independence Day Concert. Fireworks begin shortly before 10 p.m. Food and beverages are available throughout the park. Parking isavailable in lots around the World's Fair Park including the 11th Parking Garage, Fort Kid Parking Lot, World's Fair Park parking lot and Locust Street Garage.

Foothills Craft Guild Fall Show
A fine crafts narketplace features the work of over 120 well-known craft artists from East and Middle Tennessee. Held in the historic Jacob Building with musical performances and craft demonstrations: wood-turning, clay sculpture, loom weaving, cornshuckery, printmaking, metal sculpture and more.
www.foothillscraftguild.com/show-f05.html

Greekfest
Held at the World's Fair Park. Fabulous food, delectable desserts, live Greek music and folk dancing, shopping/imported gifts from Greece.
www.knox-greekfest.com

Grainger County Tomato Festival
Food, fun, crafts & demonstrations, antique engines, Civil War Encampment, National Guard. Fresh Grainger County tomatoes & produce will be sold during the festival. Pre-Tomato Festival Street Dance. Ridge Runners Tomato Festival Car Show. The famous Tomato Wars begin at 11AM on Saturday. Dairy cattle show. Free Admission, Free Parking during the festival.
www.graingercountytomatofestival.com

Head of the Tennessee Regatta
Held the 4th Saturday in October. From dawn to dusk, the day will be filled with music, hot air balloon rides, food, and of course lots of rowing. Knoxville Rowing Association hosts the Head of the Tennessee Regatta, one of the largest fall rowing events in the United States. Sanctioned by USRowing, 2,300 athletes in 470 boats compete in this event. Forty-four high schools, colleges and community rowing clubs participate, including future and former Olympians.
www.knoxrowing.com

Hola Festival
Hora Latina organization which features a celebration of diversity and a cultural salute to our East Tennessee community.
www.holafestival.org

Holston River Festival
Part of the Knoxville Dogwood Arts Festival. Live music, children's activities, food and displays featuring local artwork, plants and gardening. At Holston River Park.

Honda Hoot
The Honda Hoot offers the perfect chance to immerse yourself in four days of motorcycling magic. Ride long, winding roads through lush, green forests and rolling hills, discovering new destinations along the way. Take a test ride on an array of manufacturers' products in the demo area. Meet new friends and reminisce with familiar faces while you ride, hike, or sail your days away. Let your days melt into night, living it up at the nightly festivities under the stars.
www.hondahoot.com

Ijams Off-Road Runner 10K Greenway and Trail Race - April
Ijams Nature Center and the Knoxville Track Club co-host one of Knoxville's newest races, held in April of each year. If you enjoy running or jogging outdoors then this race, featuring one of Knoxville's most beautiful courses, is just for you. The course starts & finishes at Ijams and includes out and back on Will Skelton Greenway and the last third of the race on Ijams’ own trails.
www.ijams.org

Knox News Women Today Expo
Busy, affluent, active women come to the Women Today Expo to watch fashion shows, sample gourmet fare, attend seminars, explore new products, consider career options, participate in cooking classes and more. They're here to find the products and services they need for themselves, their families and their companies.
www.womentodayexpo.com

Kuumba Festival
African American Appalachian Arts presents a showcase of visual art, folk art, dance, theater, music, storytelling, and ethnic cuisine that celebrates the shared heritage among African Americans. The Kuumba Festival is African-American Appalachian Arts, Inc.'s primary activity and was the recipient of the City of Knoxville's "Mayors Art Award for Special Programs." Each year, participants from Knoxville and other communities in the U.S. and Africa come together to demonstrate the shared heritage of the African, African American and African Appalachian communities in diaspora and to show how this heritage is an integral part of the culture of this region. The Kuumba Festival ("kuumba" means creativity in Swahili) showcases visual arts, folk arts, dance, theater, music, storytelling, games and foods.
www.kuumbafesttn.com

Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Celebration held in January includes a parade, memorial service, a Black Inventors Exhibit, and a tribute featuring the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Choir by the Knoxville Symphony and Chamber Orchestra. Events held throughout Knoxville.

Native Plant Sale and Garden Festivals - April & October
Usually held in April and October every year, Ijams’ Native Plant Sale and Garden Festivals help sustain East Tennessee’s natural beauty by encouraging the use of native species in our own backyards; native species require less maintenance and provide shelter and food for our native creatures. Native Plant Sales feature regional nurseries specializing in native species along with craft booths, gardening workshops, kids’ activities, live music, food and more. Native Plant Sales are one Ijams’ most important fundraisers; the proceeds benefit Ijams Nature Center Education Programs, which educate all East Tennesseans about the importance of preserving our environment. Admission is free.
www.ijams.org

Nativity Pageant of Knoxvville
The Nativity Pageant, a professionally directed pantomime drama, combines a cast of over 90, moving narration, realistic sets, authentic costumes, and live animals to create a beautiful and powerful presentation of the Christmas story. Music is provided by a 200 voice choir, accompanied by a 20-member orchestra. The pageant has been a traditional part of metropolitan Knoxville's Christmas celebration since 1969. Held at Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
www.knoxvillenativity.com

Naturalist-Led Hikes
Off-site Hikes - May & October
Each spring and/or fall, Ijams Nature Center leads two-day hikes to Charit Creek in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area or to LeConte Lodge in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These naturalist-led hikes are a great weekend get-away for the whole family and also serve as a benefit for Ijams.
www.ijams.org

Raccoon Valley Bluegrass Music Festival
The Raccoon Valley Bluegrass Music Festival brings the best in bluegrass music to Powell, TN, a few miles north of Knoxville, TN and located between Clinton and Oak Ridge, TN. Over the last few years, the festival has featured nationally known artists such as Mountain Heart and The Kentucky Headhunters. Featured regional and local artists have included Blue Moon Rising, Shadow Ridge, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Knoxville Bluegrass Band, New Road, New Harvest, Steep Canyon Rangers, David West and Marshall Andy, Misty River and many more.
raccoonvalleyfestival.com

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Rummage Sale - June
In this case, one man's trash really is another man's treasure. The Rummage Sale is one of Ijams' largest fund-raisers and boasts thousands of donated items all for sale at bargain basement prices! You'll find tools and toys, baskets and blenders, toasters and tons more! Every year the loot is a little different, but isn't digging around for that perfect purchase half the fun? The Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Rummage Sale is typically held every year in June.
www.ijams.org

River Rescue - April
The piles may be shrinking, but trash is still stinking up the shores along the Tennessee River. With your help Ijams Nature Center will stop it! River Rescue is a community wide program that coordinates the pick-up of debris and litter along the 50-mile shoreline of the Tennessee River from its headwaters to Fort Loudon Dam. Though litterbugs continue to leave a mess, River Rescue has made a huge impact on the overall quality of the Tennessee River. A cleaner river means healthier habitats for all creatures that live in and around the river, including human beings! River Rescues are usually scheduled in April every year.
www.ijams.org

Rossini Festival
One of the Southeast’s most alluring cultural attractions, Knoxville Opera's Rossini Festival brings a taste of Europe to East Tennessee and celebrates the color, fun and excitement of opera and Italian culture. The festival combines two opera productions, art exhibitions, wine tastings, and a wide variety of other community events with a vibrant Italian Street Fair in which Knoxville’s Gay Street is transformed from a busy downtown thoroughfare to a festive European festival with six stages featuring a range of entertainment options, an upscale Artisan’s Market, the smells and tastes of authentic Mediterranean foods and beverages, and a special children’s area with entertainment, fun and games. The Italian Street Fair draws over 35,000 people to downtown Knoxville.
www.rossinifestival.org

Smoky Mountain Harvest Festival
Every fall the Great Smoky Mountains come alive with a burst of color. This countywide festival, which includes cities of Gatlinburg, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, celebrates with decorating contests, special events, local craft shows and much more. Held in September and October.

Smoky Mountain Shakespeare Festival
Creating a casual, fun, and family friendly environment that enables Shakespearean veterans and newcomers alike to understand and enjoy the classic works of the greatest playwright in the English Language! That is the simple goal of the Smoky Mountain Shakespeare Festival. The Festival is located between Knoxville and Oak Ridge, on the Campus of Pellissippi State.

Statehood Day
A celebration of the pioneers who settled and transformed the Southwest Territory into the State of Tennessee. Held in June at the Blount Mansion, in downtown Knoxville. Costumed guides will take visitors on a tour of the Blount Mansion, and introduce them to life at Tennessee’s frontier capitol, and the challenges and controversies that lead to Tennessee becoming the sixteenth state in the Union.
www.blountmansion.org

Sundown in the City
Sundown in the City began on Market Square in 1997 with a single concert and has grown over the years to a weekly event that attracts thousands of people to Knoxville’s center city.  The series has been cited as one of the major catalysts in helping to spark Knoxville’s growing downtown revitalization.  Last year’s concerts drew capacity crowds estimated at 8,000–10,000 people every Thursday evening.
sundowninthecity.com

Symphony in the Park - September
Symphony in the Park is Ijams Nature Center's largest fundraiser of the year and the nature center's longest running special event (nineteen years strong!) The Knoxville Chamber Orchestra performs in the twilight of a summer evening, against the backdrop of natural beauty at Ijams as attendees dine on elegant gourmet fare set at a table under the stars. This event is a long-standing highlight on the Knoxville social calendar and boasts an unmatched ambiance. In September 2004, the Nineteenth Annual Symphony in the Park had its most successful year to date. More than 400 people attended, and the event raised $33,500 for Ijams Nature Center. Symphony in the Park is held every year in September.
www.ijams.org

Tennessee Fall Homecoming
Tennessee Fall Homecoming is an annual festival held at Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee. It has been called the country's most extensive and authentic American Cultural festival featuring hundreds of people engaged in old-time, pioneer, mountain, and rural activities, along with over 200 traditional folk, early country and bluegrass musicians.
museumofappalachia.com

Tennessee Valley Fair
The Tennessee Valley Fair is fun for everyone! The fair has a midway, children's rides, rodeos, livestock events, tractor pulls, demolition derby, concerts, beauty contests, performing arts shows, contests of many types, and competitive exhibits. Daily entertainment includes pig races, Royal Hanneford Big Top Circus, hands-on science exhibits, stilt walkers, comedians, karoake, live gospel music, and live broadcasting by WIVK. Daily fireworks are a favorite of all fair goers.
www.tnvalleyfair.org

Tulip Festival
Held in March and April, more than 20,000 tulips are in bloom during this fifth annual springtime event
at Crescent Bend.

U.S. Constitution Week
Blount Mansion, a National Historical Landmark and home of a signer of the U.S. Constitution, hosts a series of special events in September in celebration of U.S. Constitution Week. The commemoration of the 217th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution includes tours of William Blount's home, brown bag lectures on political topics, a photography exhibition, walking tours, and voter registration drive.
www.blountmansion.org

WaterFest - May
WaterFest is an annual, day-long festival at Ijams Nature Center for area students that focuses on environmental and water quality education and outdoor activities. WaterFest is designed to teach area students the importance of maintaining healthy watersheds. In the past the event has been attended by more than 900 students and educators from 15 different schools. Exhibits at Waterfest teach participants about local watersheds, healthy wetland ecosystems and aquatic life found in the waters of the Tennessee Valley. WaterFest activities include papermaking, launching water rockets, creating earth parfaits and designing water hats. Also included in this year's event was a community service tree-planting project. WaterFest is an activity of The Water Quality Forum which was established in 1990 and is a cooperative network of agencies, nonprofit organizations and citizens working to improve the health of the waterways in East Tennessee in accordance with the goals of the Clean Water Act.
www.ijams.org