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What's New in Knoxville in 2024?

Knoxville’s 2024 is shaping up to be exactly as described: a-nature-loving-adventure-seeking-artsy-kinda-town!

Those craving nature will love the new additions at Baker Creek Preserve in Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness. Baker Creek Preserve, home to the area’s flagship bike park, has a new pavilion. The pavilion is an architecturally unique shade structure, surrounded by a hardscaped plaza. Park users will have access to new bathrooms, additional parking, and a water-fill station in this new pavilion. The new plaza space connects to the existing Baker Creek greenway that spans the length of Gateway Park and is adjacent to two asphalt pump tracks. Soon to come to the site is a new adventure playscape in early 2024. Be sure to stay awhile – this trailhead is also home to 71 South (a new restaurant in a century-old church now transformed into a vibrant dining destination) and Crafty Bastard Brewery (known for everything from traditional styles to highly experimental beer).

Seeking adventure? Here’s one for the music lovers and whiskey samplers: the Southern Skies Music & Whiskey Festival will return to World’s Fair Park on May 11, 2024! Curated by hometown favorites The Dirty Guv’nahs, the 3rd annual event will feature a full lineup of local, regional, and national talent alongside the brand new TN Whiskey Experience, food trucks, craft beer, wine, specialty cocktails, a Maker Market, and more. The entire 2024 lineup is TN-based, including: Old Crow Medicine Show, The Dirty Guv'nahs, Maggie Rose:, Amythyst Kiah, Grace Bowers, Wyatt Ellis, and more.

Art lovers will have their fill in Knoxville this year. Not only did the Knoxville Museum of Art’s Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee exhibit reopen to the public at the end of 2023, but this coming year presents a full calendar of Soundscapes at the KMA, the museum’s signature concert series promising an unforgettable musical journey, showcasing a diverse array of talented artists and genres. The McClung Museum on the University of Tennessee’s campus welcomes Coming into View, open January 12-December 8, 2024. Featuring sixteen oil paintings from the museum’s permanent collection, Coming into View highlights the collaborative work that goes on behind the scenes of the McClung Museum. The exhibition showcases how students and academics are a vital part of the museum’s mission to share new stories and enhance our understanding of the collection. Tri-Star Arts at the historic Candoro Marble Building also has a series of thought-proving contemporary art exhibitions on slate for 2024.