Christmas in East Tennessee — knoxroadtripper

Giant trees filled with lights; streets filled with marching bands and decorated floats; and holiday music emanating from the stage; it’s Christmas time in East Tennessee. Whether it’s a night on the town with dinner and a show or just a stroll through a free light display, you have plenty of ways to enjoy the holidays in and around Knoxville, Tennessee.

Thousands of people come out to Downtown Knoxville to watch the annual Christmas Tree Lighting along Gay Street.

Christmas in the City

A large lighted star hangs high above Gay Street in Downtown Knoxville, a sign the holidays have arrived. The Christmas Tree nearby towers high above the street and its lights lure people into the Regal Celebration of Lights at Krutch Park, a magical walk through a place filled with quirky art and water features.

Nearby, Historic Market Square is all decked out in green and red, and in the center of it all people enjoy their “Holidays on Ice” as they skate away the night. Christmas in the City provides plenty of magical moments, and there are plenty more of them to be found in all the Christmas events around East Tennessee.

Regal Celebration of Lights and Tree Lighting
Friday, November 29, 2019
6:00 to 9:00 pm

Uploaded by knoxroadtripper on 2019-11-25.

Everyone loves a Christmas parade

One of the strongest holiday traditions across East Tennessee is the Christmas Parade. From small towns to the bigger cities people in East Tennessee love a parade and if you want to check one out there are plenty of choices over the next few weeks. Here are a few you might want to check out in 2019.

Thursday, December 5, 2019

6:30 pm Lenoir City Christmas Parade (Loudon County)

7:00 pm Harriman Christmas Parade (Roane County)

Friday, December 6, 2019

6:00 pm - Powell Christmas Parade (Knox County)

7:00 pm - WIVK Christmas Parade in Downtown Knoxville (Knox County)

7:00 pm- Rocky Top Christmas Parade (Anderson County)

7:30 pm Fantasy of Lights Christmas Parade - Gatlinburg (Sevier County) - Actress Alyvia Alyn Lind of the NBC Movie Coat of Many Colors is the Grand Marshall for 2019.

Saturday, December 7, 2019

11:00 am Blount County Christmas Parade – Maryville (Blount County) - The 2019 theme is “The Songs of Christmas”

11:00 am Sevierville Christmas Parade (Sevier County

6:00 pm Anderson County Christmas Parade (in Clinton)

Saturday, December 14th

6:00 pm Oak Ridge Christmas Parade (Anderson County)

A small town Christmas in Clinton

One of my favorite things about living in a small town is the way it celebrates the holiday season. The first thing you notice as Christmas draws near is the light displays going up on the utility poles along the main roads. Then by the time December rolls around the stores along Main & Market Streets are decked out in holiday splendor and after the first weekend in December, EVERYONE is in the holiday spirit.

This year, Clinton’s Christmas Celebrations are bigger and brighter than they have been in the past. All the fun starts with TWO tree lightings Downtown on Friday, December 5th along with a Cookie Crawl (where you visit local businesses and sample cookies along the way), a chili cookoff, food trucks and several other special activities.

Friday, December 6, 2019

5:00 pm to 8:00 pm Cookie Crawl, Food Trucks & train rides along Market Street (and other Downtown Businesses)

5:00 pm to 8:00 pm Dinner with Santa at the Apple Blossom Café

5:30 pm Clinton Christmas Tree Lighting at the Community Center along with free cookies and hot chocolate

6:00 pm to 8:00 pm Chili Cookoff at the Community Center

6:15 pm Market Street Christmas Tree Lighting

The Historic Tennessee Theater is a great place to take in a holiday show.

Holidays at the Historic Tennessee Theater

The Historic Tennessee Theater gets into the holiday spirit in a big way offering up special performances ranging from a Mighty Musical Monday Christmas Celebration to a showing of “It’s a Wonderful Life” and a performance of “The Nutcracker” by the Moscow Ballet. Check www.tenneeseetheatre.com for more information.

Plenty of churches in the area also host big Christmas musical events at various venues throughout the area so be sure and keep your eyes out for ways to celebrate the true reason for the season.

Light up your Christmas

One of the best parts about the holiday season is all the Christmas lights and holiday displays you can see for FREE. Here are a few festive light displays that should be on your list.