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Spring Brings New Life to Downtown
Spring is here and it's festival time in downtown Knoxville. There are activities and events happening almost every day in downtown Knoxville, these are just a few of them. For a full list, visit our web site at downtownknoxville.org. If you're hosting an event in downtown Knoxville, please register to upload your event information to the web site here.
Dogwood Arts Festival
 For a complete line up of all the events associated with one of our area's most popular festivals, now celebrating its 50th year, visit www.dogwoodarts.com. Some of the highlighted downtown events include:
Market Square Art Fair, April 9-11: Downtown
Knoxville is transformed into a lively street fair with
high-quality arts and crafts booths, demonstrations, entertainment and
festive food.
Rhythm & Blooms, April 16-18: Music
performances throughout downtown will feature a mix of traditional and
contemporary
American Roots music sounds from blues, country folk and soul to
bluegrass. www.rhythymandbloomsfest.comTapestry of Flowers, April 16-23: Floral tapestry installed in Krutch Park by Knoxville Botanical Gardens. Chalk Walk, April 17-18: Downtown Sidewalks become the canvas for professional and student artist during this street painting festival.
Dogwood Criterium, April 18: Cycling brings
back the Dogwood Criterium race with a bonus: the
addition of another race in the Old City as well as the Knoxville
Coliseum course. www.865cycling.com
Dogwood Parade, April 23:Downtown Knoxville
is transformed when marching
bands, decorated floats, helium balloons, clowns and street performers
march down Gay Street in celebration of the five decades of Dogwood.
Dogwood Mile, April 23: Run through the
streets of downtown Knoxville in this family-friendly
race. www.ktc.com
Sundown in the
City  Downtown's free, outdoor concert series will kick off
on Market Square on April 22. This year, Sundown will take place on five
alternating Thursdays; official dates are April 22, May 6 and 20,
June 3 and 17. For a complete line up, visit www.sundowninthecity.com.
Market Square Farmers Market
While
the Market Square Farmers' Market doesn't officially open for the 2010
season until May
1, you can get a sneak peek of the market April 17-18 when local farmers
and artisan food producers will bring spring crops, prepared foods,
fair-trade coffee and fresh baked
goods. Once the market opens in May, it will be open every Wednesday
from 11am to 2pm and Saturday from 9am to
2pm on Market Square. www.marketsquaredistrict.com
Knoxville Opera's Rossini Festival
 The festival combines world class opera performances, art and craft
exhibitions, wine tasting and a wide variety of other events with a
vibrant Italian Street Fair on Saturday, April 24, from 12 - 9 p.m., Downtown's Gay street is transformed into a colorful Italian festival with four 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 on Market Square with entertainment, fun and games. www.knoxvilleopera.com/rossini
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100 Block Construction to Close Vine at Gay for 3 Weeks
 The intersection of Vine Avenue at Gay Street will be closed for at
least three weeks for road and utility construction beginning on the
morning of Monday, April 5.
The closure will mean that people using the Sterchi parking lot will
have to enter and exit it via Walnut Street until the work is completed.
State Street, located on the east side of Gay Street, will remain open
at the entrance to the O.P. Jenkins parking lot.
The work is part of the ongoing Gay Street Streetscapes Project on the
100 and 200 blocks of Gay Street. Crews will be rebuilding the road and
building a decorative crosswalk at the Vine location. They will also be
replacing a waterline and making other utility improvements there.
Galleries, retail, and restaurants are all still open even through the construction. Check these retail businesses, all located on the 100 Block.
Eleven
Emporium Center
Gallery 1010
Knoxville Symphony
Nama Sushi Bar
Ollantay's Havana Nights
Slamdot
Unarmed Merchants
URBhana
UT Downtown Gallery
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First Friday Happenings
Enjoy some of the best of what downtown Knoxville has to offer during First Friday - a special evening featuring art openings, performances, food and drink specials and sales at downtown businesses, galleries and restaurants. A few of the happenings include:
Opening Receptions at The Emporium
The Arts & Culture Alliance presents two exhibitions in the Emporium: "ReVision: Viewing Ordinary Things in Extraordinary Ways" featuring Gee's Bend quilts and sculptures. On exhibition April 2-23. Dogwood Arts Student Art Show featuring approximately 50 works by local art students. On exhibition April 2-30. Opening receptions for both exhibitions will be held from 5-9 p.m.
The Emporium, 100 S. Gay St.
Artist Reception for Jarrod Justice
Bliss Home on Market Square will host a First Friday reception for painter Jerrod Justice. Inspired by Christian faith and the connections between people and their environment, Justice's paintings are abstracted images of cities, windows and structures.
Bliss Home, 29 Market Square
Artist Reception for David Johnson
Join Café 4 for an artist reception for David Johnson. Visit the mezzanine of cheese and wine. "The single most powerful element that unites this body of work is the transformative nature of light. Many of these subjects, if observed in broad daylight, would be most mundane, but if you wait for the light to change, they are transformed into the curious, the mystical, the inexplicable. Clothed in new light, they invite us to re-examine our eye's presumptions, and perhaps see a beauty or mystery we would have otherwise missed."
Café 4, Mezzanine, 4 Market Square
Artist Reception for Janis Proffitt and Mary Ellen Bohm
The Art Market Gallery will host an artist reception for February's featured members: Janis Proffitt and Mary Ellen Bohm with music by Scott Head. The Art Market is a cooperatively owned gallery dedicated to providing a vibrant marketplace for original art and fine crafts.
Art Market Gallery, 422 S. Gay St.
Artist Reception for Cynthia Markert
For lovers of beautiful art that adorns the store, Vagabondia is fortunate to host returning local artist Cynthia Markert. Come refresh your eyes and spirit by viewing new original works by our favorite downtown Bohemian.
Vagabondia, 27 Market Square
Artist Reception for Eddie Crim
Join Oodles Uncorked for an artist reception for photographer Eddie Crim. Crim is a graduate of the University of Tennessee in media studies and continues to work and photograph in Knoxville.
Oodles Uncorked, 18 Market Square
Ferd's Friday
Special program hosted by Ferd Moyse of the Hackensack Boys. Live music on-air with WDVX 6:30 - 8 p.m.
Knoxville Visitors Center, 301 S. Gay Street
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CBID Accepting Nominations for Board
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The CBID board is currently seeking nominations for two opening board positions. The two open slots will be for the business and resident categories. Terms are three years and will begin July 1, 2010. Elections will be held during the June board of directors meeting.
Please send your nominations to Jennifer Holder, chair of the CBID Nominating Committee. Nominations are due by April 15, and should specify the position (resident or business) for which you are nominating. For more information, contact Michele Hummel at 246-2654.
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Downtown Guide advertising now available
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Promote your business to thousands of visitors in and around downtown
Knoxville.
A total of 80,000 Downtown Guide maps will be distributed
throughout downtown Knoxville, as well as in more than 90 hotels,
restaurants and shops in the metropolitan Knoxville area. Maps will
also be delivered to area welcome centers including Bristol, Jellico,
Hartford and Jefferson County.
Ads in the downtown guides are very affordable, but space is limited. To download the sales sheet, click here. [PDF]
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Downtown Events
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