This Saturday, zoo-goers can get hands-on with big trucks, emergency vehicles, race cars and special equipment that rival the animals for size and speed. Touch A Truck, presented by Meade Tractor, will be held on Saturday, August 22rd, from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. To make the day even more fun, the first 500 children age 12 and under to arrive will receive a free child’s-sized construction hat.

Visitors can get up close to a wide variety of heavy duty construction equipment from Meade Tractor and the Knoxville Zoo “Zookeeper” dump truck from Claiborne Hauling. Climb aboard ambulances from Rural Metro, a fire truck from Knoxville Fire Department and a Knoxville Police Department police car and meet the personnel who make Knoxville a safe place to live. Guests can also enjoy the view from way up in the driver’s seat of a City of Knoxville Public Service Department tractor and see what life in the fast lane is like with cars and drivers from Warrior Race Cars.

Touch A Truck activities are included with general zoo admission. For more information, please visit the zoo’s Web site at www.knoxvillezoo.org, the zoo’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/knoxvillezoo or call the zoo at 865-637-5331.

Special thanks to Meade Tractor, Big Love Bus, the City of Knoxville Public Service Department, Claiborne Hauling, Hertz Equipment, Knoxville Fire Department, Knoxville Police Department, Rural Metro, Safe and Sound Creative Technologies, Stowers Machinery Corporation and Warrior Race Cars for their support of this event.

Knoxville Zoo is Knoxville’s largest year-round attraction. Located off exit 392 from Interstate 40, the zoo is open every day except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Knoxville Zoo is nationally accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and is committed to the highest standards in animal care and well-being, ethics, conservation, and education. Currently, the zoo is open daily from 9:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Admission and ticket sales stop one-hour before the zoo closes. Next-day admission is free after 3 p.m. For more information, please call 865-637-5331 ext. 300 or visit www.knoxvillezoo.org.