Downtown visitors should keep in mind a few road closures and detours before traveling for this weekend’s festivities. 

The Rhythm N’ Blooms Music Festival, at venues throughout the Old City, features performances by about 50 musicians and bands. The music starts at 5 p.m. Friday and continues through early Monday morning. For ticket information, venue details and the performance lineup, visit www.rhythmnbloomsfest.com.

Although it doesn’t directly affect the festival area, remember that the intersection of Broadway and North Central Street will be closed and detours in place through the weekend. 

The block of Jackson Avenue between Patton Avenue and Morgan Street is closed to traffic and on-street parking until 10 a.m. Monday, April 9, for the staging of Rhythm N’ Blooms.

Because the festival’s Cripple Creek main stage area is situated in the public parking lots located under the southbound exit ramp of James White Parkway, festival attendees will need to seek parking in other areas.

Free parking is available in the public lots under Interstate 40 between North Gay and North Central streets. Additionally, the City’s West Jackson Avenue parking lot and the Market Square, Locust Street, State Street, Walnut Street and Dwight Kessel garages offer free parking after 6 p.m. weeknights and all day on weekends. 

Revelers can utilize Knoxville Area Transit’s free Green Line trolley to reach the Old City from other points downtown. The trolley travels a loop from Main Street to Gay Street, north on Gay to Summit Hill Drive, right on Summit Hill and left onto North Central Street to the intersection with Jackson Avenue, where festival goers can hop on or off. From there, the trolley will detour from its usual path, turning left onto Jackson, left onto Gay, and right onto Summit Hill, continuing to the regular route that takes a loop up to Summit Towers and back toward Main Street via Locust Street. 

The Green Line trolley runs every 10 minutes on Fridays from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Old City visitors should also be aware that the sidewalk at the corner of Willow Avenue and South Central Street is closed due to construction of the Crozier Building.