Celebrations of dogs, Irish culture, New Orleans jazz and long-distance running being held this month in downtown Knoxville will temporarily affect the regular traffic patterns and on-street parking on some city streets. 

The City of Knoxville Office of Special Events works with event planners utilizing public property, including roads and sidewalks, to close streets to traffic, remove parking spaces and schedule Knoxville Police Department officers to monitor intersections and maintain safe passage for event participants and all residents in the area. 

The 15th Annual Mardi Growl Pet Parade & Festival benefitting Young Williams Animal Center is Saturday, March 5. The parade begins at 10:45 a.m. on Willow Avenue in the Old City and continues northbound on S. Central Street. The parade will turn left on W. Jackson Avenue and continue through multiple intersections to World’s Fair Park Drive, past the festival lawn. Judges, including Mayor Indya Kincannon, will observe parade participants there as pups and their people continue to the Mardi Growl festival site on the World’s Fair Park Performance Lawn. 

Willow Avenue between Patton and S. Central streets will close starting at 7 a.m. for parade staging. Roads along the route will be closed to traffic 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. On-street parking along the route will be prohibited 7:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. 


The Knox St. Patrick’s Day Parade will trip lightly down Gay Street on Saturday, March 12. Participating groups will set up at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium, closing eastbound lanes of Howard Baker Jr. Avenue between Hill Avenue and Hall of Fame Drive between 11 a.m. and approximately 1 p.m. 

The parade begins from that location at 12:45 p.m. and proceeds west to Gay Street, turns north onto Gay Street and continues to the intersection of W. Jackson Avenue, where the parade will turn into the Old City and conclude under the viaduct at E. Jackson and Willow avenues. 

Roads along the parade route will be closed 12 - 3 p.m.


Big Ears Festival Parade and Street Fair is a free, all-ages event on Saturday, March 26, being held as part of the four-day Big Ears Festival. The New Orleans-inspired, second-line-style parade, including the Cattywampus Puppet Council and Preservation Hall Jazz Band, will begin at 1 p.m. at E. Jackson and Willow avenues in the Old City. The route will follow Willow to N. Central Street, Central to W. Jackson, Jackson to N. Gay Street, Gay to Depot and end at the Mill and Mine on Depot at Ogden Street, where a street party will be held 4 - 8 p.m. Roads along the parade route will be closed 12 - 3 p.m. Depot Avenue will be closed 12 - 10 p.m. 


Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon events will be held Saturday, March 26, and Sunday, March 27. The World’s Fair Park will serve as headquarters for the weekend events, including a full marathon, half marathon, 5K race and Covenant Kids Run. The following sections of streets will be closed for much of the weekend: 

• Clinch Avenue between Henley Street and World’s Fair Park Drive
• World’s Fair Park Drive between Clinch and Grand avenues


Knoxville Police will enforce temporary rolling closures along the route, protecting race participants and bystanders, as well as allowing traffic to cross the race route during breaks between runners. Turn-by-turn course directions and maps are posted at https://knoxvillemarathon.com/course-maps.