Blog: City Blog

#KnoxvilleJobWellDone: City Employees Make the Holidays Bright and Festive

Everyone loves the twinkle of the holiday lights, the whirl of the Market Square ice skaters, and the jolly community gatherings.

City employees are maybe the biggest holiday revelers anywhere. They're Santa's hardest-working elves.

Did you know that City Public Service Department workers, police officers, firefighters, Transportation Engineering staff and Special Events coordinators collectively put in roughly 5,000 hours to make the holidays bright and festive for Knoxville's families?

A huge crowd oohed and ahhed as the tree was lit on Nov. 24, 2023 during the Regal Celebration of Lights.

A huge crowd oohed and ahhed as the tree was lit on Nov. 24, 2023 during the Regal Celebration of Lights.

A huge downtown crowd oohed and ahhed as the 42-foot tree was lit on Nov. 24, 2023 during the Regal Celebration of Lights.

Public Service crews set the holiday mood - and they start plenty early. With more than 250,000 individual holiday lights to be hung, a huge tree to erect, and an ice rink to be constructed, their Christmas in the City tasks begin in October.

Public Service employees proudly do the yeoman's work: Conservatively estimating, they put in 4,000 hours of holiday TLC, expertise and innovation.

#KnoxvilleJobWellDone

Knoxville's Holidays on Ice, 2023

When the big events happen - Comcast Christmas at Chilhowee, Regal Celebration of Lights, Knoxville's Holidays on Ice, the WIVK Christmas Parade, Tour de Lights, and New Year's Eve at the Sunsphere - they draw tens of thousands of happy merry-making people. For City staff, it's all hands on deck.

This year's Nov. 24 tree-lighting celebration and the Dec. 1 WIVK Christmas Parade are believed to be amongst the largest ever, Special Events Director Kyndra Brewer says. While crowd estimates vary, roughly 20,000 people filled downtown for the Regal Celebration of Lights, and twice that number lined Gay Street for the parade.

Transportation Engineering coordinates the opening and closing of streets. (That translates to setting up 463 parking signs and bagging 356 parking meters once the traffic flow plans are meticulously mapped out.)

Plus, these are the folks with the bucket trucks. So they hang 35 wreaths and 1,275 feet of garland.

Check out the holiday star over Gay Street!

Even the dogs who come downtown for Christmas in the City get into the holiday spirit.

Public safety is most important. That means KFD paramedics are on hand to respond to any health emergencies, and KPD officers keep everyone safe and parade and bike ride participants shielded from vehicular traffic. About 85 officers are needed to stage the WIVK Christmas Parade, and another 60 for Tour de Lights.

"The Christmas in the City events are among Knoxville's most beloved traditions," Brewer says. "City employees are proud to make downtown and the City parks so festive and bright.

"I love how everyone in City government pulls together and goes the extra mile to make the season so special. It's a labor of love."

Posted by evreeland On 19 December, 2023 at 1:28 PM