Healthcare workers from area hospitals will serve as Grand Marshals of the 48th WIVK Christmas Parade to be held Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, in downtown Knoxville.

The parade’s 115 units include area high school marching bands and flag corps, dancers, singers, local fire departments, community organizations, churches, classic automobiles, radio personalities, WIVICK the Frog, and Santa Claus.

Attendees are encouraged to arrive early. Free parking is available at all City-owned garages, as well as the Dwight Kessel Garage. 

The parade steps off from Howard Baker Jr. Avenue at 6:45 p.m. and proceeds to Church Street, turns north onto Gay Street, continues to the viaduct, turns east onto Jackson Avenue, and ends at the parking lot on Patton Avenue. 

Eastbound lanes of Howard Baker Jr. Avenue between Hill Avenue and Hall of Fame Drive will be closed from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. 

Roads on the parade route will close at 6:30 p.m. and reopen after the parade, at approximately 8:30 p.m. This closure includes Market Street and Union Avenue, between Walnut and Gay. 

Beginning at 4 p.m., on-street parking will be removed from Gay Street between Cumberland Avenue and Jackson Avenue; on Market Street between Clinch and Union avenues; Union and Clinch avenues between Walnut and Gay streets; and on Jackson Avenue between Gay Street and Patton Avenue in the Old City. 

Drivers are cautioned to avoid Summit Hill Drive. All four lanes of cross traffic will be stopped as the parade goes through the intersection. Also, the 800 block of Gay Street continues to be closed due to work involving a large commercial crane. 

The WIVK Christmas Parade is part of the City of Knoxville’s Christmas in the City, an assortment of festivities in downtown Knoxville including the Holidays on Ice open-air skating rink on Market Square, the Elf on the Shelf Adventure scavenger hunt, and the Peppermint Trail. Learn more at KnoxvilleTN.gov/Christmas.