Young-Williams Animal Center’s 17th annual Mardi Growl pet parade and festival will be held in downtown Knoxville on Saturday, March 2, 2024, requiring the temporary closure of some roads and on-street parking between the Old City and World’s Fair Park. 

Parade participants and observers should mark the following closures; times are subject to change: 

• Willow Avenue will be closed to on-street parking starting at 6 p.m. Friday, March 1. The road will be closed to all traffic from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 2. 

• On-street parking will be prohibited along the parade route on Saturday March 2 starting at 8 a.m. with roads reopening by 12:30 p.m.

The parade will step off at 11 a.m. from Willow Avenue, and proceed north on N. Central Street, turn left onto Jackson Avenue, continue across N. Broadway onto World’s Fair Park Drive and into World’s Fair Park to the Performance Lawn. 

Residents are invited to watch the parade from the sidewalks and enjoy the post-parade festival, which will include many vendors, food trucks, live music, games and more. 

People are also encouraged to pick up after their pets along the parade route and during the festivities. Bring plastic bags from home and dispose of waste properly in trash containers (not recycling carts).


More details about Mardi Growl are available at https://MardiGrowl.org.