Community Calendar

Connect Beyond Festival is back for three days of music, storytelling, and immersive experiences at The Orange Peel in Asheville!

The 2026 festival brings together filmmakers, musicians, creatives, and cultural voices for a weekend of live performances, conversations, and interactive installations.

LINEUP HIGHLIGHTS:

SPEAK - award winning film screening and Q&A with filmmakers Guy Mossman and cast member Sam Schaefer

The Community Garden - a venue wide interactive art experience brought to you by some of the creative talent behind Meow Wolf and Epic Games
Oakland Rising - performances by vocalists August Lee Stevens, B. Deveaux, and NAIMA

Shared Roots: Songs & Stories in the Round - performances and stories with acclaimed musicians Mary Gauthier, Marisa Blake, and Shana Tucker, moderated by music journalist Marcus K. Dowling

StoryLab: Build The World You Want - youth workshop where participants can explore different types of media from newspaper design to film storyboarding to social storytelling

...and much more! More films, workshops, artists and events will be announced on the website and social media.

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!

Theater 23 Presents World Premiere of Decoration Day
New play by Knoxville playwright Linda Parsons runs May 15–31
Knoxville, TN — Theater 23 is proud to announce the world premiere of Decoration Day, a new play by acclaimed local playwright Linda Parsons. The production will run May 15–31 at Borderland Playhouse, located at 802 Sevier Avenue in Knoxville.
Decoration Day marks Parsons’ seventh play to be produced in the Knoxville area, continuing her strong legacy of compelling, character-driven storytelling. This latest work explores themes of memory, heritage, and the ties that bind communities across generations.
The production is directed by Steven O’Shea and produced by Tom Eubanks, bringing together a talented creative team dedicated to delivering a powerful and intimate theatrical experience.
Tickets will go on sale April 15 and will be available at theater23.org. Performance times and additional details will also be posted on the website.
For more information, please visit theater23.org or follow Theater 23 on social media.

Join fellow artists on Saturday mornings for a creative refresh in a welcoming, lighthearted environment. You’ll have the option of being inside, in a spacious, light-filled space, or outside under a covered pavilion. You can bring a project you’d like to work on, sketch from provided still lifes, or work plein aire.

These mini-retreats are located in West Knox, in a 20+ acre bucolic setting with fields and woods, on the Tennessee River. All levels are welcome and no experience is needed.

$20 per session or $50 for 3 sessions includes art supplies and yummy snacks.

Space is limited to 15 participants--please RSVP at lunacreates.com/sketch-club the Friday before to save your spot!

Discover what life in the Cove is like for its inhabitants—past and present. Great Smoky Mountains National Park ranger-led program. Cable Mill Historic Area in Cades Cove, Tenn. Free. Info and confirm details: nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/calendar.htm or 865-436-1200.

Connect Beyond Festival is back for three days of music, storytelling, and immersive experiences at The Orange Peel in Asheville!

The 2026 festival brings together filmmakers, musicians, creatives, and cultural voices for a weekend of live performances, conversations, and interactive installations.

LINEUP HIGHLIGHTS:

SPEAK - award winning film screening and Q&A with filmmakers Guy Mossman and cast member Sam Schaefer

The Community Garden - a venue wide interactive art experience brought to you by some of the creative talent behind Meow Wolf and Epic Games
Oakland Rising - performances by vocalists August Lee Stevens, B. Deveaux, and NAIMA

Shared Roots: Songs & Stories in the Round - performances and stories with acclaimed musicians Mary Gauthier, Marisa Blake, and Shana Tucker, moderated by music journalist Marcus K. Dowling

StoryLab: Build The World You Want - youth workshop where participants can explore different types of media from newspaper design to film storyboarding to social storytelling

...and much more! More films, workshops, artists and events will be announced on the website and social media.

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!

The Third Annual Blues Between the Lakes Festival is Saturday May 30, featuring Wayne Baker Brooks, Piper and the Hard Times, Few Miles On, and Throwing Stones. Festival hours are 12 noon - 6:00pm. Afterparty with Billy Crawford and the Lowdown starts at 7:30pm.
Arts and Crafts booths will be set up, as well as food vendors, and 1907 Brewing Co. will have a selection of craft beers.
Festival is outside on the grounds of historic Rose Center. After Party is inside in Rose Center's Prater Hall.

Theater 23 Presents World Premiere of Decoration Day
New play by Knoxville playwright Linda Parsons runs May 15–31
Knoxville, TN — Theater 23 is proud to announce the world premiere of Decoration Day, a new play by acclaimed local playwright Linda Parsons. The production will run May 15–31 at Borderland Playhouse, located at 802 Sevier Avenue in Knoxville.
Decoration Day marks Parsons’ seventh play to be produced in the Knoxville area, continuing her strong legacy of compelling, character-driven storytelling. This latest work explores themes of memory, heritage, and the ties that bind communities across generations.
The production is directed by Steven O’Shea and produced by Tom Eubanks, bringing together a talented creative team dedicated to delivering a powerful and intimate theatrical experience.
Tickets will go on sale April 15 and will be available at theater23.org. Performance times and additional details will also be posted on the website.
For more information, please visit theater23.org or follow Theater 23 on social media.

Connect Beyond Festival is back for three days of music, storytelling, and immersive experiences at The Orange Peel in Asheville!

The 2026 festival brings together filmmakers, musicians, creatives, and cultural voices for a weekend of live performances, conversations, and interactive installations.

LINEUP HIGHLIGHTS:

SPEAK - award winning film screening and Q&A with filmmakers Guy Mossman and cast member Sam Schaefer

The Community Garden - a venue wide interactive art experience brought to you by some of the creative talent behind Meow Wolf and Epic Games
Oakland Rising - performances by vocalists August Lee Stevens, B. Deveaux, and NAIMA

Shared Roots: Songs & Stories in the Round - performances and stories with acclaimed musicians Mary Gauthier, Marisa Blake, and Shana Tucker, moderated by music journalist Marcus K. Dowling

StoryLab: Build The World You Want - youth workshop where participants can explore different types of media from newspaper design to film storyboarding to social storytelling

...and much more! More films, workshops, artists and events will be announced on the website and social media.

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!

Amadeus Concert Ensemble’s 2025-2026 season of FREE community concerts reaches a climax on Sunday, May 31, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. with RACHMANINOFF & FRIENDS. The program honors the composer whose statue in World’s Fair Park commemorates his final piano recital in Knoxville in 1943. The performance, under the baton of ACE Artistic Director Brian Salesky, is part of the Cathedral Concert Series at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (711 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN).

The lavish, romantic program stars the spectacular soprano Ashley Fabian (“immense warmth and scintillating spin”/Parterre Box) who scored a triumph in ACE’S GOLDEN AGE OF STRAUSS concert last season. Ms. Fabian will be heard in heavenly songs and dramatic arias by Rachmaninoff, Alyabyev, and Tchaikovsky, whose Waltz from his Sleeping Beauty ballet will be dedicated to Knoxville’s Mary Costa, Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. The Amadeus Concert Ensemble orchestra will be featured in three thrilling, popular works: Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee” and “The Three Wonders” from The Tale of Tsar Saltan.

Maestro Salesky remarked: “ACE is privileged to present soprano Ashley Fabian in a concert of thrilling music by Russian composers that features her sublime, sparkling voice. The performance will give our community an opportunity to experience Ashley’s inspiring talent in both well-known and rarely performed music. We are deeply grateful to our generous sponsors for their support which allows us to present our programs without charge.”

Theater 23 Presents World Premiere of Decoration Day
New play by Knoxville playwright Linda Parsons runs May 15–31
Knoxville, TN — Theater 23 is proud to announce the world premiere of Decoration Day, a new play by acclaimed local playwright Linda Parsons. The production will run May 15–31 at Borderland Playhouse, located at 802 Sevier Avenue in Knoxville.
Decoration Day marks Parsons’ seventh play to be produced in the Knoxville area, continuing her strong legacy of compelling, character-driven storytelling. This latest work explores themes of memory, heritage, and the ties that bind communities across generations.
The production is directed by Steven O’Shea and produced by Tom Eubanks, bringing together a talented creative team dedicated to delivering a powerful and intimate theatrical experience.
Tickets will go on sale April 15 and will be available at theater23.org. Performance times and additional details will also be posted on the website.
For more information, please visit theater23.org or follow Theater 23 on social media.