The First of Many Big Weekends in Downtown Knoxville

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It's (almost) spring and that means things really start hopping downtown. First Friday is today and there are a number of exciting and interesting events planned. The one that is topping my list is the re-opening of the Sunsphere. They will host an open house from 4:00 PM to 10 PM and I'm looking forward to seeing the views from that perspective. I think the last time I looked out from those windows was around 1986. I'm interested to see how it compares to my memory. I'll let you know.

The Emporium is always a must-stop on any First Friday night and this month's featured artist is Keegan Russel, a mixed media artist. Blount Mansion has started a new First Friday series with speakers of different sorts. This month they are featuring David Madden reading from his book Sharpshooter.  You can find other details about participating businesses

here.

Saturday morning, unfortunately, brings rain if the weather people are to be trusted. Let's hope they are wrong because it also brings one of the most fun annual events to downtown: Mardi Growl. In this more-or-less parade, canine friends are decked out in their festive best in a bit of a nod to the tradition that started on this continent in my hometown of Mobile, Alabama. It should be fun - BUT - I have to miss it because I have to work. If any of you get pictures and would like to e-mail them to me (knoxvilleurbanguy@gmail.com), I'd be happy to post the best of what I get.



Also starting Saturday is the annual Friends of the Library book sale in which treasures from the bowels of the library are offered up for pennies. I hope to catch that one Sunday. It runs for a full week, with the discounts getting deeper as they go.

I'm sure there are many other events that I'm missing. Hopefully I'll stumble onto a few. Some readers have started e-mailing me information about events they think I might like. I absolutely appreciate this kind of help. I can't make it to everything, nor can I blog about everything, but I would probably miss some things if you didn't point me in the right direction.

In the mean time, have a great First Friday.