Second Annual International Bicuit Festival

The weekend I spent in Auburn one of the biggest downtown events of the year was happening right here in downtown Knoxville. I suspect the small crowds at the Songwriter's Festival in Alabama might have had something to do with the huge crowds back in my hometown. I'm guessing everyone who could escaped Auburn and headed north. So did everyone else.

Making Biscuits? Using Propane?

There's a shirt I want.

The crowds for last year's International Biscuit Festival overwhelmed the event to the point that people who came within an hour of the opening were shut out (that would have been me, for one). This year the effort was greatly expanded to several times the scope of last year's event, only to be overwhelmed once more. Estimates ranged from 15,000 to 20,000 people. Is there a cap on Knoxville's appetite for that golden brown delicacy?

Amie : Knoxville's Best Bartender and Biscuit Babe Extrodinaire

The event, as captured in photographs for this post by Shaft, ace photographer and "cat that won't cop out," featured many events, music, Mr. and Miss Biscuit competition as well as competitions in numerous categories including traditional, children's and most creative.

Even athletic running-types love biscuits!

As the event, which donated money to organizations battling childhood hunger concluded, thoughts turned to next year's event. Obviously, it must be re-tooled to accommodate the crowds. Ideas have been floated to move it to the World's Fair, which would obviously work, but I favored the other option I heard discussed: Move it to Gay Street and close the street in the same fashion it's done for the Rossini Festival. Why not?

Even Sulky Tweens love buscuits!

Start 'em young!

It's hard to imagine an event that says east Tennessee any more than this one, and while other areas of the country might make the same argument, well, we thought of it first, so too bad for you guys.

It does hearken me back to my childhood in multiple ways. I'll never be able to smell a biscuit without a certain little jingle running through my brain. I'm posting the video below, which includes some shots of Flatt and Scruggs and their Martha White Bus. I heard it a million times on the Grand Ole Opry via the magic of WSM and it still brings a smile to my face.

Saturday Morning Biscuit Bust

The morning of the first International Biscuit Festival finally arrived. I didn't have advanced tickets for the premium event (a sit-down biscuit bonanza) and I arrived around 10:20 for the main event, only to find that all tickets were sold out. I'm not sure who messed this one up, but who thought that a few hundred tickets for biscuits in Knoxville, Tennessee would be adequate? Hello, we are SOUTHERN. Hello, we are FAT. OK, not all of us - but a bunch of us. We do like our biscuits and I guess the consolation is that thanks to the great response, there will almost certainly be a redux.

So what is a body to do? Well, plenty. I got a biscuit from Pete's after a very long wait (long line, not slow service!) and then got in line at the Java coffee booth at the Farmer's Market, but decided it was too long, so I walked over to the dependable Coffee and Chocolate. It's interesting how fast the tables can turn - Java snatched my coffee money  from C&C last night with the poetry slam and today, long lines drove me in the opposite direction. While at Pete's I did get to meet a couple of members of the New Orleans Slam team and got to talk a bit about Katrina and the oil spill. Everyone was sick about both. What can you say?

After securing my coffee and biscuit, I settled in front of Preservation Pub, which is the best people watching spot for Farmer's Market, in my opinion. They don't open until noon and the sun is shaded on that side of Market Square. I sat next to the gentleman to the right and wished I could read his thoughts as he watched the people at the Market.

The Knoxville Farmer's Market begins in the spring and runs through the fall on Market Square. The best items are usually available when it opens (9AM), but the vendors are open until around noon on Saturday mornings and Wednesday mornings. So far, I've sampled fresh flowers, strawberries, some great and unusual lettuce, bread and eggs. All products must be grown in the region and most are organically grown. Market Square and the adjacent Krutch Park are generally packed. The pictures here are from the end, when things were winding down, because I was too slow to make it on this particular Saturday.

Increasingly, it is impossible to go to the Square and not hear good music. Such was the case this day. The Native-American man pictured below playing the National Steel Guitar was once a professional musician in New Orleans, but now has a booth selling hand-crafted jewelry at the Market. The two musicians laid down some sweet blues. While they played, I could hear the words in my head . . . "Woke up this morning with a biscuit on my mind . . ."