Line-Up: 2pm (Suttree Landing Park Pavilion)
Kick-Off: 3pm 
Block Party: 3:30-6pm (Suttree Landing Park Festival Lawn)

Now in its 9th year, Cattywampus’s people-powered Parade has become an annual tradition in Knoxville. It brings together diverse and intergenerational cross-sections of our community to play, create, and build relationships with one another, while using the visual and performing arts as tools to help tell our stories and vision what futures we might create together.

Community members of all ages are invited to make giant puppets, masks, costumes, and other art and come together to parade as one. The parade is free and open to all!

2026 Parade Theme: Where the Waters Meet

In east Knoxville, the confluence of the French Broad and Holston Rivers form the headwaters and start of the Tennessee River, one of the most biodiverse and 5th largest waterways in North America. We know water is not only one of our greatest sources of life but also a source of struggle for many communities, including our own, threatened by pollution and our ever-shifting climate. This parade season, we invite you to make giant puppets, costumes and other people-powered creations in celebration of water and a commitment to protect our waterways and all of the life they support, including our own. On Sunday, May 17th, we will then flow together as one and process along the Tennessee River at Suttree Landing Park, a beautiful confluence of community and art.

The Cattywampus Parade will kick off at 3pm and process along the River Walk Greenway and Waterfront Dr concluding on the Festival Lawn with a Block Party until 6pm, featuring local hip-hop, drumming, dance, activity providers, food, and more. You don't wanna miss it!

To register & learn more, visit the Parade page on our website here.

Join us for open maker space at St. James Episcopal during the days leading up to the Cattywampus Parade & Block Party! Come help Cattywampus work on big puppets for the Parade, as well as make your own art to carry. We’ll have cardboard, paint, and some additional supplies available for making giant cardboard flats, flags, and noisemakers. Feel free to bring your own projects already in process. All ages are welcome!

Join us for open maker space at St. James Episcopal during the days leading up to the Cattywampus Parade & Block Party! Come help Cattywampus work on big puppets for the Parade, as well as make your own art to carry. We’ll have cardboard, paint, and some additional supplies available for making giant cardboard flats, flags, and noisemakers. Feel free to bring your own projects already in process. All ages are welcome!

Cattywampus is stoked to partner with our friends at Outlandish Adventure Festival to bring open parade art making space to Ijams Nature Center as part of this year’s festival! Come help Cattywampus work on big puppets for our upcoming May 17th Cattywampus Parade, as well as make your own art to carry. We’ll have cardboard, paint, and some additional supplies available for making giant cardboard flats, flags, and noisemakers. Feel free to bring your own projects already in process. All ages are welcome!

Join us on the back patio at Ijams from 2-5pm and then check out more of the amazing entertainment and activities happening as part of Outlandish Fest!

The Art●Struck Festival brings together artists and arts organizations to celebrate and support the arts community! Join Cattywampus and the Knox Honkers & Bangers for this amazing free festival organized by our friends at Johnson City Public Art.

Visit a wide array of talented local artists at the festival’s art market. Bring the whole family and enjoy hands-on activities such as wand making, mask decorating, bucket drumming, a weaving fence, and marbled paper making. Stop by the road roller printmaking station to witness large-scale printmaking in action and check out the art demo booths to see creative activities in the works. Enjoy some delicious food from the food trucks by the Founders Park amphitheater. Learn more about local arts programs and organizations, and above all, have some fun and help us celebrate the arts in Johnson City! This family-friendly event is free and open to the public. To learn more visit https://jcpublicart.com/art-struck-festival/

Cattywampus and the Knox Honkers & Bangers will be leading to participatory Parades at 12pm & 1:15pm and roving throughout the festival until 2:45pm.

Join our friends at KnoxFill and learn how to make cardboard sculptures for our May 17th Cattywampus Parade & Block Party! Materials and tools will be provided and in-progress projects are also welcome. These craft nights are FREE, but KnoxFill is asking folks to register as space is limited.

Join our friends at KnoxFill and learn how to make cardboard sculptures for our May 17th Cattywampus Parade & Block Party! Materials and tools will be provided and in-progress projects are also welcome. These craft nights are FREE, but KnoxFill is asking folks to register as space is limited.

This workshop is designed for teachers, community leaders, and any other individuals ages 13 & up who would like to learn how to design and create giant puppets and other parade art for this spring's Cattywampus Parade on Sunday, May 17th, 2026 at Suttree Landing Park!

Now in its 9th year, Cattywampus's people-powered Parade invites community members of all ages to make giant puppets, costumes, and other art and come together to parade as one. This year’s parade theme “Where the Waters Meet” will be in celebration of water and a commitment to protect our waterways and all of the life they support, including our own. 

During this workshop, we will focus on papier-mâché, cardboard sculpting, rigging, and other methods for making inexpensive parade art. There will not be enough time for participants to complete their own project during this workshop but each participant will receive a Giant Puppet Making & Parade Art Manual to take home, plenty of hands-on experience, and time to work on their own design/brainstorm a project for their group.

Cost: Sliding-scale donation ($0-35)

*Please fill out a registration form for each individual you would like to reserve a spot for. Attendees must be at least 13 years of age.

Thank you to the Tennessee Arts Commission for helping to support this event!

This workshop is designed for teachers, community leaders, and any other individuals ages 13 & up who would like to learn how to design and create giant puppets and other parade art for this spring's Cattywampus Parade on Sunday, May 17th, 2026 at Suttree Landing Park!

Now in its 9th year, Cattywampus's people-powered Parade invites community members of all ages to make giant puppets, costumes, and other art and come together to parade as one. This year’s parade theme “Where the Waters Meet” will be in celebration of water and a commitment to protect our waterways and all of the life they support, including our own. 

During this workshop, we will focus on papier-mâché, cardboard sculpting, rigging, and other methods for making inexpensive parade art. There will not be enough time for participants to complete their own project during this workshop but each participant will receive a Giant Puppet Making & Parade Art Manual to take home, plenty of hands-on experience, and time to work on their own design/brainstorm a project for their group.

Cost: Sliding-scale donation ($0-35)

*Please fill out a registration form for each individual you would like to reserve a spot for. Attendees must be at least 13 years of age.

Thank you to the Tennessee Arts Commission for helping to support this event!

Join our friends at KnoxFill and learn how to make cardboard sculptures for our May 17th Cattywampus Parade & Block Party! Materials and tools will be provided and in-progress projects are also welcome. These craft nights are FREE, but KnoxFill is asking folks to register as space is limited.