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.