SAVE-THE-DATE
9th Annual Cattywampus Parade & Block Party
2026 Theme: Where the Waters Meet
Sunday, May 17th, 2026
Cattywampus’s people-powered Parade & Block Party has become an annual tradition in Knoxville over the past 8 years. 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!
Stay tuned for info about our May 2026 Parade!! Scroll down for info about our 2026 theme, parade art making resources, and more.
We are grateful to all of the community partners who’ve collaborated with us over the years to make each parade year unique, including Bike Walk Knoxville and the Big Ears Festival, who co-hosted in 2022 and 2023, alongside musical guests the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Aurora Nealand & the Royal Roses, RAM, 79rs Gang, and others.
In May 2024, we brought our 2024 Parade to Bike Walk Knox’s Open Streets event on Central Ave in Happy Holler in partnership with SOCM and asked our community to envision through art a Knoxville with affordable, safe, and healthy housing for all. Learn more about this parade in the video below:
ABOUT THE PARADE THEME
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.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
Sign-up to be in the parade! This parade is open to the entire community. Individuals, families, schools, neighborhood groups, and organizations are all encouraged to participate. We are looking for folks to make masks, puppets, and costumes, as well as dancers and stiltwalkers. You are welcome to create your own entry or form your own parade crew and make something together. We’ll also have extra art available to carry if you simply want to join in the parade itself. All participants must register (It’s free!).
Make Art! Cattywampus will be hosting a variety of art making workshops and open studio days leading up to the Parade. Learn about upcoming Workshops & Open Studio Days on our Events Page. You can also visit our “Resources” page to access our free Giant Puppet Making & Parade Art Manual, images, templates, and other instructions to get inspired.
For questions or info about how to get your school, organization or community group involved in the 2026 parade, please use the contact form here or email Rachel Milford at cattywampuspuppetcouncil@gmail.com.
PARADE PROGRAMMING
Although the parade itself is a one-day event, the programming leading up to it begins months in advance. Each parade season, Cattywampus hosts:
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Youth Art Residencies at 10 different community partner sites. Our 2025 youth community partner sites included Centro Hispano’s after-school programs at Belle Morris Elementary, Norwood Elementary, West View Elementary, Lonsdale Elementary & Pellissippi State Community College; Boys & Girls Club sites at Vestal, Montgomery Village, & North Ridge Crossing; and the Shora Foundation. Over the course of 2-3 months, Cattywampus teaching artists and youth interns support students at these sites in designing and creating their own giant puppets and parade art inspired by the year’s parade theme. As the culmination of this project, students then form their own parade crews and have the opportunity to share their creations with the community.
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A paid Youth Intern Squad that pairs local high schoolers with our Youth Art Residency sites throughout the community.
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Giant Puppet Making Workshops and Open Studio Days for organizations, schools, neighborhood groups, and other individuals who want to learn how to make art and organize their own parade crew. Check our events calendar, sign up for our mailing list, and follow us on Instagram to find out when our next workshop is!
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The Knox Honkers & Bangers, a new, raucous, hot pink, and inclusive community brass band Cattywampus piloted in 2023. This band is open to all! Join us!
THANK YOU TO OUR 2026 SPONSORS AND PARTNERS
This project is funded in part through grants from the Tennessee Arts Commission, as well as through the UTK CURCI program and the Bailey Family Foundation.