The East Tennessee Historical Society, in partnership with the Knox County Public Library, is proud to announce the return of the East Tennessee History Fair. This well-loved event will take to the streets of downtown Knoxville once more, but in a new way.

This FREE curated celebration will take place in and around the East Tennessee History Center in downtown Knoxville and will include:

• regional historic/cultural organizations
• living history
• live music
• square dancing
• crafts
• film screenings
• children’s activities
• and more!

The theme will center around our nation’s Semiquincentennial (250th) with a focus on these four pillars: Celebrate, Commemorate, Contemplate, and Commit. These pillars will be woven throughout the event with engagement areas and educational programming materials to spark conversation, encourage reflection, and help broaden our understanding of our diverse region.

East Tennessee History Fair Activity Schedule

Tennessee Theatre Schedule:

10:00-3:00 – Open House (Theatre and Osborne & Everly Lounges)

11:00 – These Mountains Are Home:  As part of the nation’s celebration of the 1976 American Bicentennial, WATE news manager Allen Keller produced a film that displayed the rich cultural heritage of the Appalachian region. Shooting on location in various East Tennessee locales, including the Museum of Appalachia, Keller and his team interviewed craftspeople, teachers, musicians, farmers, politicians and mines in order to create a sketch of what Appalachian life was like for early settlers.

This half-hour film, which from today’s vantage point seems to foreshadow the production of The Heartland Series a few years later, was aired once on television and has not been publicly screened since. Thanks to Keller’s generous donation of his archive to the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound, East Tennessee audiences can now see THESE MOUNTAINS ARE HOME again. It’s a fascinating time capsule of how East Tennessee saw itself and its history at the time of the Bicentennial, an enduring look at pioneer life in Appalachia, and a tribute to the people and institutions that keep these traditions alive. Outtakes from the film that have never been publicly screened will also be shown.

1:00 – Remix the Past: To celebrate the 250th, TAMIS invited the public to creatively engage with some of our archival footage to create unique, artistic short films on the theme “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” The submissions were creative, playful and inspired, and show a wide variety of engagements with the theme: a phone call with a parent discussing their childhood illustrated with footage of agriculture and industry, surrealist visual collages of midcentury images, an amusing take on YouTube’s propensity for running ads just when a video is getting good, and modern children playing with children from the past. Winners of the contest will be announced after the screening!

3:00 – Feature Film: 1776!:  Summer movie magic meets Broadway at the Tennessee with a special screening of 1776! The 1972 musical film is based on the hit 1969  Broadway show of the same name. Follow John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson as they try to convince the Continental Congress to declare independence from Great Britain and sign the Declaration of Independence. Featuring Knoxville’s own John Cullum as Edward Rutledge. This free screening is the perfect way to close out the 2026 East Tennessee History Fair honoring America’s Semiquincentennial.

Jubilee Community Arts Outdoor Stage

(located on Clinch Ave at Krutch Park)

9:30 – Reading from Knoxville Writers Guild Declaration: I Am Tennessee by Margy Ragsdale

9:50 – Clinch River Ramblers

10:25 – Reading from Knoxville Writers Guild Declaration: I Am Tennessee by Kristen Combs

10:45 –  Knox County Jug Stompers

11:35 – Reading from Knoxville Writers Guild Declaration: I Am Tennessee  by Kevin Keck

12:00 – Old-Time Jam:  East TN has a rich history of mountain music and community gatherings. To honor this tradition, please join us for an old-time jam from 12pm-1pm at the Jubilee Community Arts Outdoor Stage. All acoustic string instruments welcome, acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, bass.

1:00 – Reading from Knoxville Writers Guild Declaration: I Am Tennessee by Black Atticus

1:20 – The New Dismembered Tennesseans

2:00 – Reading from Knoxville Writers Guild Declaration: I Am Tennessee by Henry Wilson and Jack Rentfro

2:15-4:00 – Square Dancing

Auditorium Schedule

(located inside the East Tennessee History Center)

9:30 – “The Town with a Dozen Accents: America’s 16th Capital City in the Post-Revolutionary 1790s” Speaker Jack Neely, Knoxville History Project Executive Director

10:15 – “Historical Thinking for the Next 250 Years” Speaker Dr. Doug Sofer, Maryville College Professor of History and Division of Humanities Chair

11:00 – “Not For Light and Transient Causes: The Battle of Athens and the Use of Retaliatory Force to Save Democracy” Speaker Tyler Boyd, President of the McMinn County Historical Society and Archives

11:00-1:00 – Ongoing performances and demonstrations with the Knoxville Area Dulcimer Club (located in the front section entrance off of main lobby)

11:45 – “John Sevier: The Interesting Life of Tennessee’s First Governor” Speaker Chris Magra, University of Tennessee Professor of Early American History and Director of the Center for the Study of Tennesseans and War

12:30 – Multimedia performance by Nicholas Edward Williams

1:30 – Cumberland Plateau Fiddlers with Joseph Decosimo and Bobby Fulcher

2:30 – The McKinney Center performing scenes from The First and Last Town in TN  – The First and Last Town in Tennessee, written by Anne G’Fellers-Mason, shares stories and moments from Jonesborough’s past. Learn about the history of Tennessee’s Oldest Town with select scenes about the town’s naming, the importance of the courthouse, Andrew Jackson’s infamous visits, and much more.

History Headquarters

(located inside the East Tennessee History Center in the Museum of East Tennessee History)

10:00 – Story Time: A to Z Black History in Knoxville with author Kharmon Anderson

More details will be added in the coming weeks. In the meantime, save the date! This is a historic event you won’t want to miss!

Volunteers Needed!

Volunteers are needed to assist with various jobs including set up, information booths, education/activity stations, gallery attendants, and more. If you are interested in volunteering for the East Tennessee History Fair, please complete this online form
https://easttnhistory.app.neoncrm.com/forms/east-tennessee-history-fair-volunteer-sign-up?opportunityId=248