Vol. 1 — No. 8Weekend Episode · Thu–Sun, Aug 6–9, 2026 · South Knoxville, TN★ soknoear.com
Vol. 1 — No. 8 · Aug 6–9★ soknoear.com
The South Knoxville Ear — We Hear Things.
Ijams ParkFriSatSun

Ijams Park beyond the stage: a sold-out river and the gentlest Sunday of the year

Friday's evening paddle sold out — register earlier next time — Saturday belongs to the storytellers, and Sunday stacks a sound bath, a stained-glass workshop, and yoga back to back.

Fri Aug 7
Evening Paddle — sold out (watch the calendar for the next one)
Sat Aug 8
Storytelling at the Nature Playscape · 10 AM · free
Sun Aug 9
Sound bath 10 AM · stained glass 11 AM ($80) · yoga 11:30 AM
Aug 15
Hummingbird Festival — live bird banding, 7 AM–1 PM
Sunday, at a lower volume

A note of neighborhood pride disguised as bad news: Friday's guided evening paddle on the river is sold out. The boats fill faster every week, which tells you something about this place — if a sunset kayak is on your list, grab the next date on the Ijams Park calendar the day it posts. Saturday is friendlier to procrastinators: free storytelling at the Nature Playscape from ten to noon, no registration, just kids and a good book under the trees.

The gentle Sunday

Sunday might be the softest slate Ijams Park runs all year: a sound bath meditation at ten — bring a mat and get washed in singing bowls — a stained-glass workshop at eleven where you leave with a heart, black bear, or moth suncatcher of your own making (eighty dollars, materials included, ages fourteen up), and Self Care Sunday yoga in the trees at 11:30. Do all three and you'll float home.

Circle next Saturday

And a look-ahead worth inking in: the Hummingbird Festival lands Saturday, August 15, with live bird-banding sessions from seven to one — the closest most of us will ever get to a bird that weighs less than a nickel. More on that in the next episode.

Top Stories & Events

Ijams Park

Ijams ParkThuFriSatSun

The final bow: Shakespeare's last four nights at Ijams Park

This time it's real — the 36th Knoxville Shakespeare festival ends Sunday. Henry V plays Thursday (pay-what-you-can) and Saturday; The Merry Wives of Windsor takes Friday and the festival's last night.

Take the bow, boys
Thu Aug 6
King Henry V — pay-what-you-can
Fri Aug 7
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Sat Aug 8
King Henry V — final performance
Sun Aug 9
Merry Wives — the festival's last bow
Curtain
7:30 PM nightly · doors 7
Tickets
$20 · Thursday pay-what-you-can · under 15 free
Bring
A chair or blanket · parking free 30 min before

Two weeks ago we called the wrong weekend Shakespeare's last and had to take it back. This time the calendar and the company agree: the 36th Knoxville Shakespeare festival plays its final four nights on the Ijams Park lawn this weekend, and when Falstaff takes his last bow Sunday evening, that's the season.

The order of exit

King Henry V opens the farewell Thursday — and Thursday is still pay-what-you-can, so the cheapest possible way into professional Shakespeare remains the week's opener. Merry Wives takes Friday. Saturday is your last chance at Henry V — Agincourt, the St. Crispin's Day speech, all of it — and Sunday night The Merry Wives of Windsor closes the whole festival. Doors at 7, curtain 7:30, every night.

The practicals, one last time

Twenty dollars a ticket except Thursday; kids under fifteen free through Penny for the Arts; parking free starting thirty minutes before curtain; the lawn is the seating, so bring the chair or the blanket; and if it rains, the show moves indoors rather than away. After Sunday, the lawn goes back to the fireflies until next summer.

SoKno

SoKnoThu

Before the theater: Thursday is Election Day

State and federal primaries, polls open 8 AM to 8 PM. Vote first, then go watch Henry V rally the troops.

Thu Aug 6
Polls open 8 AM – 8 PM
Next Thu
Kerbela apartments hearing · Aug 13 · agenda item 44

One piece of civic business before the weekend fun: Thursday, August 6 is Election Day — state and federal primaries, polls open 8 in the morning to 8 at night. Check your precinct with the Knox County Election Commission if you've moved. Conveniently, the polls close half an hour after curtain at Ijams Park, so the truly efficient can vote on the way to Agincourt.

And next Thursday

The other civic date on the horizon: the roughly 220-unit apartment plan for the old Kerbela Shriners Temple site goes back before the Administrative Review Committee on August 13, agenda item 44, with staff recommendations due to post about a week out. We'll have the full picture in the next episode.

Kern's

Kern'sFriSatSun

The Ho'down takes root at Kern's — now every other Friday

Line dancing graduates from one-off to standing date, The Big Pink covers The Band, and the weekend closes on jazz and easy Sunday covers.

Fri Aug 7
The Big Pink (The Band covers) 5 PM · Ho'down Social 8–11 PM
Sat Aug 8
Milkshake Fatty (jazzy pop covers) · 6–9 PM
Sun Aug 9
Chase Countiss · 1–4 PM
Where
Kern's, 2201 Kern's Rising Way
Boots, biweekly

The country dancing at Kern's is officially a habit now: the Ho'down Social returns Friday night, eight to eleven, this time with Cowtown Studios calling the two-steps and line dances — and it's the first date of a new every-other-Friday series that runs into December. No partner required, boots encouraged, beginners the whole point.

The rest of the bill

Friday's warm-up act is a treat for the classic-rock faithful: The Big Pink plays the music of The Band from five to eight, which means you can go from "The Weight" straight into a line dance. Saturday brings Milkshake Fatty's jazzy instrumental takes on pop songs, six to nine, and Sunday afternoon Chase Countiss plays covers and originals from one to four. Friday also keeps the standing half-price wine bottles at Eggspectation from three o'clock on — the quiet-table option while the boots stomp outside.

Suttree Landing

Suttree LandingThuFriSatSun

The specials board: the full margarita ladder, and dog bingo

Earl's runs a different deal every single day of the weekend, and Alliance Brewing closes it with bingo you play for the dogs.

Thu
Earl's — $10 Patrón mango ritas · 4–6 PM
Fri
Earl's — $9 spicy pineapple ritas · 4–6 PM
Sat
Earl's — $8 house margs · all day
Sun
Earl's — $7 mimosas & bloodys all day · Bow Wow Bingo at Alliance 2 PM
The week, in chalk

Earl's on the waterfront runs the full ladder this weekend, a different rung every day: ten-dollar Patrón mango margaritas Thursday and nine-dollar spicy pineapple ritas Friday, both four to six with a dollar off liquor, beer, and wine; then the weekend opens up — eight-dollar house margaritas all day Saturday, and seven-dollar mimosas and Bloody Marys all day Sunday. Plan the weekend by rung.

Sunday, for the dogs

And over on Sevier Avenue, Alliance Brewing hosts Bow Wow Bingo Sunday at two — bingo with the proceeds going to the dogs, per Inside of Knoxville's planner, with an RSVP requested. A beer, a bingo card, and a good cause within walking distance of the river: that's a Sunday.

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