Vol. 1 — No. 20Weekend Episode · Thu–Sun, Oct 29–Nov 1, 2026 · South Knoxville, TN★ soknoear.com
Vol. 1 — No. 20 · Oct 29–Nov 1★ soknoear.com
The South Knoxville Ear — We Hear Things.
Wanna party in the Dirty South?
★ Tonight's plan: happy hours → music → karaoke →
What’s Happening ThursdayWhat’s Happening FridayWhat’s Happening SaturdayWhat’s Happening Sunday
See
Thursday · OCT 29
Boos & Brews at Puckers
5:30 – 9:30 PM · costume contest, pumpkin beer pong, live DJ
Wax Museum spooky vinyl at Fly by Night
Evening · Xerox the Kidd and Country Dark
$10 Patrón mango ritas at Earl's
11 AM – 10 PM · a rita a day through Saturday
Friday · OCT 30
Starlight Paddle, Ijams River Landing
7 – 9 PM · $45 · ages 14+
Jake Smith Trio at Trailhead
7 PM · free, outdoors
Free 90s Rave at The 808
Doors 7, show 8 · Psychonaut · 18+
Ho'Down on the lawn at Kern's
Evening · line dancing, mechanical bull · costume winners at 9
Love at First Laugh, then Pink Is Punk: HalloweEMO
7:30 PM gameshow · 9 PM party · The Pink Cactus · 18+
Freaks Come Out at Night ball at Fly by Night
9 PM – late · $10 · 21+
Saturday · OCT 31
Old Sevier Halloween Pub Crawl
All day · 11 stops · free passport
Storytime: Bats at the Ijams Nature Playscape
10 AM – noon · free
Playing 'Possum at Ijams Nature Center
11 AM – noon · $10
Four Legged Dog at Trailhead
7 PM · free, outdoors
Bear Grillz at The 808
Doors 7, show 8 · 18+
Drop Dead drag show at Hi-Wire
9 – 11:30 PM · $9.55
Belltower haunted house party at The Pink Cactus
Until 2 AM · $15 · free karaoke after 9 · 18+
Sunday · NOV 1
Renew in Nature at Ijams Nature Center
10 AM – noon · $40
Mt Olive Pleasure Club at Trailhead
4 PM · free, outdoors
Día de los Muertos at The Pink Cactus
5 – 9 PM · free cumbia class, catrina makeup
Old SevierSat

The Old Sevier Halloween Pub Crawl puts eleven neighborhood stops on one passport Saturday

Six stamps enter you for the prize package.

The Old Sevier District, the merchants' association for the Sevier Avenue corridor, posted the route Saturday: on October 31 its Halloween Pub Crawl is back, with eleven neighborhood businesses on a single passport and the whole day to work through them. Grab a passport at whichever stop you reach first, get it stamped with a purchase at each place you visit, and hit six or more to be entered for a prize package put together by the district's businesses. There is no cover and no ticket; the association's own word for it is a neighborhood in on the spooky-season shenanigans.

When
Sat Oct 31 · all day, on each stop's own hours
Where
The Old Sevier District: Sevier Avenue, Island Home Avenue and Barber Street
Cost
Free to play · a purchase gets the passport stamped
How it works
Pick up a passport at any participating stop · visit six or more and you are entered to win a prize package from the district's businesses
The eleven stops
Alliance Brewing · Fly by Night · Hi-Wire Brewing · Honeybee Coffee · Printshop Beer Co. · Redbud Kitchen · Sevier Ave Burger Co. · South Coast Pizza · SouthSide Garage · The Pink Cactus · Trailhead Beer Market
Dress code
Costumes highly encouraged
Parking
Riverwalk Garage at the west end, the gravel lot under the James White Parkway bridge at the east end, the public lot at the east end of Suttree Landing Park
Weather
Mostly cloudy and 76 · showers possible after dark · clocks fall back at 2 AM

A route you can walk

The list is the avenue end to end, and it is not all beer. Honeybee Coffee is a stop, so is South Coast Pizza, Redbud Kitchen and Sevier Ave Burger Co., which puts breakfast, lunch and dinner on the passport alongside Alliance, Hi-Wire, Printshop and Trailhead's taps, Fly by Night's cocktail list and the Pink Cactus's karaoke rooms. SouthSide Garage opens at noon and runs to midnight on Saturday. Everything sits within about a mile, from Printshop and Trailhead on Island Home Avenue to Hi-Wire on Barber Street, so the sensible plan is to park once and walk it in costume.

The stops have their own nights

Several of the eleven have Halloween programming that starts as the crawl winds down. The Pink Cactus turns into a haunted house party with free karaoke after nine, Hi-Wire's drag show and costume contest starts at nine, Trailhead has Four Legged Dog on the patio at seven, and just off the list The 808 has Bear Grillz, so the passport can end at a show. The forecast is mostly cloudy and 76 with a chance of showers after dark, and the clocks go back an hour at 2 AM, which the late stops are counting as a bonus hour of Halloween.

Old Sevier

Old SevierThu

Puckers throws Boos & Brews Thursday: a cash-prize costume contest, pumpkin beer pong and shot roulette

The costume contest pays out in cash.

Puckers, the sports grill on Mimosa Avenue with the wall of screens across the river from Neyland, is calling Thursday Boos & Brews. From 5:30 to 9:30 on October 29 there is a costume contest with a cash prize, Pumpkin Beer Pong, Shot Roulette and a live DJ; the venue's own line is come dressed to impress and ready to party. It overlaps Pucker Hour, the weekday five-to-six deal with a dollar Puckers Lager and three-dollar wells, so the early arrivals pay less. Thursday is sunny and 75, dropping into the 40s overnight.

When
Thu Oct 29 · 5:30 – 9:30 PM
Where
Puckers Sports Grill · 115 Mimosa Ave
On
Cash-prize costume contest · Pumpkin Beer Pong · Shot Roulette · a live DJ
Before it
Pucker Hour, 5 to 6 on weekdays: $1 Puckers Lager, $3 wells, prosecco and lemon drops, $5 Vol Bombs

Old Sevier

Old SevierThu

Wax Museum spins spooky vinyl rarities at Fly by Night Thursday

The quieter of the lounge's two Halloween nights.

Fly by Night's October lineup, posted on the lounge's own grid at the start of the month, gives the Thursday before Halloween to Wax Museum, the vinyl duo of Xerox the Kidd and Country Dark, for what the post calls a monster mash of spooky vinyl rarities. No set time or cover is posted, so ask at the bar; the room is open from four until one. The creepy cocktail list the lounge has run all month is still on, and it is the calmer of the lounge's two Halloween nights, before Friday's ball.

When
Thu Oct 29 · evening; the lounge is open 4 PM – 1 AM
Where
Fly by Night · 906 Sevier Ave, Suite 126
Who
Wax Museum: Xerox the Kidd and Country Dark, on vinyl
Cost
No cover posted
Also
The creepy cocktail list runs all month
Original Dirty South Map Found

Click to see the original map of Knoxville’s Dirty South that was recently unearthed for the public to see.

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Top Stories & Events

Old Sevier

Old SevierFri

Fly by Night's fourth Freaks Come Out at Night ball brings three DJs to the haunted lounge Friday

Fourth year; ten dollars at the door.

Freaks Come Out at Night is Fly by Night's annual Halloween ball, and this is its fourth year. Benicio, one of the three DJs, posted the details with the lounge on October 22: Friday, October 30, from nine until late, ten dollars, 21 and up, with Alex Falk and Minitiger on the bill alongside him, rocking the haunted house, as the lineup put it. The lounge itself posted that tickets are on sale through the QR code and the link in its bio, and its October lineup promised all the ghouls and goblins grooving. Friday is mostly sunny and 77 and stays in the 50s overnight, so the walk from the gravel lot is a mild one.

When
Fri Oct 30 · 9 PM until late
Where
Fly by Night · 906 Sevier Ave, Suite 126
DJs
Alex Falk · Minitiger · Benicio
Cost
$10 · tickets through the lounge's bio link or at the door
Ages
21+
Dress
Dress up and get down, says the post

Old Sevier

Old SevierFri

The 808 throws a free 90s rave with Psychonaut on Halloween eve

No ticket, no cover, doors at seven.

The 808, the music venue that opened at 808 Sevier Avenue on October 2, has a free night on Halloween eve: a 90s Rave with Psychonaut, doors at seven and show at eight, 18 and up, free entry on the venue's own schedule. Its post pitched it as the Halloween pregame and said to get the costumes ready, which fits a week in which the venue has gone from a free open-house weekend of house and bass DJs to its first Halloween. The next night is a ticketed one, below.

When
Fri Oct 30 · doors 7 PM · show 8 PM
Where
The 808 · 808 Sevier Ave
Who
Psychonaut
Cost
Free entry · the venue lists it on its ticket page at 808knox.com
Ages
18+
Parking
The venue's map of the lots and street spaces around the block ·
Get tickets at The 808

Old Sevier

Old SevierSat

Bear Grillz brings the Dubstep Time Machine to The 808 on Halloween night

The venue's biggest booking yet lands on Halloween.

Bear Grillz, the bass producer who tours as a costumed bear, plays The 808 on Saturday, October 31, with Spnce and Shosstah opening; the venue has been billing it as Dubstep Time Machine Halloween since the middle of the month and told followers to let the bear inspire their costumes. Doors are at seven and the show at eight, 18 and up. Tickets are on the venue's site through TicketWeb; the venue's post quoted an advance price lower than the one its site shows, so buy from the page and take the number there. The Parking line in the box opens the venue's own map.

When
Sat Oct 31 · doors 7 PM · show 8 PM
Where
The 808 · 808 Sevier Ave
Who
Bear Grillz · Spnce · Shosstah
Ages
18+
Get tickets at The 808

Old Sevier

Old SevierFri

Planet Doom's HalloweEMO party takes over the Pink Cactus Friday, with a blind-dating gameshow first

Emo anthems remixed until two; find a date first.

Planet Doom, Doomsayer's recurring EDM night, makes the Pink Cactus its Halloween home on Friday, October 30, with Pink Is Punk: HalloweEMO, a party of EDM remixes of emo favorites from nine until two, 18 and up, costumes encouraged. Before it, at 7:30, Knox Social Club and The Comedy Sphere run Love at First Laugh: Get Boo'd Up Edition, a blind-dating gameshow hosted by comedians. A thirty-five-dollar VIP ticket, sold through Knox Social Club, covers both; the party alone has a presale on Doomsayer's site, which lists it nine to two at the pink house. The Pink Cactus put both on its October list at the start of the month, and Planet Doom posted the details with the venue on October 13.

When
Fri Oct 30 · Love at First Laugh 7:30 PM · Pink Is Punk 9 PM – 2 AM
Where
The Pink Cactus · 1147 Sevier Ave
Tickets
$35 VIP covers the gameshow and the party, through Knox Social Club · party-only presale at iamdoomsayer.com
Ages
18+ · costumes encouraged
Who
Planet Doom (Doomsayer) · Knox Social Club and The Comedy Sphere for the gameshow
Get tickets for the HalloweEMO party at The Pink Cactus

Old Sevier

Old SevierSat

Belltower turns the Pink Cactus into a haunted house party on Halloween night, with free karaoke after nine

All four karaoke rooms are free after nine.

Belltower, the goth night Temple runs, has the Pink Cactus on Halloween itself. Its post with the venue describes a decorated haunted house party: a dark dance party downstairs with live DJs spinning goth music all night, Verena Noctem, Sara Alured and Cemetery Sex among them, local vendors, the outdoor bar back open, and the venue's treat, free karaoke in all four rooms after nine, with a request to let everyone have a turn. Entry is fifteen dollars at the gate, 18 and up, costumes encouraged.

When
Sat Oct 31 · evening until 2 AM · karaoke rooms free after 9 PM
Where
The Pink Cactus · 1147 Sevier Ave
Cost
$15 at the gate · cash, card or Venmo
Ages
18+ ("baby bats welcome")
DJs
Verena Noctem · Sara Alured · Cemetery Sex, goth all night
Presented by
Temple · Dark Frequencies Production · hosted by Cemetery Sex
Parking
Tight on Halloween night, the hosts say: carpool or rideshare

The hosts have extended hours for the night and are counting the end of daylight saving time, which falls at 2 AM Sunday, as a bonus hour: the party runs until the clock says two. It is the last stop on Saturday's pub crawl route for anyone still in costume, and the hosts warn that parking will be tight, so carpool or rideshare in.

Old Sevier

Old SevierSun

The Pink Cactus celebrates Día de los Muertos Sunday with a free cumbia class, catrina face paint and an ofrenda

The avenue's one all-ages event of the weekend.

The Pink Cactus closes Halloween weekend with Día de los Muertos on Sunday, November 1, from five to nine. The venue's bilingual post lists a free cumbia dance class with Nery and Ramón, free catrina makeup, the traditional skull face paint, and an ofrenda, the altar of photographs, marigolds and favorite foods that is the heart of the Day of the Dead, with an invitation to come with families and friends. It is the one Halloween-weekend event on the avenue that is built for all ages, and the venue's kitchen does arepas and flatbreads for anyone who stays for dinner.

When
Sun Nov 1 · 5 – 9 PM
Where
The Pink Cactus · 1147 Sevier Ave
Cost
Free cumbia class · free catrina makeup
On
Cumbia dance class with Nery and Ramón · traditional catrina skull face paint · an ofrenda to celebrate loved ones
Weather
Showers likely and 73; the celebration is indoors and on the covered patio

Old Sevier

Old SevierSat

Hi-Wire hosts Drop Dead, a Halloween drag show and costume contest, Saturday at nine

A ticket costs less than a flight of beer.

Hi-Wire's Knoxville taproom, the whole second floor of the building on Barber Street, hosts Drop Dead: Halloween Drag Show & Costume Contest on Saturday, October 31, from nine to 11:30. The brewery's own ticket page lists it at $9.55 and bills it with its usual wink: coming for you, babe. It is the latest in a run of drag nights the taproom has hosted this year, and the costume contest is for the crowd, so the pub crawl outfit gets a second use. The taproom opens at noon on Saturdays and is one of the crawl's eleven stops.

When
Sat Oct 31 · 9 – 11:30 PM
Where
Hi-Wire Brewing · 2020 Barber St, second floor
Earlier
Hi-Wire is a stop on the day's pub crawl; Saturday hours are noon to 11
Get tickets at Hi-Wire Brewing

Old Sevier

Old SevierFri

Jake Smith Trio plays the Trailhead patio Friday at seven

Free, outdoors, and 77 degrees.

Trailhead Beer Market's October flyer puts the Jake Smith Trio on the patio Friday, October 30, at seven, the first of three nights of music there this weekend. The shows are free and outdoors, and Gato Peligroso, the kitchen inside, has brought back its Asian-themed mushroom menu with Extraterrestrial Fungi for the week, open every night through Sunday. Friday is mostly sunny and 77 and holds in the 50s after dark, which is patio weather in a jacket.

When
Fri Oct 30 · 7 PM
Where
Trailhead Beer Market · 1317 Island Home Ave
Cost
Free
Kitchen
Gato Peligroso's Asian mushroom menu with Extraterrestrial Fungi, every night through Sunday
Weather
Mostly sunny and 77, 50s after dark

Old Sevier

Old SevierSat

Four Legged Dog plays Trailhead on Halloween night

The pub crawl stamp you can sit down for.

Four Legged Dog takes the Trailhead patio Saturday, October 31, at seven, per the beer market's October flyer. It is Halloween night, Trailhead is one of the eleven stops on the Old Sevier pub crawl, and the music is free, so this is the stamp that comes with a set. Saturday is mostly cloudy and 76 with a chance of showers after dark; the patio has cover.

When
Sat Oct 31 · 7 PM
Where
Trailhead Beer Market · 1317 Island Home Ave
Cost
Free
Crawl
Trailhead is one of the eleven pub crawl stops; a purchase stamps the passport

Old Sevier

Old SevierSun

Mt Olive Pleasure Club closes the weekend at Trailhead Sunday at four

The first show after the clocks fall back.

Mt Olive Pleasure Club plays Trailhead Beer Market on Sunday, November 1, at four, the flyer's standing Sunday hour. It is the last of the weekend's three patio shows, free, and the first afternoon after the clocks go back, so four o'clock feels later than it is. Rain showers are likely Sunday with a high of 73; the patio has cover and the mushroom menu runs through the night.

When
Sun Nov 1 · 4 PM
Where
Trailhead Beer Market · 1317 Island Home Ave
Cost
Free
Weather
Showers likely and 73; the patio is covered

Kern's

Kern'sFri

Kern's Ho'Down puts line dancing, a mechanical bull and a Thriller lesson on the lawn Friday

Costume contest winners take a $500 gift card.

Kern's calls it the Ho'Down: on Friday, October 30, the lawn at the food hall goes country, with line dancing, two-stepping and a live DJ, a mechanical bull, and a group lesson in the Thriller line dance for the holiday. The costume contest winners are announced at nine during the dancing, a $500 gift card for first and a $100 Eggspectation card for second; the post's advice is dress up, hop on the bull and show us what you've got. Kern's post gives the nine o'clock mark but no start time, so arrive after dinner. Friday is mostly sunny and 77 and in the 50s after dark.

When
Fri Oct 30 · evening · costume contest winners announced at 9 PM
Where
The event lawn at Kern's · 2201 Kern's Rising Way
On
Country line dancing · two-stepping · a live DJ · a mechanical bull · a group lesson in the Thriller line dance
Prizes
1st: $500 gift card · 2nd: $100 Eggspectation gift card
Food
The food hall is open until 11 on Fridays

Ijams Nature Center

Ijams Nature CenterFri

The Starlight Paddle takes kayaks onto the Tennessee River after dark Friday

Kayak, vest and headlamp provided.

Ijams Nature Center's Starlight Paddle is a two-hour guided trip on the Tennessee River after sunset on Friday, October 30, from seven to nine. Naturalists lead it from the boat dock at Ijams River Landing, pointing out the plants, animals and rock along the bank and the night sky above it, and the park provides the kayak, the life vest and the headlamp. It is for ages 14 and up, with anyone under 18 accompanied by an adult, and costs $45.

When
Fri Oct 30 · 7 – 9 PM
Where
Ijams River Landing boat dock · 3507 Island Home Pike (park there, not at Meads Quarry or the visitor center)
Ages
14+ · under 18 with an adult
Gear
Kayaks, life vests and headlamps provided · bring your own vest or paddle if you like, not your own boat · bring water, dress for the weather
Weather
Mostly sunny Friday, 77, clearing to the 50s by nine
Register at Ijams Nature Center

The practical part

Park at Ijams River Landing itself, down the road between the main visitor center and Meads Quarry, not at either of those lots. The park notes that its launch and dock have accessible elements but do not meet ADA requirements for a fully accessible dock, and asks anyone who needs accommodations to write before buying a ticket. Last weekend's Hunter Moon paddle was the last full-moon date of the season, so Friday's is the darker sky, and the forecast is clear: mostly sunny all day, into the 50s by the time the boats come in.

Ijams Nature Center

Ijams Nature CenterSat

Storytime at the Nature Playscape is all about bats on Halloween morning

Free, for the smallest Halloween fans.

Ijams Nature Center's Saturday storytime moves to the Nature Playscape on October 31 with a theme that fits the date: bats. The park bills it as a free Saturday family event focused on bats, from ten to noon, in the natural playground on Island Home Avenue. Last Saturday's storytime was fairytales ahead of the Enchanted Forest; this one is the Halloween animal, and it is the easiest Halloween-morning plan on the beat for anyone with a toddler who will be up at six anyway. The weather is mostly cloudy and in the 60s by ten, climbing to 76.

When
Sat Oct 31 · 10 AM – noon
Where
Ijams Nature Playscape · 3518 Island Home Ave
Cost
Free
Same morning
Playing 'Possum, the meet-and-greet with the park's new opossum, is at 11 at the visitor center

Ijams Nature Center

Ijams Nature CenterSat

Meet the park's newest animal ambassador, an opossum, at Playing 'Possum on Halloween morning

Tennessee's only marsupial, up close, for ten dollars.

Ijams Nature Center has a new animal ambassador, an opossum, and Playing 'Possum on Saturday, October 31, from eleven to noon is the public's first scheduled hour with it. The park's listing promises a look at the lifestyle and adaptations of opossums, which is a long list: North America's only marsupial, a pouch, a prehensile tail, a tick appetite that makes it a gardener's friend, and the famous faint that gives the program its name. Ten dollars, with free parking for the hour if you check in a few minutes early. It runs again Friday, November 6, at six for anyone whose Halloween morning is spoken for, and it pairs with the free bat storytime at the Nature Playscape down Island Home Avenue from ten to noon.

When
Sat Oct 31 · 11 AM – noon
Where
Ijams Nature Center · 2915 Island Home Ave
Parking
Free for the program; check in 5 to 10 minutes early for a pass
Again
Fri Nov 6 at 6 PM
Register at Ijams Nature Center

Ijams Nature Center

Ijams Nature CenterSun

Renew in Nature: yoga, a sound bath and forest bathing at the Ijams homesite Sunday morning

Two quiet hours, with an extra hour of sleep.

Ijams Nature Center's Renew in Nature is a two-hour meditative workshop on Sunday, November 1, from ten to noon: a morning of nature meditation with yoga, a sound bath and a forest bathing session, in the park's words, split between the Miller Building and the Homesite Pavilion on the historic Ijams family homesite. Forest bathing is the Japanese practice of walking slowly and paying attention in the woods, and the pavilion sits at the edge of them. It is $40, registration on the park's calendar, and it falls on the first morning after the clocks go back, so ten o'clock will feel like eleven. Rain showers are likely Sunday; the yoga and the sound bath are under roof.

When
Sun Nov 1 · 10 AM – noon
Where
Ijams Nature Center · the Miller Building and Homesite Pavilion, 2915 Island Home Ave
On
A yoga session · a sound bath · a guided forest bathing walk
Weather
Showers likely and 73; the yoga and sound bath are under roof
Register at Ijams Nature Center

Suttree Landing

Suttree LandingThuFriSatSun

Earl's runs a rita a day through Halloween weekend, then mimosas for the morning after

No game Saturday; the board is the daily one.

Earl's, the bar and kitchen on Waterfront Drive at Suttree Landing, runs a different special every day from eleven to ten, and this is a week without a game on top of it: the Vols have Saturday off before Kentucky comes to town on November 7, so the game-day board stays in the drawer. Thursday is ten-dollar Patrón mango ritas, Friday nine-dollar spicy pineapple ritas, Saturday eight-dollar house margaritas for anyone in costume or out of it, and Sunday seven-dollar mimosas and Bloody Marys, with the Titans at the Bengals at one on the screens. Thursday and Friday are sunny and in the mid-70s for the river tables; Sunday brings the showers.

Thursday
$10 Patrón mango ritas
Friday
$9 spicy pineapple ritas
Saturday
$8 house margaritas · Halloween, no game (the Vols are off)
Sunday
$7 mimosas and Bloody Marys · the Titans are at Cincinnati at 1
Hours
11 AM – 10 PM daily · 610 Waterfront Dr
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