📆 Around town this weekend
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Today
📚 Launch Party and Book Signing with Audra McElyea @ East Tennessee History Center | Friday (10/17) at 6:00pm – Take a break from doomscrolling and hit the East Tennessee History Center for a launch party for Audra McElyea’s new locked-room thriller, Not Good People, with WBIR’s Abby Ham. Expect sharp convo, snacks, mingling, and a signing. Tickets are $5, worth it.
🕯️ Halloween Candlelight Tours @ Blount Mansion | Friday (10/17) at 8:00pm – Candlelight tours with a Halloween twist, long on local lore and short on jump scares. Expect creaky stories, shadowy corners, and just enough goosebumps to justify a nightcap, plus the rare chance to look mysterious in a scarf without anyone asking questions.
This weekend
🍁 Fall Festival @ Blount County Public Library | Saturday (10/18) at 10:00am – Whether you’re stocking up on early gifts or just hunting for kettle corn, this annual outdoor craft fair serves up shopping, activities, food, and small-town charm. Bring your walking shoes, your patience for glitter, and the kids. Consider your fall weekend handled.
🎤 The Local Chapter: Kristen Combs @ Burlington Branch Library | Saturday (10/18) at 2:00pm – Think you’ve done Knoxville? Spoiler, there’s more than Market Square patios. Kristen Combs, the Visit Knoxville insider behind 100 Things to Do in Knoxville Before You Die, shares savvy picks at a book talk, then sticks around for a meet-and-greet, a signing, and neighborly banter.
🎭 Trinity’s Fall Costume Ball @ White Star Station | Saturday (10/18) at 6:00pm – Grab your favorite costume, and your least sensible shoes, then meet me at Trinity for the Fall Costume Ball. Expect real dancing, cheeky masks, and grown-up fun your knees will forgive in the morning. For once we get to be spooky, social, and off-duty.
🛍️ Old City Market@ West Jackson Avenue | Sunday (10/19) at 11:00am – Old City is turning into an open-air market, curated with artists, crafters, and makers who actually make things you want. Stroll the cobblestones with a coffee, chat with the folks behind it all, and finally buy something besides a scented candle.
🎨 Brush and Brew @ Intrepid Nitro Coffee and Tea Bar | Sunday (10/19) at 2:00pm – Brush and Brew lets you trade small talk for brushstrokes, and your inbox for a wine glass. No talent required, just a steady-ish hand, a sense of humor, and friends who will not judge your seascape. Relaxed vibes, good company, generous pours.
🐐 Bijou Imagination Series: Billy Goats Gruff & Other Tales @ Bijou Theatre | Sunday (10/19) at 2:30pm – The Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia brings your favorite storybook characters to life in a burst of color, light, and playful mischief. Watch the Billy Goats outsmart the troll and other classic tales unfold in this clever, heartwarming show made for kids—but guaranteed to delight grown-ups, too.
Next week
☠️ Creepy Craft Time: Poison Garden Collage @ Halls Branch Library | Monday (10/20) at 4:30pm – Whether your green thumb is on sabbatical or you just like your botanicals with a side of mischief, come brew a poison garden collage inspired by Christy Mandin’s Millie Fleur’s Poison Garden. It is hands-on, low stakes, and delightfully wicked, no gardening gloves required.
📚 Book Stack Craft @ Cedar Bluff Branch Library | Monday (10/20) at 6:00pm – If your shelves are begging for something other than dust, make fall-themed book stacks, then paint, stamp, and embellish them for peak autumn cozy. It’s crafty without glitter trauma, and you leave with décor that looks intentional. Space is limited, so call 865-470-7033 to register.
🏚️ Spooky Tealight Villages @ Howard Pinkston Branch Library | Tuesday (10/21) at 6:00pm – Feel like leaning into spooky season without hauling out the ladder? Bring the kiddo or grandkid to make a cardboard haunted village, lit by battery-powered tealights, no singed eyebrows. Ages 6+ with an adult, equal parts cozy craft and Halloween bragging rights.
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