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Santa waves to the crowd during the 2010 Christmas parade in downtown Knoxville.
December's first weekend promises a round of Christmas events from parades to plays with ballerinas, movies and even trains in between.
Start the weekend off with Knoxville's traditional parade of the season 7 p.m. Friday Dec. 2. The parade with floats, baton twirlers, matching bands and of course Santa Claus spends most of its procession on Gay Street.
The parade begins at the Knoxville Coliseum, then takes a left onto Hall of Fame Drive before taking a right on Hill Avenue and then another right onto Gay. The processional ends at West Depot Avenue. For those who have watched the parade for the last few years in the Old City, take note. This year's parade returns to the route that doesn't swing through the Old City.
If you love Christmas parades, this is the weekend for it. Saturday is the date for the Fountain City Christmas Parade. The parade along Broadway in Fountain City begins at 10 a.m. Dec. 3.
Heartwarming stories are always part of the holiday season, and there's more than one being performed or shown this season. The University of Tennessee offers two selections based on holiday classic stories.
The Clarence Brown production of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" continues through Dec. 18. Shows are 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2-3, Dec. 7-10, and Dec. 16-17 with 2 p.m. matinees Dec. 4, Dec. 11 and Dec. 18. Tickets are $25 for adults, $19 senior citizens, $12 for UT faculty/staff members or non-UT students and $5 for UT students for the Wednesday or Thursday shows. Tickets for a Friday, Saturday or Sunday show are $30 for adults, $25 for seniors, $15 for UT faculty/staff members or non-UT students and $5 for UT students. Tickets are at 865-974-5161, 865-656-4444 or www.clarencebrowntheatre.com.
The Clarence Brown's second play is based on a more modern but just as oved story. It's also a play within a play. Clarence Brown actors play actors in a 1940s radio show. In that show, the actors portray George Bailey and other characters from the story of "It's a Wonderful Life."
"It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play" is at UT's Carousel Theatre. The play's opening night is 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2. Other 7:30 p.m. shows are Dec. 3, Dec. 7-10 and Dec. 14-17. The matinees are 2 p.m. Dec. 4, Dec. 11 and Dec. 18. Opening night tickets are $40 for adults, $35 for seniors and $20 for non-UT student and $5 UT students. Ticket prices for other performances are the same as for "A Christmas Carol." The theater also is offering 25 percent off one of the holiday shows when the patron buys a ticket to the other show. (Opening night excluded.)
There's more "Wonderful Life" in Knoxville this weekend. The original Jimmy Stewart 1946 movie plays at 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday Dec. 4. Admission is free to the movie at the Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay St. Doors open an hour before each movie.
This is the first of two weekends the Appalachian Ballet Company performs "The Nutcracker." The Maryville-based company is celebrating its 40th anniversary and will perform the holiday ballet in Knoxville and Maryville. This weekend, the ballerinas are at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium. Shows are 8 p.m. Dec. 3 and 2 p.m. Dec. 4. Next weekend, the company will be at the Clayton Center for the Arts on the Maryville College campus. Shows in Maryville are at 2 and 8 p.m. Dec. 10.
Advance tickets for any show are $21, $31 or $36 in advance, $26, $36 or $41 at the door. Senior citizens and student pay five dollars less. Tickets are at the ballet company, 865-982-8463. Knoxville tickets are also at Tickets Unlimited, 865-656-4444. Maryville tickets at the Clayton Center, 865-981-8590.
And lastly, the trains are back at the University of Tennessee Gardens off Neyland Drive for the season. The Holiday Express, a 4,000-square-foot model railway/train display opens Dec. 2. Hours are noon-8 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays and noon-6 p.m. Sundays Dec. 2-25. Hours on Dec. 26-27 and Dec. 29-Jan. 1 will be noon-6 p.m. daily. Admission to see the trains and their miniature world is $6. Children are 4 and younger get in free. The trains are set up in and protected by a large, walled tent.
© 2011, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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