Culture

Business owners and their families are delighted to discover a wealth of cultural activities that can be found in the heart of East Tennessee.  

Cultural activities

Performing Arts

• Appalachian Ballet Company
• Clarence Brown Theatre
• Clayton Center for the Arts
• Historic Tennessee Theatre, built in 1928, listed in the National Register of Historic Places
• Knoxville Jazz Company    
• Knoxville Opera Company
• Knoxville Symphony Orchestra
• Oak Ridge Symphony
• Tennessee Children’s  Dance Ensemble

Fine Arts

• Knoxville Museum of Art 
• Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community of Gatlinburg, the largest group of independent artisans in North America
  

Festivals

• Dogwood Arts Festival, the longest-running civic celebration in North America, hosting over 350 events for three weeks annually in April
• Rossini Festival, week-long taste of Europe with opera, jazz, classical and ethnic music

Attractions and Museums

• American Museum of Science and Energy, the largest energy-related exhibition in the nation
• Blackberry Farm, ranked top resort in North America by Travel + Leisure
• East Tennessee Discovery Center, hands-on science center
• East Tennessee History Center, home of a regional history museum, a premier genealogy research library and historical archives
• Knox County Public Library System, with one million books, periodicals, CDs, films, and audiobooks, 20 locations
• Knoxville Zoo, one of the top zoological parks in the Southeast with an internationally renowned preservation & breeding program
• Museum of Appalachia, a permanent showplace for area arts, crafts, and Appalachian history
• Women’s Basketball Home of Fame

In addition, artist guilds, art museums, arts and crafts communities, galleries, and festivals are abundant in Knoxville and the surrounding areas. Some of the finest craftspeople in the world are in the Smoky Mountains region, creating hand-made pottery, exquisite wood carvings, fine paintings, and other crafts.