12th Annual Knox Asian Festival

 Knoxville Asian Festival @ World’s Fair Park

Saturday, August 23rd: Sushi + Sumo, 6-8 PM

Sunday, August 24th: Festival, 10:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m

Prepare to experience authentic foods, exciting performances, and traditional activities that represent the Asian cultures of Japan, Indonesia, China, The Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Nepal & Pakistan. The Asian Cultural Parade will start at 10:30 AM at the Water Fountain on the Festival Lawn and end at the Amphitheater stage. During the festival, booths for each country will have Food Vendors, Activities, & Performances. We will also have ongoing performances in the Amphitheater and 2 other stages.

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Sushi + Sumo Event

Saturday, August 23
6 PM – 8 PM
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Knoxville Asian Festival

Sunday, August 24
10:30 AM – 6:30 PM

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2025 Poster Contest

Submit Your Work to the 2025 Poster Contest for the 12th Annual Knox Asian Festival!

Entries Open: March 15, 2025 | Entries Close: April 25, 2025

Public Voting Begins: April 28, 2025 | Public Voting Ends: April 30, 2025

The winner will be announced on May 1, 2025, in Celebration of Asian Pacific Islanders Month!

Coming in 2025

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Polynesian Dancers

Celebrate Pacific Islander culture with the Hawaiian Fire Dancers and Hula Dancers from Dawn Mahealani Douglas and Mahealani’s Polynesian Entertainment! Let’s come together to learn, enjoy, and be captivated by their artistry and traditions.

Sumo Wrestlers Return

Thanks to the generosity of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino of Bristol, we will welcome real Sumo Wrestlers from Japan back to Knoxville!

Asian World & Passport Program

The Asian Festival also includes a strong educational component: experience “Asian World,” as you and fellow visitors travel through various booths named after Asian cultural interactive activities and featuring traditional foods and art. The first 3,000 visitors will get a real blue festival passport book to stamp for each cultural booth visited. Everyone is encouraged to visit all cultural booths to learn about the diversity of cultural traditions!

This project is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SLFRP5534 awarded to the State of Tennessee by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

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Stay Cool at the 2025 Knox Asian Festival

August in Knoxville is HOT, so be prepared to keep cool with FREE Water Stations & several Mist Water Spray Stations! Stay hydrated and refreshed while enjoying amazing performances, and you could even bring your bathing suit for a splash in the Fountains.

Come ready to experience the magic of culture and stay cool while you celebrate! 🌴☀️

Video by Arthur & Cindi Zdrinc 
Festival Awards
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The BEST Festival in TN 2024 by TN Hospitality & Tourism Association

The annual HospitalityTN Stars of the Industry recognizes outstanding individuals and businesses of all roles within Tennessee’s hospitality and tourism industry who have demonstrated professionalism and creativity while going above and beyond their role to contribute to the positive image of the industry.

The BEST Event Awards: Kaleidoscope Awards

Best Festival or Event Over $75K by Southeast Festivals and Events Association

Kind Words:
It was wonderful and so well organized!!!! Thank you to everyone who was involved in this great event!!!!

– Ana Rivera

Absolutely wonderful event! Tahnk you for working so hard to put it together. Loved the food, performances, vendors…all of it was fantastic! Thank you!!

– Karol Harper

Absolutely awesome, amazing and super fun event! one of the best we have ever had the privilege of attending. All the participants brought their absolute best and it really showed. Our family learned so much and gained a greater appreciation towards the diversity, uniqueness and beauty of each country represented. We look forward to next years event!

– Grace Holt

I love this festival every year and ALL the cultures represented; it had a particularly important meaning to me this year though. My grandmother, who was born and raised in Japan, pased away of Covid. While I know my Dad will pass on some of the culture to them, sadly my young children will never get the full cultural experience she would have shared. But for a brief few hours, on a sunny day in Knoxville, I felt like they were embraced by the people and culture she so dearly loved. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

– Dani Helene

I was very glad to participate and watch so many performances from all over Asia!

– Ramya Sundaresan Kapadia

It was a great festival this year! It’s so great to have it back. Thank you for taking such good care of the volunteers – it was a pleasure helping out. Looking forward to next year.

– Matt Harper

It was really a great experience. I never thought this program could be that big … we had a great time taking part in the event.

– Anik Muhury

It was amazing. Diversity makes us all stronger. Thank you for sharing your culture with your neighbors here in our city. I can’t wait to see what next year brings!

– Brandon Childress

Our History
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The Asian Culture Center of TN (ACCTN) was founded in 2014 to promote culture, diversity, and unity in our community. There is so much that a community benefits from when a cultural event organized. People not only develop an open mind about other people and their cultures, but the host community also becomes a center of interest for individuals and organizations looking to boost the economic capacity of that particular community. Therefore, as a highly focused organization interested in developing cultural diversity and understanding in our Tennessee community, we have strongly focused on popularizing the Asian culture, which has grown popular in the area.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to create a welcoming community by sharing our Asian Arts and Cultures. The Festival strives to bring together people from various cultural backgrounds, to promote peace, harmony, unity and a healthy lifestyle. We are promoting a diverse and harmonious society that prepares today’s children to take the stage as true global citizens.

This project was supported in part by federal award number 21.027 awarded to Knox County by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Arts & Culture Alliance.

Green Tea Ceremony House
Built by UT Students
We are honored to announce that this year’s Japanese Tea Ceremony will take place in a mobile structure built by Interior Architecture students at UT Knoxville! Thank you to David Matthews & Milagros Zingoni Phielipp for the collaboration that brought this project to life, made possible by a grant from the Angelo Donghia Foundation.
japanese green tea house for 2024 festival
FESTIVAL GUIDELINES
Prohibited Items & Rules
  • No motorized vehicles or scooters (unless necessary for persons with disabilities)
  • No picnic supplies or coolers
  • No outside food/beverage or alcohol
  • No skateboards, bicycles, skates, skate shoes
  • No tents, canopies
  • No firearms, laser pointing devices or weapons of any kind
  • No remote-controlled vehicles or aircrafts, including drones
  • No stickers
  • No soliciting
  • No unauthorized vendors will be allowed
  • No Pets are allowed

All attendees and their bags/belongings are subject to search and prohibited items will be removed at the discretion of security staff. At the gate, We might ask BAG CHECK.
We suggest you do not bring a big bag or backpack.

Knox Asian Festival is an outdoor venue and we use a weather data team to monitor weather conditions hourly on event days. Weather & event updates will also be posted on Facebook and pages and MC will make the announcement on stage in the case of extreme weather. All events are rain or shine. We offer no refunds or exchanges in the event of rain. Raincoats and ponchos are allowed. In the event of severe weather conditions (thunder/lightning, etc.)during events announcements will be made from the stage concerning the status of the event due to weather conditions. Information will be posted on Facebook. We ask all patrons to remain calm and listen to these announcements.

Guests visiting the Knox Asian Festival agree to assume all responsibility for their health and well-being and not hold Knox Asian Festival and its agents, employees, representatives, partners, sponsors, executors, and all others acting on its behalf responsible in any way with respect to COVID-19. If you are exhibiting any COVID-19 symptoms, please do not enter Knox Asian Festival. Common symptoms of the COVID-19 virus may include the following: High Fever, Headaches, Loss of Energy/Fatigue, Cough, Sore Throat, Runny Nose or Stuffy Nose, Body Aches, Diarrhea and/or Vomiting. Those visitors that exhibit any of these symptoms will not be allowed access into Knox Asian Festival.

 

NOTICE OF FILMING AND PHOTOGRAPHY

When you enter Asian Culture Center of TN event or program, you enter an area where photography, audio, and video recording may occur.

By entering the event premises, you consent to interview(s), photography, audio recording, video recording and its/their release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction to be used for news, web casts, promotional purposes, telecasts, advertising, inclusion on websites, social media, or any other purpose by Asian Culture Center of TN and its affiliates and representatives. Images, photos and/or videos may be used to promote similar Asian Culture Center of TN events in the future, highlight the event and exhibit the capabilities of Asian Culture Centre of TN. You release Asian Culture Center of TN, its officers and employees, and each and all persons involved from any liability connected with the taking, recording, digitizing, or publication and use of interviews, photographs, computer images, video and/or or sound recordings.

By entering the event premises, you waive all rights you may have to any claims for payment or royalties in connection with any use, exhibition, streaming, web casting, televising, or other publication of these materials, regardless of the purpose or sponsoring of such use, exhibiting, broadcasting, web casting, or other publication irrespective of whether a fee for admission or sponsorship is charged. You also waive any right to inspect or approve any photo, video, or audio recording taken by Asian Culture Center of TN or the person or entity designated to do so by Asian Culture Center of TN.