MetroPulse Events

International Biscuit Festival -- 05/19/12 at Market Square

When: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: Market Square, Knoxville

Cost: Not available

Age limit: All ages

Description: Biscuits. Biscuits! The mere thought may be the most powerful distraction on earth not involving hormones or mind-altering substances, so let’s make the follow-up information concise and pointed, before a discerning reader’s attention wanders back to... biscuits. The two most important things to know: For the third year, Knoxville will have lots and lots of biscuits on Market Square Saturday, May 19; and the early bird gets the biscuit. If you are quite smitten with the thought and will be sorely disappointed if you can’t consume resplendent biscuit offerings, arrive early! The tickets for Biscuit Boulevard, where one can sample five different vendors’ biscuit creations for $5, and for the Biscuit Breakfast, go on sale at 8 a.m. Flaky, buttery madness ensues directly afterwards (note, in the interest of limiting distractions, I did not employ the phrase “biscuit madness”).
If you have incredible focus and are still with us, there is lots of other fun, but less critical, information to impart about the IBF. There’s a very swell Biscuit Brunch a la Blackberry Farm that same morning, for example, though tickets are getting scarce. There’s the day’s Biscuit Bazaar, Mr. and Miss Biscuit Pageant, and Biscuit Bake Off, all free to browse or watch. (Sorry, too late to enter; it’s like the Pillsbury Bake Off, where contestant finalists have already been chosen in numerous categories, including kids, but it’s super fun to watch, and every now and then a sample makes its way from stage to crowd...) To summarize and reiterate: here, Saturday, early, biscuits. (Rose Kennedy)

Forecast for Sat 08:00 AM

63° Partly Sunny Precip: 9% Wind: Calm

84° 59°

Trout Fest -- 05/19/12 at Townsend Visitors Center

When: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Townsend Visitors Center, 7906 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, Townsend, TN

Cost: Not available

Age limit: All ages

Description: Information on gear and technique and plenty of fishing at this three-day expo. Proceeds benefit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Fisheries Department, Friends of the Smokies Fisheries Scholarship Fund, and other youth educational conservation projects. Sponsored by the Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Visit troutfest.org or call (865) 448-6134 or (800) 525-6834.

Harvey Broome Group Take-a-Hike: Biodiversity Tour -- 05/19/12 at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

When: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 8 a.m.

Where: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, TN

Cost: Free

Age limit: All ages

Description: An easy 4.7-mile hike from Thomas Divide to Kanati Fork. Call (865) 806-0980 or e-mail mpost3116@aol.com.

Smoky Mountain Highland Games -- 05/19/12 at Maryville College

When: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Where: Maryville College, 502 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN

Cost: Not available

Age limit: All ages

Description: A three-day gathering of the clans centered on traditional Scottish athletic events and feats of strength but also including traditional food, music, and dancing.

Market Square Farmers' Market -- 05/19/12 at Market Square

When: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Market Square, Knoxville

Cost: Free

Age limit: All ages

Description: The Market Square Farmers’ Market is a open-air farmers’ market located in historic Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. Everything at the MSFM is grown or made by East Tennessee vendors. Products vary by the seasons and include produce, eggs, honey, herbs, free-range meat, bread, baked goods, salsas and artisan crafts. Visit marketsquarefarmersmarket.org/.

Forecast for Sat 09:00 AM

74° Partly Sunny Precip: 8% Wind: NE 5mph

84° 58°

Troutfest Fly-Fishing Exposition -- 05/19/12 at Townsend Visitors Center

When: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: Townsend Visitors Center, 7906 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, Townsend, TN

Cost: Free - $50

Age limit: All ages

Description: A weekend-long fly-fishing expo kicks off with a benefit auction to support trout restoration projects in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Friday, May 18) and continues with demonstrations, classes, and vendors (Saturday, May 19, and Sunday, May 20).

Beardsley Community Farm Community Workday -- 05/19/12 at Beardsley Farm

When: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 9 a.m. to noon

Where: Beardsley Farm, 1719 Reynolds St., Knoxville

Cost: Free

Age limit: All ages

Description: Volunteers of all ages and experience levels are invited to help Beardsley Community Farm get ready for summer. Call (865) 546-8446.

East Tennessee Antique Boat Meet -- 05/19/12 at Tellico Lake, Louisville, TN

When: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Tellico Lake, Louisville, TN

Cost: Not available

Age limit: All ages

Description: Two-day event showcasing classic area watercraft. Events commence Friday with a cruise from Fort Loudoun Dam to River Rocks Restaurant in Louisville for lunch, and then on to Chilhowee Dam. Saturday will feature a meet and show at Louisville Point Park. Call (865) 856-5853.

East Tennessee Wanderers Volkswalking Club -- 05/19/12 at The Market (606 High St., Maryville)

When: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 9 a.m.

Where: The Market (606 High St., Maryville)

Cost: Free

Age limit: All ages

Description: A 5 or 10K walk (your choice) through historical Maryville and the Alcoa/Maryville Greenway.

Children's Festival of Reading -- 05/19/12 at World's Fair Park

When: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: World's Fair Park, 1060 World's Fair Park Drive, Knoxville

Cost: Free

Age limit: All ages

Description: You don’t have to be a children’s literature snob to enjoy this festival. Heck, you don’t even have to know how to read—or feed yourself. In its eighth year, the festival is first and foremost a celebration for kids, an unabashed frenzy with six performance stages, the Backyardigans, arts and crafts, community booths, food and music. But just suppose you were a hoity-toity kids’ book fan, someone who reads Kirkus reviews and haunts independent booksellers, who quotes James Thurber and Louis Sachar, not just Goodnight, Moon? You, dear reader, will be thrilled. Once again Knox County Public Libraries is practically showing off with its line-up of simply wonderful authors and illustrators. I mean, how did we score Gail Carson Levine, who won the Newberry Honor in '98 with Ella Enchanted, a tale of a girl cursed to do precisely as she’s told that, honestly, lines right up with the best juvenile books of the ages, like, say, Anne of Green Gables? If sophisticated fairy tale wit’s not your cup of tea, there’s also Jennifer and Matthew Holm of Babymouse fame and our pup Biscuit, Alyssa Capucilli’s feisty I Can Read series star, and a handful of others. The traditional spectacular illustrator addition to the festival is David Ezra Stein, whose picture book Interrupting Chicken earned a 2011 Caldecott Honor Medal. It sounds trite, but this really is a gathering for kids of all ages, aptly subtitled “Dream Big.” Visit www.knoxlib.org or call 865-215-8767. (Rose Kennedy)