Art
ºÚÁÏÊÓƵ’s 2025 Art Struck Festival is set for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 26 at The Pavilion at Founders Park, 105 W. Main St. Presented by the ºÚÁÏÊÓƵ Public Art Committee, this festival includes art demonstrations and activities for all ages including kite decorating, mask decorating, bucket drumming, a weaving fence, and wand making. Dozens of local artists will have their works available for sale, and a variety of food trucks will be available for attendees to enjoy. Festival highlights include a giant puppet march complete with a live brass band.
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ºÚÁÏÊÓƵ’s Wildabout Walkabout scavenger hunt includes 28 bronze animal sculptures. All the pieces have been installed downtown in and around King Commons and Founders Park and around Main and Market streets. Printed copies of the scavenger hunt clues are available at various downtown businesses and at the ºÚÁÏÊÓƵ Public Library. Clues are also available online on the ºÚÁÏÊÓƵ Public Art website.
Auditions
Theatre Bristol has announced its schedule for 2025 season auditions. Auditions for “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” are scheduled for March 29 and 30. Visit for audition times, locations, rehearsal schedules, performances, forms, roles available, and any updates. Free audition workshops will be held March 23 at 2:30 p.m. and Aug. 3 at 2:30 p.m. Registration is required and available at .
Birding
The monthly meeting of Birding Kingsport will be held, March 25 at 7 P.M. in the fellowship hall of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church at 584 Lebanon Road in Kingsport. The program will be “Birding in Zambia — Six Ways You Can Die Birding†by David Kirschke.
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The Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, will offer a monthly Birding in the Gap series on the second Saturday of each month. Participants should meet at the front gate of the museum. The Birding in the Gap monthly series will be held rain or shine. Participants are asked to wear appropriate clothing for the weather and comfortable walking shoes. Binoculars are encouraged but not required. Registration is not required For more information call 276-523-1322.
Concerts
Morningstar Flute Ensemble will perform concerts March 23 at 3 p.m. at First Broad Street United Methodist Church, 100 E. Church Circle, Kingsport, and March 30 at 3 p.m. at Central Presbyterian Church, 331 Euclid Avenue, Bristol, Virginia. For more information contact Charlotte Ellis at 423-323-4933.
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Boozy Creek Community Center, 1989 Shelleys Road, Bristol, Virginia, will host Jim/Ann Country April 5 from 5-6:30 p.m. (Fish and chicken meal at 4 p.m. Door prizes at 4:45 p.m.) For more information call 276-466-0026.
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Asleep at the Wheel will perform at East Tennessee State University’s Martin Center April 10 at 7:30 p.m. To purchase tickets visit or call the Martin Center box office at 423-439-2787.
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Michael W. Smith will bring his Beyond The Far Horizon Tour to East Tennessee State Univer-sity’s Martin Center April 30 at 7:30 p.m. To purchase tickets visit ETSUMartin or call the Martin Center box office at 423-439-2787.
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The Black Jacket Symphony will present Jimmy Buffett’s “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” on June 21 at 8 p.m. at East Tennessee State University’s Martin Center April 30 at 7:30 p.m. To purchase tickets visit or call the Martin Center box office at 423-439-2787.
Dance
Outdoorsmen, 4535 Highway 11W, Blountville, will host Nightshift on March 29. Line dance from 6-7 p.m. Band plays from 7-10 p.m. Potluck at 6:15 p.m.
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The Historic Jonesborough Dance Society holds dances at the Jonesborough Visitors Center, 117 Boone St., the second and fourth Saturday of each month. Dancing to live music is open to community members of all ages. There will be a lesson of basic contra dance moves for beginners at 7 p.m. with dancing from 7:30-10:30 p.m. Tickets will be sold at the door. Contra dance is for all ages. No partner is needed. Contra dances are family friendly, alcohol-, tobacco- and fragrance-free. For more information visit the group’s site on Facebook.
Doll Show
A Doll Show and Sale will be held March 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Jonesborough Visitors Center Museum, 117 Boone St. There will be doll appraisals, doll repair and door prizes. Donations are requested for St. Jude Children’s Hospital. For more information call 423-753-0022 or 423-276-5273.
History and Heritage
The Cherokee War of 1776 Event will be held April 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Historic Smithfield in Blacksburg, Virginia. The event will bring together Cherokee people and a descendant of the 6,000-man militia army that invaded the Cherokee lands in 1776 in reprisal for a Cherokee effort to take back what they saw as their lands in what is now East Tennessee, Western North and South Carolina and Kentucky from Southern backcountry settlers. There will be a forum between descendants on the legacy of the war, living history recreations of those on both sides of the conflict, historic trade demonstrations, and a dramatization of the Avery Treaty of 1777 that ended the war at the Long Island of the Holston (present-day Kingsport). The event will be held at the actual 1776 house of the Virginia commander of the militia at the Long Island treaty, Colonel William Preston. For more information visit or call 540-231-3947.
Fur ball
Petworks Animal Services’ 2025 Fur Ball will be held April 5 at Kingsport’s Meadowview Marriott Conference Resort & Convention Center. Tickets are $150 per person and are also available through a variety of sponsorship opportunities. This 5th annual Fur Ball Gala is themed “All Jazzed Up for Pets” and will feature a silent auction, cocktail reception, seated dinner, a live auction and lots of music and dancing. The silent auction and cocktail reception begins at 5:30 p.m. Dinner, program and entertainment will begin at 6:45 p.m. To order tickets, view sponsor opportunities or donate a silent auction item, please visit , email Michellew@Petworkstn.com, or call 423-247-1671.
Planetarium
Bays Mountain Park’s night sky observing sessions — StarWatch — has returned for the spring season. StarWatch sessions allow the public to enjoy the splendor of the night sky at Bays Mountain Park’s observatories. If the weather is good, attendees can typically see star clusters, nebulous gas clouds, colorful multiple-star systems, distant galaxies, and the moon and planets. If the weather is poor, the park will have an alternate activity in the planetarium theater. StarWatch sessions will be held March 22 and 29 at 8 p.m.; and April 5, 12, 19 and 26 at 8:30 p.m. This is a free event and does not require registration. For more information call 423-229-9447.
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“One Sky: Finding Patterns” is showing in the Bays Mountain Park Planetarium Theater through April 30. The program is being shown Tuesday through Friday at 4 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays at noon and 4 p.m. The program features short stories of different cultures and indigenous societies from around the globe and also includes a brief tour of the current night sky. The alternate planetarium feature will be “Appalachian Skies.” For more information visit .
Project Friendship
Project Friendship by the Kingsport Altrusa Club is continuing its meet-and-greet events at Shooters Billiards in Kingsport on the second and fourth Fridays at 6 p.m. This event is for anyone who works from home, is new to the area, or just doesn’t get out often. It’s a low-key way to meet others and have fun! Text to 423-384-0425 for more information.
Quilt show
The Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park’s “A Stitch in Time†Quilt Show will be open for public viewing in the museum April 1 through May 31. Regular admission rates will apply.
Reunion
Fletcher, Freeman, Derrick and related families reunion will be held April 12 from 12:30-2:30 p.m. at Randall’s Restaurant, 120 Old Union Road, Church Hill. For more information call 423-245-2155 or 423-502-0863.
Science
Hands On! Discovery Center is an all-ages science center that offers a guest experience that includes fun, interactive programs and immersive, STEM-based exhibits for the whole family as well as exhibits and information about the Gray Fossil Site, an active fossil dig site dating back 5 million years. Tickets may be purchased at .
Songwriting contest
The 2025 Gathering in the Gap Music Festival will accept entries for its annual Songwriting Contest through April 25. Both traditional and newer styles of songs are encouraged. Entry is $10 for the first song and $5 for each subsequent song. Panelists will choose 10 finalists who will compete on stage during the Gathering in the Gap Music Festival. For rules and a downloadable registration form, please visit the festival website at or call 276-523-1322. The Gathering in the Gap Music Festival will be held at the Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park in Big Stone Gap May 25 beginning at noon.
Theater
Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, will present “The Book Club Play” now through March 30 on the Gilliam Stage. For ticket information call 276-628-3991 or visit .
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Theatre Bristol will present “Land of Jesters” and “Rumpelstiltskin” in five shows on April 19, 26 and 27, reprising the first Theatre Bristol production when it was known as Bristol Children’s Theatre. These productions will also mark Theatre Bristol’s debut on the Cameo Theatre stage at 703 State Street. Tickets are available online at Theatre .
Trains
On Saturday, May 3, the Watauga Valley Railroad Historical Society and Museum will sponsor a train excursion on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and enjoy the beauty of the spring season while riding the rails in vintage passenger railroad cars.The one-day excursion will cover most of the operating trackage of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. The Spring Great Smoky Train Excursions sell out fast, For ticket information, go to or email wataugavalley@gmail.com.
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The Kingsport Model Trains Project operates eight model train layouts in six rooms at the Lynn View Community Center including a 24-by-20 “O” scale representation of the Santa Train. There is a workday every Tuesday from 1-4 p.m. and an open house the first Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Special hours/days are possible for events/birthday parties. Call 423-502-5359, email Kingsportmodeltrains@gmail.com or check us on Facebook.
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The Chuckey Depot Museum in Jonesborough is open free of charge, but donations are appreciated. Attendees can visit the museum Thursday, Friday and Sunday from 1-4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information visit or call 423-753-1010.
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