Joanna Hayes

1 week ago | knoxnews.com | Joanna Hayes

Sevier Avenue businesses are in a unique predicament as they navigate recent restaurant closures and streetscape construction picking up this summer. Sevier Avenue businesses have felt community support during the early phases of construction, with Southside Garage having a record month. The city has allocated $150,000 to pave a nearby parking lot to encourage people to visit Sevier Avenue, along with $30,000 for marketing that businesses hope to use for a billboard.

1 week ago | knoxnews.com | Joanna Hayes

Bill Weigel has handed over the title of Weigel's CEO to Doug Yawberry, who has been with the company since 2008 and has served as president since 2017. Weigel's started as a dairy farm in 1931 and introduced the Icee east of the Mississippi in 1967, long before the store's signature flavored milks. Weigel's has a $50 million, 110,000-square-foot commissary where it makes food for its stores and to provide other retailers.

1 week ago | knoxnews.com | Joanna Hayes

The new Hardin Valley Event Center on Willow Point Way will host a farmers market every Thursday through October. The venue also will host concerts, watch parties and more events at a pavilion that once was a soccer field. The event center also is building a kayak landing spot, barbecue restaurant and more. A massive pavilion just off Hardin Valley Road will soon be home to farmers markets and concerts where young athletes once trained at the Knoxville Soccer Academy.

2 weeks ago | knoxnews.com | Joanna Hayes

East Tennessee might not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking about rabid racing fans, but maybe it should be. Bristol is home to one of the country's top 10 NASCAR tracks, according to a USA TODAY 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards poll. Though the track is only 0.533 miles, Bristol Motor Speedway can seat 160,000 for one of the biggest NASCAR races of the season: the Bass Pro Shops night race, held toward the end of each summer.

2 weeks ago | knoxnews.com | Joanna Hayes

While stadium lagers are an integral part of Smokies games, one of Knoxville's most notable breweries is reimagining Covenant Health Park with no baseball, just beer. Xul Beer Company is bringing its nationally acclaimed Kill The Lights beer festival to the Old City stadium Oct 25, the brewery announced this week on Instagram. Tickets become available June 7 at xulbeer.com. The festival is the first major nonsports event announced for the stadium, which hosts Knoxville Smokies and One Knoxville SC.