Knoxville Rossini Festival goes international for second year

The Knoxville Rossini Festival has become an international festival again in 2013. What was once the only Italian street fair in Knoxville now has vendors representing several countries.  Make no mistake, there is still an element of the festivals early roots as an Italian street fair. The Rossini Festival and International Street Festival still pays homage to the famous musician through the performance of Rossini's Cinderella.

In the past, the organization took slack from some unhappy visitors over the way food sales were handled. Grabbing something to eat means
picking up tickets for $1.00 each from a Rossini Festival booth. Festival-goers who want to eat will stand in line twice. The first line is at the ticket booth and the next line is at the food vendor. The ticket system implemented by the Knoxville Rossini Festival allegedly speeds up the purchasing process. I look forward to reading your comments about that in the field below.


I haven't seen or heard anything on the Rossini Festival website about how food sales will be handled this year. (The website link above opens in a new window). Like many festival-goers, I took a snack and a bottle of water.

There will be 35 groups performing on four stages. Local and regional artisan crafts will be available along with food vendors and a kid friendly zone. The Knoxville Rossini Festival and International Street fair is always free and family friendly.

If you're heading downtown on April 27, there is no way to miss the brightly colored tents and banners. It takes up just about all of the downtown area around Market Square Mall and the nearby portion of Gay Street. Knoxville Opera’s Annual Rossini Festival and International Street Fair is open from 11 am -9:00 p.m.  Free parking is available in the Knoxville city owned parking garages.

Here's another great Knoxville festival that you may want to know about. The free annual event celebrates Earth Day. Knox EarthFest features green cars at clean fuel vehicle showcase.