It probably came as no surprise to many when the Big Ears Festival 2022 announced that it had reached a SOLD OUT status on all passes for the four day Festival March 24-27. After all, the scourge of Covid had ruined 2020 and the prospects for a 2021 festival. So, the substantial audience for a Big Ears experience, now anxious and determined to attend this year, responded to the mind-boggling line-up of acts, ready to lay down some serious coin and sign up. But, for all sorts of reasons, some of which are all too obvious these days, attendance has to be capped. Popularity is a two-edged sword.
Those who have attended a previous Big Ears understand something that’s not particularly intuitive to those who haven’t: a huge portion of the Big Ears audience comes from elsewhere, both nationally and internationally, and are not local to Knoxville. So where does that leave Knoxvillians who may feel left out?
Big Ears founder and Executive Director Ashley Capps weighed in on this dilemma.
“Central to our mission as a non-profit,” says Capps, “is creating opportunities for everyone who wishes to experience the joys and rewards of some of the world’s greatest and most exciting music. After three years of imagining and reimagining what Big Ears could be, we wanted to return with a spirit of fun and celebration open to all and to further explore the tremendous potential that Big Ears offers for our community.”
With this in mind, Big Ears is scheduling a series of FREE events open to all comers. On Thursday and Friday, March 24 and 25, there will be a series of concerts in the Tennessee Amphitheater in World’s Fair Park.
Starting off at 4:00 PM on Thursday (March 24) will be the contemporary/classical string quartet, Kronos Quartet and the contemporary ensemble Sō Percussion, along with the UT Percussion Ensemble. Later come the Damon Locks’ Black Monument Ensemble, Latin Rock from Dos Santos with the Colombian-Canadian singer Lido Pimienta, to close the evening.
Friday starts at 3:00 PM with traditional jazz from Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Mardi Gras Indian Chiefs 79RS Gang, and Sporty’s Brass Band; and Lakou Mizik, the multi-generational Haitian roots band. The evening concludes with the essential Haitian mizik rasin band RAM and the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
On Saturday at 1:00 PM, Preservation Hall Jazz Band will lead a parade alongside musicians from New Orleans and Haiti, as well as local marching bands. The parade route wraps through the Old City, crosses the Gay Street Viaduct, and concludes with a free street party at Southern Rail Depot. To make this parade possible, Big Ears is teaming with Knoxville’s Cattywampus Puppet Council for this parade, entitled Krewe du Cattywampus. The parade, which will have a theme of “Our Wildest Dreams,” will feature New Orleans second line and Haitian Kanaval music alongside giant puppets made over the past few months by young people in the Knoxville community.
More details about these events and others at the Big Ears Festival can be found at bigearsfestival.org.
