Why Knoxville's Christmas parade vanished - and then returned triumphantly to Gay Street

Hayden Dunbar, Knoxville News Sentinel

Mon, December 1, 2025 at 10:05 AM UTC

3 min read

For almost 100 years, Knoxville has gotten into the Christmas spirit each year with a festive parade down Gay Street, typically featuring an appearance from the one and only Santa Claus - and this year will be no exception. But for three years in the 1960s, the beloved tradition vanished.

The decision to cancel the annual parade was headed by the Downtown Merchants Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, the event's primary sponsors, and was announced in the Knoxville News Sentinel in September 1966.

Planning and executing the parade had become a challenge, particularly coordinating a time among business owners, traffic authorities and high school bands, according to the 1966 article. Additionally, a movement in the community to "put Christ back in Christmas" inspired the committee to explore alternative options.

When are this year's Christmas parades? Find dates and times for 2025 Christmas parades around Knoxville and Gatlinburg

The years without a parade

Instead of the Christmas parade - a tradition since at least 1928 - the committee decided to hold a "Christmas Drive-by Pageant," which was created to emphasize the true story of Christmas, William Nash, director of the Downtown Merchants Committee of the Chamber of Commerce told the News Sentinel in 1966.

Some Knoxvillians were pleased to have the parade tradition replaced. "This represents a step forward for Christianity," the Rev. M.K. Phillips wrote to the News Sentinel editor in 1966.

The pageant featured scenes focused on the biblical Christmas story − also read over a public address system for attendees − and was displayed outside the Knoxville Civic Auditorium-Coliseum, the News Sentinel reported Dec. 20, 1966. The Knoxville Ministerial Association sponsored a candlelight Christmas service on Christmas Eve, the last night of the pageant.

One tableau from the pageant was not so religious. The "commercial exhibit" depicted Santa's workshop, according to a News Sentinel article on Dec. 18, 1966.

A year later, the Downtown Merchants Committee decided the pageant was nearly as costly and time-consuming as the parade, and chose to hold neither, according to a November 1967 article. Instead, they opted merely to decorate Gay Street, and leave the festivities at that.

By 1968, community members were fed up with the lack of Christmas spirit. Wiley McCroskey wrote to the News Sentinel that January: "It would be ill advised to deprive children of all ages in the East Tennessee area of the opportunity to see the annual parade." McCroskey also voiced his skepticism that the committee couldn't afford the parade.

In the same edition, the News Sentinel published committee director Nash's heated response. "If Knoxville wants a 1968 parade," Nash wrote, "perhaps Mr. McCroskey can suggest a new means of financing it." There was no parade in 1968.

The return of the parade

In October 1969, Mayor Leonard Rogers called a meeting of several local organizations and clubs, along with a representative of Rep. John Duncan's office to discuss the possibility of reinstating the parade, the News Sentinel reported that year. It was announced Oct. 16, 1969, the day of the meeting, that the Christmas parade would return to downtown Knoxville that year.

Reader Charlie Mills wrote to the News Sentinel later that month to express his excitement, noting "It will seem more like Christmas again on Gay Street." The return of the Christmas parade was triumphant, bringing 65,000 people out in near-freezing temperatures to enjoy the holiday spectacle, the News Sentinel reported Dec. 5, 1969.

A new pageant tradition was established that year, too. The Nativity Pageant was held at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum, telling the Christmas story with the help of an 85-voice choir, the orchestra and Knoxville native Mary Costa, most famous for her role voicing Aurora in the 1959 Disney movie "Sleeping Beauty."

This year, the Gay Street Christmas parade tradition continues, with the 2025 event scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 5. The 2025 Nativity Pageant will be at 3 p.m. Dec. 13 and 14 and 7 p.m. Dec. 15.

A version of this story was originally published in December 2024.

Hayden Dunbar is the storyteller reporter. Email: hayden.dunbar@knoxnews.com. Instagram: @knoxstoryteller.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Christmas canceled? Why Knoxville dropped its parade, pageant in 1960s

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