The Reece Museum at East Tennessee State University presents “Local Art in the Age of the 2020 Global Pandemic,” an exhibition featuring the work of 40 artists living or working in Tennessee’s 1st Congressional District during the early days of the pandemic. The exhibition is on display now through Sept. 30. A public reception will be held Aug. 25 from 5-7 p.m. The Reece Museum is located on the campus of ETSU and is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information visit etsu.edu/reece or call 423-439-4392.
The Kingsport Carousel is a totally renovated 1956 Allen Herschell carousel located inside the temperature-controlled “Pal’s Roundhouse” at 350 Clinchfield St. It is open Wednesday through Sunday from 12:30 to 5 p.m. All rides are $1.
Tri-Cities Vinyl Collectors Shows will be held Aug. 28 and Oct. 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Double Tree Hilton, 211 Mockingbird Lane, Johnson City. Admission is $2. Come shop for rare vinyl LPs and 45s, plus CDs, music DVDs, memorabilia, and more. Masks are recommended for all customers and vendors.
The Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park will host its next “Lunch on the Lawn” July 22 at noon featuring award-winning banjo player and Big Stone Gap native Tyler Hughes. The “Lunch on the Lawn” event is free and open to the public. Participants may bring their own lunch or preorder one from the park for $10 each. Orders must be made in advance by 4 p.m. on July 20. To order a lunch call 276-523-1322.
Pro-Art’s Picnic with the Arts Summer Series will host the 11th annual Symphony by the Lake Concert in partnership with the University of Virginia’s College at Wise on July 23. Everyone is welcome to gather at sunset on the lawn by the lake at UVA Wise for “80 Years of Movie Music” from the Symphony of the Mountains. The concert is free and open to the public.
Winged Deer Park has begun its Lakeside Concert Series. The free concerts will be held from 7-9 p.m. each Thursday through July 28 at Winged Deer Park’s Goulding Amphitheatre, 199 Carroll Creek Road, Johnson City. There will be no concert on June 30.
Natural Tunnel State Park amphitheater will host Music in the Mountains, Pickin’ in the Park from 2-4 p.m. on July 31.
August Under the Stars — a free summer concert series — is set to begin at Allandale Mansion on Aug. 4. The concerts will take place every Thursday in August at the Allandale amphitheater. Gates open at 5 p.m., craft beer and food will go on sale at 5:30 p.m., and the concert begins at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Schedule of performers is: Aug. 4, Carson Peters and the Iron Mountain Band; Aug. 11, Queens of Country with Hearts Gone South; Aug. 18, Elliott and the Untouchables; and Aug. 25, Big Daddy Love.
Dog Days Riverfest will be held Aug. 5-6 at at USA Raft Adventure Resort, 2 Jones Branch Road, Erwin. Bands will include The Dimestore Cowboys, Donnie and The Dry Heavers, The Kindest People, Pixel Vision, Daniel Byrd’s Boogie Machine, Big Son and Florencia and the Feeling. For more information on tickets, show times and camping visit www.dogdaysriverfest.com.
The Pinnacle Summer Concert Series has begun. Each concert will begin at 6:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public for family-friendly fun while dining. The summer concert series offers entertainment for shoppers and those dining in the Plaza at The Pinnace. The free concerts will be held each Friday and Saturday through Labor Day weekend.
Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson is back on the road with his 2022 U.S. Summer Tour with his former bandmates, Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin. They will perform Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. at East Tennessee State University’s Martin Center for the Arts. To purchase tickets visit https://etsutickets.com/martincenter/Online/default.asp or call 423-439-2787.
Music on the Square takes place in front of the Washington County Courthouse on Main Street in downtown Jonesborough each Friday evening through Sept. 30 from 7-9 p.m. Music on the Square is a free event open to the public.
Larry Prevatte Memorial Duffield Jam will be held the first, third and fifth Thursday of each month from 6-8 p.m. at the Thomas Village Community Center, 355 Cecil D. Quillen Drive in Duffield, Virginia. For more information call 276-431-1083.
Historic Jonesborough Dance Society has moved to Serenity Knoll Farm for the summer. Serenity Knoll is an outdoor venue with a covered pavilion located at 542 Bacon Branch Road, Jonesborough. Contra dances will be held every second and fourth Saturday from 7-10:30 p.m. Contra dances are family-friendly, alcohol-, tobacco- and fragrance-free events. A beginners lesson is held prior to each dance where the basic moves are taught.
Saturdays with the Chef has returned to the Kingsport Farmers Market. Saturdays with the Chef is a free cooking demo series showcasing local chefs and their recipes using produce available at the Kingsport Farmers Market. Copies of each chef’s recipe will be available at the demo and online, and free samples are also available at each demo. The series takes place every Saturday morning at 9 a.m. in July at the Kingsport Farmers Market.
With sponsorship from Eastman, the Appalachian Resource Conservation and Development Council has launched Farmacy Fit, a farmers market walking program, in partnership with the Kingsport Farmers Market and Healthy Kingsport. Everyone is welcome to participate Wednesday and Saturday mornings from 9-11 a.m. through the end of October. Participants will sign in upon arrival at the Farmers Market and walk a one-mile walking route at their own pace. At the completion of the route, participants will receive $4 in tokens to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables from participating vendors.
Gardening Seminar Series will continue Aug. 6 from 9 a.m. to noon in the community room at Sycamore Shoals State Park in Elizabethton. Master gardener Ben Hunter will give a review of summer gardens and discuss planting a fall garden and pruning blackberries, blueberries and fruit trees and renovating strawberries. The seminar is free to the public. For more information call 423-543-5808.
The Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park will offer a pressed flower workshop on July 19 from 6-8 p.m. for the July Artisan Series. Participants will learn how to design a framed piece of flower art, as well as how to create a one-of-a-kind greeting card using locally grown pressed flowers. The fee for the workshop will be $25 with all supplies and materials included. For more information or to register call the park at 276-523-1322.
The Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum in Jonesborough is open with no admission price, but there is a suggested $2 donation per visitor. History town tours have also returned. Jonesborough’s Historic Strolling Tour is available every Saturday at 1 p.m. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the museum.
The Wilderness Road Blockhouse at Natural Tunnel State Park is open every Saturday and Sunday from 2-4 p.m. The Blockhouse was built in the spring of 1775 on the North Fork of the Holston River by John Anderson. Tour a replica of the Anderson Blockhouse as members of the Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail Association provide information about the history of the building and area.
Andrew Johnson National Historic Site in Greeneville is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and closed Monday and Tuesday. The Andrew Johnson National Cemetery will continue to remain open seven days a week, 8 a.m. until dusk. Guided tours of the historic Andrew Johnson Homestead are offered at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Call 423-638-3551.
The Kingsport Public Library is hosting a Tuesday morning walking group. Meet in the library parking lot Tuesdays at 7:30 a.m. through October. Strollers, kids and friendly dogs welcome. For more information call 423-224-2539.
The Kingsport Public Library has StoryWalks next to the library in Glen Bruce Park, in Ridgefields Park and in Preston Forest Park. Each StoryWalk features a different story, and stories are changed quarterly.
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. Tesla Experience Shows are offered at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $2 per person with general admission. Paleo Tours are offered at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets are $2 per person with general admission. Operating hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1-5 p.m. General admission is $11 for adults and children 4 and older, free for children 3 and under, and free for members. Tickets may be purchased at https://visithandson.org/tickets.
The Kingsport Splash Pad, 1101 Martin Luther Jr. Drive, is open for the summer season and will remain open until the end of September. The splash pad will be active from 10:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. every day during the summer.
The Kingsport Aquatic Center’s outdoor water park will be open every day — weather permitting — through the end of July, then weekends only in August. The outdoor lap pool will be open every day — weather permitting — through the end of October. Individual season passes and memberships can be purchased on swimkingsport.com or in person at the KAC front desk.
Wetlands Water Park has opened for the 2022 season. Wetlands is located within Persimmon Ridge Park in Jonesborough at 1523 Persimmon Ridge Road. Season passes are on sale and may be purchased online at wetlandsjonesborough.com or by calling 423-753-1553.
Appalachian Sustainable Development and Appalachian Teas & Botanicals are hosting a tea blend launch party on Aug. 13 at 6 p.m. at 112 Court Street NE, Abingdon, Virginia. The event is free and will feature tastings of the specially created Appalachian SustainabiliTea blend, live music by K.T. Vandyke, and a chance to meet Appalachian Teas & Botanicals founder Lori Briscoe and your local herb farmer who supplied the tea ingredients.
LampLight Theatre is hosting a brand-new patriotic tribute, “Spirit of Liberty,” through July 17. Admission is $15 for adults, $10 for students, and free for children 5 and under as well as all veterans, active duty and reserve military, police officers and first responders. For reservations and more information call 423-343-1766 or visit us online www.lamplighttheatre.com.
The Kingsport Model Trains Project has returned its fully detailed representation of the Santa Train to the Lynn View Community Center where it already operates six rooms of model train layouts including a sanitized kids room with “hands on” activities for all ages. The group hosts birthday parties and has an open house every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with guided instruction. Work days are the first and third Tuesdays from 2-6 p.m. For more information check the group’s Facebook page or email kingsportmodeltrains@gmail.com or call 423-502-5359.
The Chuckey Depot Museum in Jonesborough will is hosting the exhibit “Good Morning, America, How Are Ya?: Railroad Americana, A Pop Culture Phenomenon” featuring pop culture artifacts from multiple decades. The exhibit will be on display at the museum through August. The Chuckey Depot Museum is 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 Jonesborough.com or call 423-753-1010.
