---
title: "Destination: Knoxville"
id: "10615"
type: "post"
slug: "destination-knoxville"
published_at: "2017-09-05T04:00:00+00:00"
modified_at: "2026-03-15T02:49:08+00:00"
url: "https://associationsnow.com/2017/09/05/destination-knoxville/"
markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2017/09/05/destination-knoxville.md"
excerpt: "World’s stage. Not many associations can host an event on the same grounds as a former World’s Fair, but you’re in luck in Knoxville. The 10-acre World’s Fair Park is divided into three sections— a festival lawn, a performance lawn,..."
taxonomy_category:
  - "Meetings / Events"
taxonomy_post_tag:
  - "ASAEcenter"
  - "conferences"
  - "event venues"
  - "Expositions & Trade Shows"
  - "Live Events"
  - "Meeting Planning"
taxonomy_content_format:
  - "Article"
taxonomy_role:
  - "Association CEO / Executive Director"
  - "Executive Team"
  - "VP"
taxonomy_persona:
  - "Association Professionals"
---

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 » Destination: Knoxville

**World’s stage.** Not many associations can host an event on the same grounds as a former World’s Fair, but you’re in luck in Knoxville. The 10-acre World’s Fair Park is divided into three sections— a festival lawn, a performance lawn, and an amphitheater. The latter—one of the fair’s original structures—offers seating for 1,254.

**Accessible convention center.** The 500,000-square-foot Knoxville Convention Center offers views of downtown. It houses the largest ballroom in East Tennessee—27,000 square feet—as well as a 461-seat lecture hall, 14 breakout rooms, three boardrooms, and state-of-the-art catering facilities. The center also has 250,000 square feet of flexible space and 120,000 square feet of exhibit space.

**Options galore.** Downtown Knoxville has something for every meeting-goer. More than 75 restaurants, rooftop bars, world-class theaters, museums, music venues, and attractions occupy less than one square mile. The Market Square neighborhood—walkable from the convention center—is lined with local shops and restaurants

### Knoxville Fast Facts

**Recent and future association meetings:** Mid-South Transportation and Parking Association’s 2017 Conference, North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents’ 2017 Training Conference, Tennessee Grocers and Convenience Store Association’s Convention & Expo

**Citywide hotel rooms:** 9,000

**Convention center exhibit space square footage:** 120,000

**Distance from McGhee Tyson Airport to downtown:** 12 miles

**What else?:** The soft drink Mountain Dew was invented in Knoxville in 1940.

[Samantha Whitehorne](https://associationsnow.com/author/samantha-whitehorne/)

Samantha Whitehorne is a former editorial director of Associations Now in Washington, DC.

[More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/samantha-whitehorne/)

Tags: [#conferences](https://associationsnow.com/tag/conferences/)
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 [#Expositions & Trade Shows](https://associationsnow.com/tag/expositions-trade-shows/)
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 [#Meeting Planning](https://associationsnow.com/tag/meeting-planning/)

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