First Horizon Pavilion — Local services in Chattanooga

Get there early! This is a fun place. The buzz of the crowd is exciting; kettle corn smell is everywhere. Fruits, breads, vegetables, cheeses, cakes, hummus, fresh lemonade meet your senses as you walk into the pavilion. But let's back up some. When you arrive you'll park your vehicle in a pay-by-the-hour lot. $1 gets you one hour and so on. You can pay cash or by credit card. You sign in by your license plate. Next is the walk toward the pavilion, taking in the sights and sounds. Finley stadium on your left, food trucks galore and outside vendors in front of you and to your right. Okay, now we're back in the pavilion where I started this post walking into the crowd and the smell of kettle corn. Try not to get in the flow of the crowd because there are alcoves of vendors off the main path on both sides. We usually start by going left and then work the rows down and then back up. This is a hugh place and every inch is packed with artists offering their crafts for sale. At the very back of the pavilion are more food trucks and a seating area plus a stage for musical events. I recommend coming and spending the day in Chattanooga. While you're here drive further downtown and take in a ballgame, the TN Aquarium, Creative Discovery Museum with the kids, the IMAX theater, Hunter Museum, and all the wonderful restaurants that line the streets of downtown Chattanooga. You can take the free electric buses all around town and over the river to North Chattanooga to explore more of the surprises Chattanooga has to offer! Can you tell I...

We visited for Chattanooga Street Food Festival. There were food trucks lining Reggie White Blvs on the east side ofnthe pavilion, but they placed the seating on the far west end of the pavilion, so not really usable, since you would have to push past all the shoppers in the pavilion for Chattanooga Market, which is being held at the same time. So apparently they expect food cartons to eat standing up. Not a very friendly design. Also, the promos for the event showed music, but none was being played anywhere in the venue. The lone musician was a street performing banjo player on the way in from the parking lot. Note thst the parking lot charges on Sunday, so better to street park, which is...

Attended the 4 Bridges Art Festival here. It's the first time I've gone to this event in a few years and was so excited to be there! It's the premiere art event of the southeast USA, in my opinion. It's a juried show, so there are high quality artists from all over the country attending. Paintings, 2D, 3D, jewelery, wood and pottery...wow! And there's a category of new and emerging artists so you can purchase art from ground-floor artists just starting their careers. Lots of different priced work available to add to or begin your own original art collection! This show is put on by Chattanooga's Association for Visual Arts and they do an incredible job. It's an...