The Knoxville Bonsai Society's 25th Anniversary Expo at Ijams: A Free October Weekend (Oct 10-11)
Here's an October weekend that keeps getting overlooked in the fall shuffle: the Knoxville Bonsai Society is celebrating 25 years with its annual Expo at Ijams Nature Center on Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11, and admission is free.
This is a great one for kids because it's not a sit-and-look-at-trees-only kind of show. The Society sets up a free Kids Activity Table on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., which is a nice, low-pressure way for younger children to get hands-on while parents actually get to browse the display tables. My crew tends to lose patience with anything that's purely viewing, so the activity table makes the difference between a quick stop and a real outing.
What you'll actually see: roughly 45 bonsai trees on display from regional clubs, plus vendors selling bonsai, pre-bonsai, and pottery. The featured artist this year is Sergio Cuan, who leads a demonstration and show critique on Sunday. There's a Silent Auction on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., which is fun to wander through even if you're not bidding.
Hours are Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It's at Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave., Knoxville, TN 37920 — about 25 minutes from Maryville down Alcoa Highway. Admission is free; parking is $5.
A couple of practical notes for taking kids: Sundays have the demonstration and critique, which skew more toward the adult bonsai crowd, so if you've got little ones, Saturday morning is probably your best window. And since it's at Ijams, you can turn it into a full day — walk the trails or hit the visitor center after you've seen the trees. It's a low-cost, doable day trip that's a little different from the usual corn maze circuit.