Big Ears Festival / March 24th-27th 2022

Some of you probably saw on the Facebook, but alawre and I did the soundwalk today. Very much recommend. In short, it uses geofences to play static tracks in different zones through the park. There were some really smooth transitions where the music so perfectly hit with what was going on. For example, there's a large stone staircase on one of the trails. When we got to it, we went to a new zone and the music changed to something more perilous. We have both been to ijams a hundred times, but the soundwalk allowed us to experience it in a total new way.

Edit: as we learned today, download the app AND the assets for this soundwalk before you show up to ijams. She played hell getting the assets downloaded onsite today.

We spent about 3.5 hours out there and have significant amounts to cover yet. We're going to get back out there for the other spots bc we enjoyed it so much. Come March, I can point to specific areas to head to maybe bc that's an all day adventure if you wanna do it all.

Just realized all of Zorn’s performances were listed on his lineup profile. Saw this and realized I’m gonna be bribing VIP with waffles and handies: bigearsfestival.org/event/john-zorn-the-hermetic-organ/

So if you’re going VIP with no interest in seeing this and in need of waffles, lemme know.

- I’ve gone GA every year and never had a problem with a little planning. Like if I knew there was a big show at the Bijou I wanted to see, I’d get there before the Tennessee Theater let out. You’ll have a ton of people that just make the loop from the Tennessee to the Bijou and the churches are in that area too. The lower side has The Mill and Mine, The Standard, and the Pilot Light. There’s a new venue on that side too. The only outlier is the KMA (and now the amphitheater). I have gone there for performances but if I had a conflict, I’ll be honest, I’ll skip it due to distance. Google Maps says 13 minutes from one side to the other.

- Kinda along with that answer is I’m almost 50, completely overweight and out of shape and I walk it fine. They introduced shuttles the last BE that’s free to pass holders. Food I’m gonna leave to locals. I went to Raleigh a few weeks ago and everything I remembered and loved closed down. I’d hate to steer you wrong.

- I’ve personally stayed both downtown and outside of downtown. For me, outside is better. There’s something to be said to wake up and out the door in downtown Knoxville. It’s not worth $1k+ for that. I’m paying $500 for 4 nights and a 10 minute drive that’s easy both early and late. Parking garages are free (after 7). They’re also plentiful. If you decide to go and stay outside of downtown, feel free to shoot me a message for where and what not.

- If planned, you’ll be able to fit stuff in.

- Try and find out about secret shows early. They usually announce them with like an hour to go and you usually have something planned for that time frame. It helps ease the internal conflicts.

- I don’t have enough good things to say about Lido Pimienta.



Pencil this in towards the top of your list.

This is uniformly very helpful information but even if we don't end up going worth it just for turning me onto Lido Pimienta.  Thank you!

I keep forgetting to answer this. Agreed with everything garageland said.

There's not a ton of areas in town that I would strongly advise against staying, but I can let you know if you have any specific spots in mind. Driving to downtown isn't hard if you can save money by staying elsewhere. There's plenty of parking in downtown.

I am going to try to update the map I made a few years ago with food and beer. If you let me know genres for either, I can throw out suggestions now.

I know, I know it’s for Petra but I’m trying to will this into happening.

If they actually add Patti, I will lose my mind. Won't this be her first appearance? I thought she was only on the cancelled 2020 lineup.

I'm guessing she'll be announced after the Ryman show next Thursday? That's been on the books since early August so it makes sense she was held off the lineup.

Per this morning's email, artist additions next Tuesday 10/26 and daily lineups/single day passes onsale Tuesday 11/9.

Capacity issues do happen... so if it's a popular act and you really want to go... I'd recommend planning for it. I remember giving up on seeing The Necks one year because I was late and the line was long. I still regret not waiting out the 1-in/1-out flow.

Like garageland, I'm close to 50 and in less than great shape. If you have to keep walking back and forth between the Mill & Mine and United Methodist Church, you're probably going to want to give yourself a little bit of time and/or ride the shuttle they provide. But other than that, it's all walkable. I think I used to plan about 15-20 mins to walk from one end to the other. A little longer if the art museum or UMC are one of the points of travel (to or from). I tend to pick a schedule (when possible) that keeps me near a block of venues... but it's not always possible, and not that big of a deal when it doesn't work out.

Over the last 5 festivals, I've stayed at the downtown Hilton four times and the downtown Hyatt Place once. Both are great in terms of distance, and in the past a lot of the artists stayed at these hotels (I ended up having wine with Harold Budd several nights at the hotel bar during the 2019 festival). New hotels in the downtown venue-area seem to go up every year, so I'm going to try something else in 2022. My biggest recommendation is to periodically check back to see what the cost is from the time you make a reservation up until the festival happens. You'll likely find that the price changes over time (sometimes enough to warrant a re-booking). They usually offer some discounted rooms from a page linked on the Big Ears website as well.

Food-wise, I have a few staples (most in Market Square): Tupelo Honey for brunch, The Tomato Head for pizza, Emilia for Italian, Kaizen for steamed buns, and Stock & Barrel for burgers. I inevitably have at least one meal at Sweet P's BBQ, because it's solid and very close to the Standard and Mill & Mine. But just like the hotels, there seems to be new restaurants popping up... so I'd love to hear other recommendations as well!

I've never left the festival-area, but the music doesn't start at 8am

Don't discount the film offerings. One year they had a 3D program that was absolutely remarkable... and on par with a lot of the music I saw that year.

Hard to know what that might be... but I'll recommend Harriet Tubman (Jazz/Fusion/Improv)... saw them a couple of years ago and they were brilliant live!

No foolin, a bird once shit on my eye while walking outside pilot light. I even had glasses on and still got money-shotted by some sort of winged vermin.

Looks like Patti cancelled both Nashville and Atlanta?

Went on and picked up presale to AnCo and L’Rain a few weeks before the fest. Stoked to be knocking those conflicts out early.

Looks like they’re playing Friday or Sunday but I’m betting Friday.