The Cove at Concord Park lights up for holidays
Three quarter-miles of illuminated greenway lured attendees from Knox and surrounding counties to The Cove at Concord Park for Knox County’s 18th Annual Holiday Festival of Lights.
The free event, which kicked off Friday, Dec. 16, will run through Friday, Dec. 30. The park will be open from 6 to 9 p.m. each day except for Christmas Day.
Attendees walked through the greenway, stopping at the 35 displays situated throughout the park, stood by the fire to roast marshmallows, had their photo taken with Santa and donated cash and in-kind items to the Love Kitchen.
“It’s awesome,” attendee Christina Chaparro said. “We love it. Actually, it’s my first time here, and I’ve lived here all my life.”
“We came in the summer [to the park], so it’s nice to check out the lights,” Abi Guss said.
“We love it,” Maryville resident Stephanie Sweet said. “It’s really nice. It’s a pretty place.”
“We were hoping to meet some fellow Cub Scouts from Pack 630, walk the loop, see the lights, roast marshmallows and donate to the Love Kitchen,” Michelle Watson said.
“We are here with our youth group,” attendee Christin East-man of Knoxville said. “I think it’s great.
“We just moved out here from Los Angeles, so it’s super cold for [1-year-old daughter] Ellie.
“It’s nice to be somewhere that feels like Christmas,” Johnny Eastman said.
“We moved here from Orlando,” Jim Finnigan said. “This is nice. It’s the holiday now with the lights.”
Louise Wilson brought her granddaughter, Elana Janes, to the event.
“This is where my husband used to work,” Wilson said about Troy Wilson, former assistant superintendent of Knox County Parks and Recreation Depart-ment. “A trail was named after him.”
“The park staff at The Cove does all the decorating, which includes placing displays, adding several thousand lights to trees and building bonfires for roasting marshmallows,” Jennifer Lin-ginfelter, Knox County communications manager, said.
“It’s pretty nice,” James Major, a Parks and Recreation employee, said. “We added a couple new displays in the back.”
Knox County also will continue to collect donations to the Love Kitchen until Dec. 30, when the event ends, Linginfelter said.
The Love Kitchen provides meals, clothing and emergency food packages to the homebound, homeless and unemployed.
“The Holiday Festival of Lights has grown over the past few years with illuminated displays and a series of lights coordinated to music,” she said.
Attendees also could bring their pets on leashes.
Hungry attendees could check out the kettle corn, hot apple cider and hot chocolate, cotton candy, ribbon fries, funnel cakes, glazed nuts and other refreshments, which Wood Oven Eats Catering offered for sale during the festival.
