Knoxville’s Veterans Day Parade will be held downtown today. Korean War veteran Everett Leroy Prough, 93, will serve as Grand Marshal in the parade which features the University of Tennessee Army ROTC Color Guard, seven area high school bands, vintage military vehicles, representatives of the Armed Forces, local businesses and other political and civic organizations.
The parade will step off at 10:45 a.m. from the eastbound lanes of Howard Baker Jr. Avenue, proceed west on Church Avenue and turn north on Gay Street. At 11 a.m., the parade will halt for a brief ceremony at the reviewing stand located near Mast General Store. The Christian Academy of Knoxville choir will perform the National Anthem, followed by a prayer and a performance of “Taps.” To conclude the ceremony, a group of approximately 40 Air Force recruits will take the oath of enlistment. The parade will continue down Gay Street to its end at E. Magnolia Avenue.
Downtown residents and visitors should be aware of road closures and on-street parking affected by the parade. Lanes of Howard Baker Jr. Avenue will close to traffic at 8:30 a.m. Gay Street between Church and Magnolia will close to on-street parking, including metered parking on the viaduct, at 8 a.m. and close to traffic at 10:40 a.m. Market Street and Union Avenue will close to parking and traffic at 9 a.m. Streets will reopen to parking and traffic after the parade’s conclusion at approximately 12:30 p.m.
The parade – organized by the American Legion with support from the City of Knoxville – will be broadcast live on WATE Channel 6 and streamed on WBIR.com with highlights broadcast on WBIR Channel 10’s noon show.