Knoxville Holiday Market First Weekend

Announcements
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:tada: Our First Official Knoxville Market Weekend Is In the Books! :tada:

We’re thrilled to share that our opening weekend was a great success, and we couldn’t be more grateful for the amazing energy from our vendors and shoppers!

Load-in went flawlessly—everyone was positive, patient, and ready to kick off an incredible Holiday Market. Thank you all!

:bar_chart: Weekend Sales Recap

We are happy to announce Whippoorwill Woods is the top selling vendor for both days!

Total Weekend Sales (Sat + Sun): $208,000

Saturday:

  • Total vendor sales: $130,500

  • 9 vendors exceeded $2,000

  • 40 vendors exceeded $1,000

Sunday:

  • Total vendor sales: $78,000

  • 1 vendor exceeded $2,000

  • 17 vendors exceeded $1,000

  • Crowds were a bit lighter, but still a strong day overall!

While overall sales were slightly down from last year’s opening weekend (which we anticipated), the vendor averages tell a positive story:

  • Saturday average: $900 (up from last year’s $800!)

  • Sunday average: $550

Looking Ahead

We’re optimistic that this coming weekend will be even stronger. Our event manager at the KCC let us know that there was a lot happening in town this weekend, but next week is wide open, which should bring in even bigger crowds.

:sparkles: Huge thank you to all the vendors who jumped into this crazy idea with us. Your hard work, creativity, and dedication are what make this market so special—and it’s clearly paying off!

Here’s to an amazing weekend ahead!

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Thx for the update. Appreciate all hard work put in by the Market team!

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We were very excited to be there for the beginning of this event. I see it getting better as we go. Last weekend was a blast. Thank you all that worked with us. (Even those silly people that accidentally locked the keys in their car. Hmmm?!?) Making more toys and taking orders now. :smirking_face:

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Those are actually amazing numbers for a new show in a new town in a new venue.

I think it was overall a very good effort on everybody’s part. And this weekend should even be better.

Thanks to everybody who did all the work Brandy John and Crew you guys are awesome. Thank you

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How many vendors total for the event?

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Props and thanks to the Chattanooga Market team for all your efforts to help make this happen. Props to all the vendors as well who showed up with smiles, unique products, and positive energy. The folks that came also contributed to making the market a wonderful experience. We are looking forward to this next weekend. See you all there. Cheers.

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Thank you to everyone for a great first weekend and I am excited about the weekend ahead!

A few feedback points I wanted to submit:

  1. Please can we ask the venue to keep a more regular eye on the bathrooms. They were really messy at times over the weekend - dirty toilets and running out of hand towels etc. It isn’t our responsibility but it does unfortunately reflect on the event.
  2. It was really very cold in the venue and I think that was unexpected for a lot of people and means people don’t stay and shop as long as they would if they were comfortable. I know a lot has to do with the floor being bare concrete. As a vendor I’d certainly happily pay a higher vendor fee next year to have the center carpeted.
  3. It would be great to set up a proper little coffee shop with baked goods and hot and cold sandwiches in the venue next year with a cosy seating area. I saw lots of people looking for somewhere to sit and have something to drink and a bite to eat and the expo center canteen is awful to be completely honest. Definitely not the atmosphere or refreshment choice that I think people want when they come for a leisurely stroll around a Christmas market.

Thank you again to the organizing team and all the vendors for a great first weekend! I think it’s important to share our feedback on what can be considered for 2026 - while also acknowledging the excellent job everyone did for a such a new event/venue.

See y’all tomorrow!

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we agree with you - the food was abysmal, the bathrooms… well.

we are maybe a bit spoiled by our own awesome venues.. makes us more than appreciative.

the hall is massive and echoes with cold concrete..

but we are appreciative of the effort put forth by all the great artists, makers and producers and the Chattanooga team - you guys deserve a medal!

maybe a feedback form could be helpful for next year

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This show was an unexpected win. I am totally new to the Chat market team and this is my first time in Knoxville ( ever). But the show was a solid 9.5 in my books and I do a lot of shows. Everyone has been great and the customers really appreciate the vendors being there. Shout out to the bakers for feeding me. I hope that this is a yearly show but I may have to venture to Chattanooga next year as this was great.

Rhonda
Perfectly Cordial

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Totally agree. The concessions were most def not Concessioning. I am pretty much doing intermittent fasting and a vendor lounge ( piped and draped off) would be great. A microwave, coffee, water, snacks. I would be willing to pay a little extra for that.

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The Load In was Top Tier . Easiest one EVER