In 1947, New York newspaper reporter John Gunther, came into town, checked out the area, then returned to New York and wrote that “Knoxville, Tennessee is a scruffy little city on the Tennessee River and the ugliest city in America!” Those remarks led to the founding of the Dogwood Arts Festival. The natural beauty of Knoxville, its dogwoods, azaleas, and other flowering plants seemed to be the vehicle to “polishing” Knoxville’s image. Thus, in 1955 members of the Knoxville Garden Club lead by Betsey Creekmore, Martha Ashe and Betsy Goodson, along with a group of concerned citizens with a vision began a civic beautification project… “The Dogwood Trails.”
As more people came to Knoxville to drive the trails, area business and community leaders felt more entertainment was needed for the visitors. A Charter of Incorporation was signed on March 31, 1961, and that official document listed the Festival’s purposes as “advancing, promoting, supporting, and fostering the natural beauty of the City of Knoxville, Tennessee, and the surrounding area and advancing, promoting, supporting and fostering educational programs, charitable undertakings, historical, horticultural, drama, crafts, tours, lectures and other related activities, either singly or in cooperation with other organizations, for the purpose of emphasizing the cultural opportunities of the City of Knoxville, Tennessee, and for other related purposes.”
When it was first organized, the Festival Corporation was the creation of the Junior League of Knoxville and the Greater Knoxville Chamber of Commerce. Two of the signers of the charter were the first Festival Co-Chairs, Goldsby Timberlake and Jim Talley, representing the League and the Chamber.
By 1976, the Festival was large enough to go into the world on its own and have a separate Board of Directors. One of the Board’s first actions was to hire a full time Executive Director.
The Festival has been one of the largest and finest annual festivals in America. It has been recognized nationwide, though professional associations such as the IFEA (International Festival and Events Association), TFEA (Tennessee Festival and Events Association), membership with ABA, (American Bus Association), and many others. DAF has been named among the Top 100 Events in North America by the American Bus Association and one of the “Top Twenty Events” by Southeast Tourism Society.
Over the past 50 years, thousands of volunteers, patrons, media and corporate sponsors have assisted a small Dogwood Arts staff to make a festival of this magnitude possible.
With the flowering of the dogwoods in the spring, coupled with the creative culture and the community-wide pride, the Festival always has a newness and wonderful freshness every spring. Individual home owners who spruce up their yards make the dogwood trails a sight to see year after year.
The Dogwood Arts Festival represents the very best of nature and the people of East Tennessee and its commitment to that Charter Goal will always be in the forefront.