Living Windows, presented by THRIVE Knoxville and the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, will be held tonight in downtown Knoxville. 

The annual event is a way to kick off the Christmas season for the Knoxville community. This year’s theme is “A Sitcom Christmas” and downtown businesses will have displays in their windows to fit the theme. The event will be from 5:00 – 8:00 pm and include a ceremonial tree lighting, Santa and Mrs. Claus, a snowball drop, carriage rides and much more.

This year, there will also be a Living Windows scavenger hunt that will begin at the courthouse gazebo and the first 100 people who turn in their scavenger hunt card will receive a prize. There will also be a sitcom character costume contest, where participants can dress as their favorite sitcom character and stop by the photo booth to get a picture taken for people to vote on. Many local businesses that participate in Living Windows will also have activities and prizes. Knoxville Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Nathan Sage encourages the community to come out and enjoy the city’s kick-off to the Christmas season.

“This year and years going forward, we’ve made it now where you’re going to get something out of it. There’s opportunities for prizes, there’s opportunities for different things that you can do, there’s cool things you might not see, there are cool opportunities to see the city in a different aspect. It’s not boring, it’s going to be fun. The streets are going to be packed. Yes it might be cold, but that’s how it is. It’s a fun opportunity and there is something for everybody.”

Also going on throughout the evening will be a Habitat for Humanity gingerbread house silent auction and a wreath silent auction held by the Knoxville Federated Garden Club. The snowball drop will be held at Dixie’s Garden directly after the tree lighting and there will be two drops, one for adults and one for kids.