Big Ears Festival

Knoxville · US

Big Ears is a curated, genre-agnostic arts festival held each spring across two dozen venues in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, drawing over 40,000 people for nearly 250 concerts, films, and talks. Programming leans experimental and avant-garde — jazz, contemporary classical, and drone alongside art-rock, electronic, folk, and Americana, with past editions featuring John Zorn, David Byrne, and Flying Lotus. It is curation-only and does not accept unsolicited submissions, so performers can expect a discerning, adventurous audience.