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What's new in 2025? Big Kahuna Wing Festival returns to Knoxville with new name
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The Big Kahuna Wing Festival is back for its 12th year, and it has a new name: The Covenant Health Big Kahuna Labor Day Festival.
This year's festival is set for Sunday, August 31, 2025, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. in World's Fair Park in downtown Knoxville. Money raised in 2025 will benefit the Thompson Cancer Survival Center and Educator Resource Center. In 2024, the festival donated $55,000 to East Tennessee nonprofits.
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'We're excited [to have] Covenant Health coming on board being our title sponsor for the year, [and] Ingles coming on board as our presenting sponsor. That's allowing us a whole lot of new items for the event that we're just excited about for year 12, and raising money for the great charities,' said Matt Beeler, owner and founder of Big Kahuna Wings.
New this year, the festival will include a Taste of Knoxville Pavilion and the Tennessee Tastemaker Competition, where local restaurants will be sampling food other than wings. Live music will go until 8:30 p.m., and the event will be capped off by a fireworks display at 9 p.m.
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'We're expanding on what we're bringing to the table. So, we've got some new items in the kids' area, like the Ultimate Air Dogs coming in and doing shows throughout the day. Music-wise we've got Joe Lasher and his wife, Caitlin Baker, coming in along with the Fireside Collective and Arkansauce,' said Beeler.
General admission tickets are $25 in advance or $35 at the gate. Festival goers will also receive 15 complimentary wings. For more information or to get tickets, visit the festival's website. Tickets go on sale on July 2.
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