Happy birthday, Chattanooga: Normal Palooza kicks off week of anniversary events

By Kendi A. Rainwater November 9, 2014 1 min read

Photo Gallery

White’s Wayne-O-Rama: Emmy winner and local boy Wayne White is part of year-long event

White has created four maguettes, which are smaller models of the larger pieces he will create and all of which have played important roles in White's life.. This one that depicts blues artist Bessie Smith.

Wayne White on the floor to manipulate the Mr. Kite puppet, which he designed, on

Wayne White's sketches for the puppet Randy on

Wayne White with Pee-wee Herman, aka Paul Reuben, on the set of

Chief Dragging Canoe, war chief of the Chickamauga Cherokee.

Events You Shouldn’t Miss:TODAY: A tour of historic houses of worship will be held throughout downtown Chattanooga from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.MONDAY: Relive the opening night of the Tivoli Theatre by watching the same silent film, “Forbidden Fruit,” that was played on the theater’s opening night in 1921. The event begins 7 p.m. and the movie will be followed with a behind-the-scenes tour of the theater.WEDNESDAY: The historic Incline Railway is offering tickets for a discounted price of $1.75 between 1:30 and 6 p.m.THURSDAY: The Chattanooga Oral History Project will take place outside of the Chattanooga Public Library between 3 and 6 p.m. WUTC-Music 88 invites people to come and make an audio recording of a memory they have of Chattanooga. All the recordings will be archived and buried in a time capsule somewhere in the city.See a complete schedule of events at www.cha175.org.

Chattanoogans commenced the city’s weeklong birthday party on Saturday with a diverse array of crowd-sourced events.

City officials invited anyone to host an event as a way of showcasing the diversity and history of Chattanooga, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary as an incorporated city. The celebration is named CHA175, and more than 75 events are scheduled to take place throughout the week.

“The city wanted to have more than one big event,” said Lacie Stone, the city’s communications director. “We wanted for the diverse organizations, people, communities and neighborhoods that make up Chattanooga to each tell their story.”

Ross Binder rides a gyroscope ride during the NormalPalooza Arts and Music Festival.

On Saturday afternoon, one of CHA175’s kickoff events was Normal Palooza, hosted by Normal Park School. This was the 12th annual music and craft fair hosted by the school, and event director Heather Cockerham said she was excited to have the festival coincide with the citywide celebration.