Absent the ability to bend time and space to your will, there is no way to experience all of MainX24. It’s a physical – not to mention temporal – impossibility.
When CreateHere started the festival in 2007 as a celebration of the diversity of the then-just-developing Southside community, it had just 34 events, most of them confined to the Main Street corridor.
When it kicks off its ninth year on Saturday, Dec. 5, however, the 24-hour gathering will feature a confirmed schedule of more than 110 events encompassing a much larger area, including Market Street, 14th Street, Rossville Avenue and a 14-block stretch of Main Street.
“It’s been growing every year,” says Amanda Carmichael, a MainX24 volunteer and the event’s media coordinator. “[We] have around 120 before the actual day, which is more than years past, but we usually end up counting 130 events that just didn’t make it on the schedule.”
A six-year veteran of the event, Carmichael describes MainX24 as “kinda like organized chaos,” a loose confederation of events hosted independently by businesses throughout the area. Somehow, however, the festival manages to come together every year and serve its intended purpose, she says.
“There are more businesses and opportunities for events to happen because there are more people on the Southside now,” she says. “Everyone loves it. Even people who have been involved for the last nine years, it’s still the favorite day of the year.”
During MainX24, the offerings are numerous and diverse. The day begins with a traditional pancake breakfast at the Main Street fire hall and ends in similar fashion at the same time on Sunday, Dec. 6, with a breakfast at Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprises. In between, dozens of events offer up a silly smorgasbord of activities, including tailgating, merchant open houses, dance classes, a beer can crushing competition, craft workshops and live music.
Despite its larger scope, MainX24’s goal remains fundamentally the same, Carmichael says. Taking it all in at once may be impossible, but even bouncing randomly from event to event still offers a chance to experience a community that’s vibrant and growing.
“I think the Southside always has its best face on, so I don’t think the Southside is doing anything differently [during MainX24] other than being conscious of this one day that’s just theirs. They just do what they do, but more people are able to experience it.”
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.
If you go
What: MainX24 24-hour street festival and community celebration
When: 7 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, to 7 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 6
Where: Businesses throughout the Southside on Main Street, Market Street and various side streets
Admission: Most events are free. Participating businesses generally offer discounts on their merchandise and the occasional free sample
Website: mainx24.com
Schedule highlights
A full schedule of MainX24’s 119 events is available at mainx24.com/schedule, but here are a few noteworthy ones to whet your appetite:
* No MainX24 would be complete without attending the EPB Southside Parade (10:30-11:30 a.m.), during which marching bands, costumed characters and classic cars slow crawl between Jefferson and Cowart streets. Participants line up at the corner of Rossvillle Avenue and Jefferson Street.
Four-footed marchers interested in taking part in the parade can do so in the eighth annual Mutt Strut event, which meets at 10:15 a.m. Participants will march as a group and must be leashed, current on vaccines, non-aggressive and unafraid of crowds, other animals or loud noises.
* Miss Griffin’s Footlong Hotdogs (847 E. Main St.) is celebrating its 77th anniversary by offering $2 throwback pricing on footlongs from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. From noon to 1 p.m., Griffins’ employee James “Snappy” Cole will host a disc golf clinic. From 6 p.m.-9 p.m., the restaurant will host a trio of local bands, including The 9th Street Stompers, The Tammys and The Power Players.
* Music tends to feature prominently in the late-night capper events during MainX24. This year, local gypsy punk-grass hot shots Strung Like a Horse will liven up the evening with Jingle Ball: A White Christmas at the Chattanooga Choo Choo’s recently opened Revelry Room venue (41 E. 14th St.). They’ll be joined by fellow locals Nick Lutsko & The Puppet People and Caney Village for a show starting at 9 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 the day of the performance.
* A MainX24 fixture, the Adult Big Wheel Race offers, as its name suggests, a chance for adults to relive their youth by folding themselves into the seats of low-slung trikes for a double elimination tournament navigating a twisty course filled with obstacles. Teams should arrive at the gardens behind the Chattanooga Choo Choo terminal (1400 Market St.) by 1 p.m. prior to the 1:30 p.m. race. Teams must be co-ed (two men and two women) and can register for $100. Roster space is limited. Proceeds benefit the Children’s Advocacy Center of Hamilton County.
* The MainX24 World Heavyweight Chili Championship returns to MainX24 for the seventh year, featuring legions of chefs vying for the title as the Scenic City’s best chili-smith. Cooking begins at 9 a.m. at Office Coordinators, Inc. (326 E. Main St.), and chili will be served (and judged) from 11:30 a.m. until the pots are empty – about 4 p.m. Additional activities include sidewalk chalk, cookie decorating and hot dogs from Good Dogs.