It is with a heavy heart that we announce that Knoxville’s largest annual chicken wing festival – the Big Kahuna Wing Festival, originally scheduled for Sunday, September 6th at World’s Fair Park in downtown Knoxville, has been canceled due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Entering its 8th year, the Big Kahuna Wing Festival continued to grow in popularity across East Tennessee and the surrounding region, drawing crowds of more than 8,000 attendees each year.
Matt Beeler, Founder of the event, said it was a very difficult decision, because of the tens of thousands of dollars that the charities would not receive because of the cancellation. "It was the right decision based on what we are dealing with this virus, I am just heartbroken that we won't be able to give to our great charitable organizations like in years past" Beeler said.
Entry allowed patrons to sample wings from teams with 25 complimentary, in addition to the festivities, with proceeds from the event going directly to benefit The Empty Stocking Fund, Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee, Boys & Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley, Survivor Fitness, and the UT Culinary department. To date the festival has raised over $400,000 for local charities!
Because the festival has been canceled, Beeler said he has some big plans to help try to raise funds this year for the charities. Tune in to WIVK, NewsTalk 98.7, Sports Animal 99.1, and WVLT on July 6th for the launch of their BKW Festival 2020 Donation Day and a BIG announcement regarding the Festival.
For interviews please call Matt Beeler at 865-466-8365. To learn more about the Big Kahuna Wing Festival, visit www.BKWFestival.com.
