Christmas Connection

Christmas Connection – a Kingsport tradition for more than four decades – returns to the MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center next month, showcasing the best arts and crafts vendors our region has to offer.

The free two-day event will be held in the main convention hall (1901 Meadowview Parkway) on November 14 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on November 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Christmas Connection is sponsored by the Kingsport Office of Cultural Arts.

“We’re excited to be able to continue this beloved tradition, now in its 46th year, serving the artisans and crafters in our community,” said Kristie Leonard, special events and cultural arts manager for the city. “The sights, sounds and smells of Christmas will surround you as you search for that unique, one-of-a-kind gift for the upcoming holiday season.”

Christmas Connection – now in its 46th year – offers a variety of unique gifts just in time for the holiday season. Some of the items available include country crafts, home décor, fine wood and leather crafts, handmade soaps and lotions, jewelry, ornaments, stained glass, wheel-thrown pottery, baked goods, pet accessories and much more.

In addition to a fine selection of arts and crafts, visitors can partake in the Connection Café, where you can enjoy a variety of country favorites.

For more information on Christmas Connection, please visit www.artskingsport.org or call Kingsport Cultural Arts at 423-392-8414.

Kingsport Cultural Arts connects, coordinates and engages the public with a creative community. We operate the Renaissance Arts Center, the Farmers Market Pavilion, the Kingsport Carousel, the Carousel Fine Craft Show, Kingsport Public Art Program, Engage Kingsport Performing Arts Series and a broad range of support to the area’s arts organizations. KCA works in tandem with Engage Kingsport, Inc., the “Friends of the Cultural Arts” group, a private, volunteer-led 501(c)3 non-profit community organization. For more information, please visit www.artskingsport.org.

Founded in 1917, the City of Kingsport (pop. 55,400) is located on the Tennessee-Virginia border at the crossroads of I-81 and I-26 near the geographic center of the eastern United States. The city is widely known as a planned community, designed by renowned city planner John Nolen and wrapping around the foot of Bays Mountain – a 3,750-acre park, nature preserve, planetarium and observatory. Kingsport is recognized as an International Safe Community by the National Safety Council, a Healthier Tennessee community, and won the 2009 Harvard Innovations in American Government Award for its higher education initiatives. While many city names are duplicated throughout the U.S., there’s only one Kingsport – a fact that invokes community pride, known locally as the “Kingsport Spirit.” For more information, please visit www.kingsporttn.gov.