Roane State will host the first Academic Festival since 2019 on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the community college’s campus in Harriman. The annual event was halted in 2020 because of COVID precautions but will be back with several updates.

The Academic Festival showcases the knowledge, skills, and talents of local high school students across dozens of disciplines. The first festival was held in 1978 to promote the arts and sciences.

This year’s festival will feature 60 events in multiple divisions, including art, business, creative writing, dance, health science, history, journalism, languages, math and physics, music, philosophy, science, speech, and theatre.

The event begins at 9 a.m. with a general assembly scheduled to start at 9:15 a.m. Eastern in the gymnasium. Competitions will begin at 9:45 a.m. Eastern in specified locations across campus.

Festival organizers have also scheduled several non-competitive activities for students, such as cupcake wars, a photo scavenger hunt, cornhole games, improv theatre, and a geology and anthropology lab exploration. Lunch will be available from food trucks in the parking lot.

For the competitive events, first, second, and third-place sweepstakes trophies will be awarded to the schools accumulating the most points during the festival. First, second, and third-place winners will be announced for each event.

First-place winners earn five points for their school, second-place winners earn three points for their school, and third-place winners earn one point for their school. Each first-place winner will receive a festival medallion, and all second-and third-place winners will receive certificates.

Medallions will be awarded on the day of the festival. Certificates will be mailed at a later date.

The awards ceremony is scheduled to begin at approximately 12:15 p.m. Eastern inside the gym. The festival is expected to conclude around 1:30 p.m. Eastern.

For more information on the 2024 Academic Festival, visit roanestate.edu/af. Once finalized, details for the 2025 festival will also be posted online.