If you have lived in Farragut for more than a couple of years, you have watched Kingston Pike quietly stop being the point. The strip is still busy, but the town's social gravity has pulled toward two anchors that did not exist in this form five summers ago: the Biddle Farms Town Center on the east side of town, and the Founders Park/Community Center corridor where most of the free summer programming now lives. The 2026 openings and event calendar make that shift hard to miss.
Here is what is actually new, what is coming before the school year, and where the weekends are going.
The Biddle Farms cluster is filling in
The Biddle Farms development spent years as scaffolding and press releases. This season it is a working town center. Family-owned Paleteria Azteca opened in Turkey Creek, while Parlor Doughnuts and Tupelo Honey opened their second Knox County locations at Biddle Farms, joining Super Chix, Aldi, Covenant Health Urgent Care, SweatHouz, and the apartments and townhomes at the same site.
The next headline tenant is not another chain. Under Grey Mountain Investments LLC, University of Tennessee alumni Aimee and Doug Watson and Aimee's brother Brandon Miramontes are opening four Paris Baguette locations in the Knoxville market, and Biddle Farms is one of them. As of early May, they were in lease negotiations, with construction hoped to begin that month and a target open of November or early December 2026. Doug Watson described the concept as a bakery-café with artisan cakes, sandwiches, and grab-and-go items, and the group is prioritizing Farragut ahead of possible Bearden/West Hills, UT campus, and Maryville sites.
A quick read of the Biddle Farms roster this summer:
| Tenant | Category | Status (mid-2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar | Full-service Southern | Open |
| Parlor Doughnuts | Bakery | Open |
| Super Chix | Fast-casual chicken | Open |
| Aldi | Grocery | Open |
| Covenant Health Urgent Care | Medical | Open |
| SweatHouz | Fitness/recovery | Open |
| Paris Baguette | Bakery-café | Lease in negotiation, opens late 2026 |
That is a specific piece of information a lot of neighbors do not yet have: the Paris Baguette rumor is real, and it has a name attached to it.
Turkey Creek is getting a second wind
The other side of town is not standing still. On the Knoxville side of Turkey Creek, Barnes & Noble reopened October 8, H&H Bagels has opened recently, and Whataburger is under construction. In August 2025 the Farragut Municipal Planning Commission also approved a site plan for a 7Brew Coffee in Turkey Creek, alongside a separate site plan for four new buildings at the southwest corner of Kingston Pike and S. Watt Road.
That Watt Road corner is worth pausing on. The approved plan lays out nine businesses across four buildings, with confirmed spots for a Starbucks, an Edward Jones, a Pacific Dental Office, and a Covenant Health primary care physician, plus four more slots marked simply as retail/restaurant or retail/office. The commission noted a traffic impact study would follow, which will decide whether a new signal goes in. If you drive that stretch daily, the light question matters more than the tenant list.
"The city center of Knox County has shifted west so it is Farragut, Hardin Valley area where the density is, and I think that businesses see that and want to be where the people are." — Julie Blaylock, President and CEO, Farragut West Knox Chamber of Commerce, speaking to WATE
Blaylock's line is the clearest summary of why the openings keep coming. The Chamber represents roughly 700 area businesses, and the leasing pipeline on both sides of town suggests that number keeps climbing.
The summer calendar, in the order it actually happens
Farragut's free programming has quietly become one of the best deals in Knox County. If you are trying to plan the next eight weekends around the kids, the dogs, or a lawn chair, this is the sequence.
July 4 — Independence Day Parade and Farragut Freedom Run. The parade runs along Kingston Pike from Lendon Welch Way to Boring Road at 9:30 to 11 a.m., preceded by the Freedom Run at 9 a.m. It is the only day of the year the Town closes Kingston Pike, which is the detail that tells you how big this one is locally. Visit Farragut sets up near the historic Campbell Station Inn with free collectible cups, pins, and water.
June through July — Lawn Chair Concert Series at Founders Park at Campbell Station. The Town hosts the free series produced by MamaJam Productions. Bring a blanket, food trucks show up, lawn games included.
Saturdays, May through October — Farragut Farmers Market. Behind the Farragut Community Center at 11240 Kingston Pike. Live music and food vendors rotate through, alongside the produce and baked goods.
Dog Daze at Village Green Shopping Center. A three-day festival with Shop Farragut and Dock Dogs International running a canine dock-diving competition. If you have never watched a Labrador launch off a platform in a strip-mall parking lot, put it on the list.
Beach Party on the Plaza. New this year. Visit Farragut is running the first Beach Party on the Plaza with 103.5 WIMZ's Garage Band playing classic rock, food trucks, and beach-themed games.
Friday, August 14, 4–9 p.m. — Parks and Rec Month at the splash pad. Farragut Parks and Rec closes out summer at the McFee Park splash pad with games, crafts, music, and food trucks.
Saturday, August 22, 8:30–11 a.m. — Fun with Farragut's Fleet at Mayor Bob Leonard Park. Touch-a-truck with the Town's Public Works crews, Knox County Sheriff's Office, and local businesses. New in 2026: the first hour, 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., runs as a sensory hour with horns and lights turned off. That is a small change, but it is the kind of thing families have been asking parks departments for across the country, and it is worth knowing about if you have a kid who covers their ears every Fourth of July.
Farther out on the calendar: Freaky Friday Fright Nite lands at Mayor Bob Leonard Park on Friday, October 30, and the Countdown to Light the Park at Founders Park kicks off Monday, November 23 with lights up through January 1.
The old guard is still the after-plan
The new openings are the story, but the reason people stay long enough to notice them is that the older restaurants are still doing their jobs. Little Joe's Pizza remains a longtime family favorite around Mayor Bob Leonard Park, Big Kahuna Wings sits close to McFee Park for anyone leaving the splash pad hungry, and the Admiral Pub still has the wood-fired pizza and international beer list that made it a go-to before Biddle Farms existed. The Apple Cake Tea Room's cabin-style dining room and Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop's Southern pies both predate the current build-out and are still the answers when out-of-town guests ask where to eat.
The interesting thing about Farragut right now is not that new places keep opening. It is that the town is starting to feel like it has two distinct anchors instead of a single commercial strip, and the free summer calendar has caught up to that geography. If you are picking one thing to add to the schedule this month, make it a Lawn Chair Concert at Founders Park, then walk over to the Farmers Market the next morning. That is the shortest way to see how Farragut is actually spending its summer.
If you are thinking about how these shifts might change what your home is worth or what part of Farragut fits your next move, The Cook Team knows this market street by street. Book a Buyer Consultation and we will talk through it.
