About Us

The Knights of Columbus is a charitable fraternal organization of Catholic men, founded as a mutual-aid society by Blessed Michael J. McGivney, assistant pastor of St. Mary Parish in New Haven, Connecticut. From its modest beginnings in 1882, the organization has grown to become the largest Catholic fraternal organization in the world.

Council 8152, comprising members from St. Alphonsus Parish in Crossville, Tennessee, and St. Christopher Parish in Jamestown, Tennessee, has sponsored Crossville Oktoberfest since 1991. The 2020 festival had to be canceled due to the pandemic, so 2023 marked our 32^nd year. The event is widely hailed as the premier German-American festival in the Upper Cumberlands.

Following are some of the many worthy causes supported by Knights of Columbus Council 8152.

ARC of Cumberland County
Avalon Center
Christian Counseling Center
Hilltoppers
Hospice of Cumberland County
House of Hope
KiND Charities of Tennessee, formerly The MR Foundation of Tennessee, (More commonly known as the "Tootsie Roll Drive")
Plateau Pregnancy Services
St. Alphonsus Community Services
Salt & Light Movement
Stephens Center
Cumberland County Veterans Assistance Council
and others

For its first three years, Oktoberfest was staged in the Armory in Crossville. Since 1994, it has been held at the Knights’ home grounds on Highway 70, three miles east of downtown. Once it moved, the festival was initially confined to temporary tents erected onsite. Over the years, permanent buildings were constructed to accommodate the now thousands of revelers who flock from all over Tennessee and beyond each October to take part in the merriment.

Throughout the years, hundreds corporate and individual sponsors have helped the Knights stage this event. The Knights would like to thank all 40-plus benefactors who generously supported Crossville Oktoberfest 2023 at a variety of levels.

It requires the effort of more than 200 volunteers to pull off this mammoth event each year. Aside from the dozens of Knights who take part, many of the volunteers are wives and other supporters of the organization. A special thank you goes out to our many volunteers: Knights, their wives and all those who faithfully work the festival each October.