AA Meetings in Knoxville

Find an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Knoxville today through the East Tennessee Intergroup at etiaa.org, which keeps the regional meeting list and runs a 24-hour hotline. It serves Knoxville and surrounding East Tennessee communities. Our meeting finder at /meetings/ searches public AA feeds by day and format.

Call 911 if someone is overdosing, seizing, not breathing, or cannot be woken. For a mental health or suicide crisis, call or text 988.

How to Find AA Meetings Across Knoxville

Knoxville's A.A. central office is the East Tennessee Intergroup (ETIAA). Its website carries the current meeting list, and its 24-hour hotline is (865) 522-9667. The Central Office is at 9217 Parkwest Boulevard, Suite B3, Knoxville, TN 37923. Office hours are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Wednesday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday 8:30 a.m. to noon; closed Sunday.

The Intergroup's own flyer describes its work: answering inquiries by phone and through the hotline, keeping the website and the Meeting Guide listing current, publishing a monthly newsletter, hosting business meetings, and selling approved A.A. literature in English and Spanish. The single website handles both the meeting directory and the office.

The Intergroup serves a wide part of East Tennessee, so towns such as Alcoa, Maryville, Oak Ridge, Sevierville, Lenoir City, and Morristown appear in the same directory. If you are outside Knoxville, search by town.

A.A.'s national site at aa.org is not a meeting finder; it points people to a local office, which here is the Intergroup, and names the free Meeting Guide app and the Online Intergroup for phone and online meetings. The how-to-find guide compares the routes.

This site's meeting finder is another option: it searches public A.A. and N.A. feeds by day, time, fellowship, and format, including online.

Knoxville Meeting Hubs & Communities

Meetings run from downtown out along the city's main corridors and into the surrounding towns.

• Downtown and the Old City. Downtown Knoxville holds a cluster of meetings, including groups at the Park 40 Club and downtown churches such as First Church, within reach of the free Downtown Connector bus.
• Fort Sanders and the university area. The Fort Sanders neighborhood around the University of Tennessee has recurring meetings and is served by KAT's Fort Sanders and UT Medical Center route.
• North and East Knoxville. Groups meet along Broadway, Magnolia Avenue, and the Burlington and Morningside neighborhoods.
• West Knoxville, Bearden, and Cedar Bluff. The west side has its own meetings along Kingston Pike and Cedar Bluff, close to the intergroup's Parkwest Boulevard office.
• South Knoxville. Groups meet south of the river along Chapman Highway and in Vestal.
• Maryville, Oak Ridge, and beyond. Towns across the region are listed in the same directory, which is why searching by town is the quickest way to narrow it.

Common Meeting Formats & What to Expect

A.A. divides meetings into open and closed. An open meeting is open to anyone interested in A.A.'s program, and nonalcoholics may attend as observers. A closed meeting is for A.A. members, or for people who have a drinking problem and want to stop drinking. When in doubt, start with an open meeting.

The Knoxville listings mark each meeting by format so you can choose before you go:

• Newcomer or beginner meetings, for people new to recovery.
• Discussion: members share on a topic; the most common style.
• Big Book and step study: reading A.A.'s basic text and working the Steps.
• Speaker: one or two members tell their story.
• Men's, women's, and wheelchair-accessible groups are listed the same way, and online meetings are marked.

Every meeting is free. A.A. says there are no dues or fees for membership and that you do not have to pay anything to attend; a basket may be passed for voluntary contributions and passing it on is fine. And you never have to speak — A.A.'s newcomer page says you can sit and listen. Anonymity means what you hear in the room stays there. The first-meeting guide walks through a typical hour.

Transportation & Virtual Meetings

Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) runs the city's bus system, with 20 fixed routes serving more than 500 stops. KAT's Route 1 Downtown Connector circulates through downtown and the Old City and downtown trolleys reach the university area, making central meetings easy to get to without parking. Route information is (865) 637-3000. Plan a trip at katbus.com.

Meetings are not only in person. A.A. says meetings can be in person, online, or by phone, and the Intergroup directory includes online meetings alongside in-person ones. The Online Intergroup lists phone and video meetings worldwide, and our meeting finder also shows online and hybrid meetings. The online A.A. meetings guide explains how they work.

Peer Support vs. Medical Care

An A.A. meeting is peer support, not clinical treatment. NIDA explains that mutual-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous are peer-led and not led by healthcare professionals, so they are not the same as treatment — though NIDA notes they are free, not time-limited, and useful to many people on their own or alongside professional care.

Some situations call for a doctor, not a meeting. NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life threatening when people who drink heavily over time stop suddenly, rather than cutting back gradually or stopping with medical support. If you have been drinking heavily and want to stop, talk with a clinician first.

For help beyond a meeting:

• Emergency: call 911 for an overdose, a seizure, trouble breathing, or someone who cannot be woken.
• Crisis: call or text 988 for a mental health or suicide crisis.
• Treatment: search FindTreatment.gov, SAMHSA's treatment locator, or call SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) — a free, confidential line available 24/7 in English and Spanish.
• Referral help: call or text (800) 653-9376 and we can help you sort out a level of care. SmarterRecovery is a referral helpline, not the East Tennessee Intergroup and not SMART Recovery; calling is free to you because treatment providers pay for the referral service.

Call or text (800) 653-9376 if you want help finding treatment. If what you need tonight is a meeting, start with the meeting finder or the Intergroup directory and confirm the listing. If this is an emergency or a suicide crisis, call 911 or 988 first.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

• East Tennessee Intergroup (ETIAA), Knoxville
• East Tennessee Intergroup: Intergroup flyer (address, 24-hour hotline, office hours)
• Knoxville Area Transit (KAT): Schedules & Maps (20 routes, Downtown Connector)
• A.A.: Find A.A. Near You (regional and online meeting information)
• A.A.: Need help with a drinking problem? (what to expect at a first meeting)
• A.A.: What to Expect at an A.A. Meeting (open and closed meetings, meeting types)
• A.A.: A.A. and Anonymity
• A.A.: Meeting Guide app
• Online Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous (online and phone meetings)
• NIDA: Treatment (mutual-help groups are peer-led, not clinical treatment)
• NIAAA Core Resource on Alcohol: Alcohol Use Disorder, From Risk to Diagnosis to Recovery
• SAMHSA National Helpline
• SAMHSA FindTreatment.gov
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
• SmarterRecovery meeting finder (public meeting search; listings are not verified by this site)
• SmarterRecovery about page (referral disclosure)

Common Questions