Routes to get around downtown Knoxville on the weekends will change starting this week, whether you're in a car or on foot ‒ or on four paws.

This year's Young-Williams Animal Center's Mardi Growl Parade on March 1 will follow a different route. Starting at 11 a.m. from the staging area on Depot Avenue in the Old City, the annual parade featuring creatively, colorfully costumed dogs will travel to Gay Street and over the viaduct, then turn right on Jackson Avenue to World's Fair Park Drive, ending at the Performance Lawn.

At the park will be a pet-focused, Mardi Gras-themed festival until 3 p.m. featuring vendors, food trucks, live music, games and more. The parade and festival are free to attend, but entering your pet in the parade costs $15. To register your dog for the parade, go to young-williams.org/event/18th-annual-mardi-growl/.

Related road closures for Mardi Growl to keep in mind Saturday morning:

Over the longer-term, beginning Feb. 28, two downtown streets will be designated as pedestrian-only every weekend through the end of the year, the city said in a news release.

Coming to downtown: Knoxville's horseback police will debut in March, and the goal is community engagement

New retractable bollards will be used to close Market Street between Union and Clinch avenues and Union Avenue between Walnut and Gay streets to vehicles from 6 p.m. each Friday to 6 p.m. each Sunday, unless the city announces otherwise.