Carnicus is a term coined to signify the combining of the annual spring quarter student circus and the annual student carnival into a single event. The circus, usually held in May, had its roots in the city of Knoxville’s carnival, begun in 1897. In 1901 an outdoor carnival was held on the UT campus and was known variously as the May Fest; Flower Fete; or most commonly, the June Jubilee. The Jubilees included stunts; skits; vaudeville performances; dancing; and beginning in 1903, the crowning of a queen. (Lawson McClung was the queen of the 1903 Jubilee.) The Jubilee was a fundraiser originally designed to pay the debts of the athletic department.
Usually held in January, an event featured stunts by various organizations, clowns, comedians, and a dance. The January annual circus benefitting the athletic department was first given in 1912 during the first Interscholastic Field and Declamation Meet. In 1917 the Athletics Council, feeling that athletics’ financing was not in need of the circus proceeds, turned the circus over to the YMCA for one year to assist the YMCA in retiring a debt.
In 1929 the two events were combined into a single event, Carnicus, a term coined by George Abernathy, a member of the All Students’ Club. Fraternities and sororities principally entered the annual skits contest until the late 1960s (the first non-Greek inclusion in the event was approved by the Student Activities Council in 1933), when residence halls and religious groups began to compete as well. The event was canceled during World War II but resumed in 1945.