Just before 12:30 p.m. today the booming, up-beat tempo of the Village People’s “YMCA” come over the load speakers in Market Square, cutting through the monotonous roar of steady drizzle. The sun peaked through briefly, just before dozens of members of a real YMCA–Knoxville’s Lindsay Young Downtown Y–descended on the square for a seemingly spur-of-the-moment flash mob. The break in clouds wouldn’t hold, but the group did its best to bring some cheer to the square on this dreary, overcast day.

“We wanted to do something fun that people could enjoy while eating out,” Rebekah Roberts, the health and well-being coordinator for the Downtown Y, said in a statement.

Technically it was a “fitness flash mob,” with dancers cycling through a series of dance and fitness routines during the five-minute performance. Staff and members of all five Knoxville YMCAs participated. Some dressed in Village People costumes.

Clay Duda

Clay Duda

Clay Duda

Clay Duda

Former Mercury staff reporter Clay Duda has covered gangs in New York, housing busts in Atlanta, and wildfires in Northern California. And lots of stuff about Knoxville.