60
new displays on tap for four-month special event in Smoky Mountains resort town
PIGEON
FORGE, Tenn. (Nov. 1, 2012) – Now that there have been a few chilly nights, the
mood is right for the Nov. 6 (Tuesday) launch of Pigeon Forge Winterfest.
This
is the 23rd celebration of a tourism season that once didn’t
exist for Pigeon Forge and the Great Smoky Mountains region. The last
Winterfest season generated spending of $213.4 million.
The
Pigeon Forge Winterfest Kickoff is in Patriot Park. The lead-up to that evening’s
activities will be the city’s second annual Salute to Veterans Parade starting
at 4:30 p.m. on the Parkway.
Festivities
will conclude with the illumination of five million Winterfest lights
throughout the city and a fireworks display at approximately 8 p.m. Pigeon
Forge’s Fun Time Trolleys will offer free access to the Trolley Tour of Lights
after the fireworks.
The
city has added approximately 60 new Winterfest light displays that are
scattered through town. One group is wildlife – bears, deer, foxes, elk,
squirrels and eagles – that people see for real in Great Smoky Mountains National
Park.
Patriot
Park will bustle in between the parade and the illumination with a play
area for kids, food vendors benefitting local charities and entertainment from
Pigeon Forge High School and Middle School Dance Teams, the Pigeon Forge
Community Chorus and singer James Rogers.
Rogers
and Navy veteran Bob Kolb will share the role of grand marshal for the Salute
to Veterans Parade. Kolb is a loyal volunteer at most Pigeon Forge special
events and was a submariner during WWII.
Among
the organizations expected to participate in the parade are the Pigeon Forge
High School Marching Band, the Tennessee Army National Guard, the Disabled
American Veterans and the Marine Corps League.
After
the Winterfest Kickoff, businesses throughout the city offer special
activities, theaters add a Christmas flair to their shows for two months and
the city itself presents two major special events in January and February –
Wilderness Wildlife Week and Saddle Up.
Pigeon
Forge Winterfest continues through Feb. 28, 2013, offering winter activity
throughout this gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Among the
events on the calendar:
- Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas (Nov. 10-Dec. 30), with seasonal shows that include Dollywood’s Christmas on Ice and another four million holiday lights;
- A gigantic fireworks display on Nov. 22 marking the end of the Titanic Museum Attraction’s centennial celebration, plus snowfall from the ship’s bow every Saturday from Thanksgiving weekend through Dec. 29;
- Wilderness Wildlife Week (Jan. 12-19, 2013), a city-sponsored week of special programs about Great Smoky Mountains National Park and numerous other outdoor topics;
- The second annual Pigeon Forge Ice Carving Competition at the Titanic Museum Attraction (Jan. 19, 2013), featuring celebrated ice sculptors working with 250-pound blocks of ice;
- Saddle Up (Feb. 21-24), a city-sponsored celebration of cowboy poetry, western music and the American West, including entertainers Waddie Mitchell, the Quebe Sisters Band and Wylie & the Wild West.
Complete
visitor information about Pigeon Forge is available online at www.MyPigeonForge.com or by calling
1-800-251-9100.
#
Contact:
Tom
Adkinson, APR
615-341-8796
