Celebrate The New Year in the Smokies!

After a wild year in the Smokies where we saw a lot of ups and downs, we're happy to report Christmas has been a great success here for all who were able to enjoy it! The weather has given us a break from the cold while not diminishing the holiday atmosphere and it's been a nice balance of ambiance to enjoy as we spend time with our loved ones and exchange gifts.

Now we look forward to New Years coming in less than a week. 2017 has much to offer and in the Smoky Mountains we close out the previous year and begin the new one with a bang! In Pigeon Forge, our New Years celebrations take place at The Island just off the parkway downtown. The party begins at 8:00PM and includes live entertainment, lights from the fountain and ferris wheel and more fun coming from the various restaurants and stores located on the premises - and then as it closes in to midnight, the ball begins to drop to mark the moment it transitions from year to year and then, literally, BOOM! The fireworks go off and a brand new year with brand new opportunities is born!

At the same time in Gatlinburg, the New Years party for that city runs traditional as it has for decades begins. Throughout the day, the knowledge of the impending countdown sits overhead and excitement builds. At 10:00PM, there will be entertainment near Stoplight #8 (Bubba Gump Shrimp) which will build more excitement for the evening and then, yes, as it nears midnight, a ball will begin to drop from the Space Needle at the center of downtown Gatlinburg and once it transitions from 2016 to 2017, fireworks again explode into the night sky for almost 20 minutes straight.

There is no better way to celebrate the New Year in the Smokies!

See more on these events at www.islandinpigeonforge.com and www.gatlinburg.com.

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Status of Smokies: Wildfire Updates

As most of you reading this probably know by now, the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee became under conflagration with wildfires that spread out from several areas of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Wears Valley on Monday, November 28th. As of writing, 13 people were pronounced dead, 80 were injured, more than 1,000 structures (including well-known businesses and iconic buildings) were destroyed and more than 15,000 acres of mountains.

To say the event was a historic emergency in East Tennessee underscores the reality of what happened. However, in the midst of this nearly unprecedented darkness in the Smokies, we have seen a flood of light come in to help repair the damage and support those in need. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have come in from all over the country to support those who lost their homes, jobs and/or loved ones in the wildfires and we still get people asking us what they can do to help.

Truth is, the best thing you can do to help us is to come back to the Smokies and vacation with us. For better or worse, tourism is the literal lifeblood of Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Wears Valley and Sevierville. We need visitors to come back, stay with us, eat with us, shop with us and continue to smile, laugh and enjoy themselves the same as they always did. All of our Pigeon Forge, Sevierville and Wears Valley attractions are currently open and Gatlinburg is expected to fully open back up this coming Wednesday.

Visit www.wbir.com for the latest news regarding the wildfires and any openings or closing related to them. Thank you and we hope to see you again here in the coming holidays!

www.allthesmokies.com

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Winterfest Kickoff Events For 2016

With the Harvest Festival season done for the year, now we look forward to gearing up for the big holiday festivities to last until the start of 2017. We do this with a series of Winterfest Kickoffs in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Sevierville where we party, have some entertainment groups play on stage, build some fun sets for the kids, shoot off fireworks (in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg), cook up some chili (in Gatlinburg) and throw on the Winterfest lights for trolley tours and driving visitors.

Some years have at least a couple of these events going on at the same time, but this year each Winterfest Kickoff is on different days - one after another. Sevierville has their Winterfest on November 7th from 3:00PM to 8:00PM, Pigeon Forge (which is what we'll focus on here) has their Kickoff on November 8th from 4:00PM to 6:00PM and Gatlinburg has their Kickoff on November 9th from 5:00PM to 8:00PM.

Things are a little bit different with the Pigeon Forge Winterfest kickoff this year. There won't be a parade to start the event, but it will begin all the same at 4:00PM at Patriot Park. There will be a kids' play area, presentations from the Mayor and City Manager of Pigeon Forge, fireworks, a stage with music entertainment and, of course, the big switch for the Winterfest lights coming on followed by FREE trolley tours of the Winterfest lights.

The schedule as posted by Mypigeonforge.com includes:

"4:00 PM: Kids Area opens up Days Gone By Old Time Games

5:00 PM: Activities start from stage National Anthem presenting of colors: Mayor and City Manager to speak recognize Volunteer of the Year Grace Stottlemeyer

5:15 PM: Count down to lights being turned on *in Patriot Park only immediately followed by 3-4 minutes of fireworks

5:30 PM: Entertainment starts from stage: Jimbo Whaley & Greenbrier, Pistol Creek Catch of the Day & the Pigeon Forge Community Chorus: Note some members of Pistol Creek will be strolling through park earlier entertaining

6:00 PM: FREE Trolley Tour of Lights rides will start

Local Girl Scouts will be selling hot drinks and cookies and we will have Winterfest shirt sales also."

See more on Pigeon Forge's Winterfest Kickoff at http://www.mypigeonforge.com/events/winterfest/

We'll have more Winterfest events coming up for you soon, be sure to come back and check on us! www.allthesmokies.com.

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Free Lunch For Veterans on November 11th.

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Smoky Mountain Fall Color Forecast Part 2

Our color forecast as it stands today. The colors are coming out more and more! Photography provided by Brainstorm Cafe and Friendly Falls (Squadron 4). www.brainstormcafe.com - www.friendlyfalls.com

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Smoky Mountain Fall Color Forecast For 2016

Part of our Smoky Mountain color forecast we're starting to do for October. Photography provided by Brainstorm Cafe and Friendly Falls (Squadron 4) in Wears Valley.

We'll likely be posting more here as they become available and continue to change colors. Check back with us soon! www.allthesmokies.com.

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Harvest Festival Events For 2016

As promised, here are some upcoming events to look forward to for the start of Harvest Festival in the Smokies.

* Fall Harvest at The Island *
Now - October 31st
http://islandinpigeonforge.com/

* Oktoberfest at Ober Gatlinburg *
Now - October 30th
http://obergatlinburg.com/

* National Quartet Convention *
Now - October 1st
http://www.natqc.com/

* Dollywood National Southern Gospel & Harvest Celebration *
September 30th - October 29th
http://www.dollywood.com/

* 39th Annual Pigeon Forge Rotary Club Craft Fair *
October 1st - October 29th
http://portal.clubrunner.ca/7015

* Gatlinburg Craftsmens Fair *
October 6th - October 23rd
http://www.gatlinburg.com/events/details.aspx?id=10

And we'll have some more info on Harvest Festival and the autumn colors in the Smokies later in October. Happy Fall, y'all!

www.allthesmokies.com

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Upcoming High School Football Games

Are you a fan of our local high school football teams? Here's a look at upcoming games as provided by the Hometown Sevier Local Guide.

Sevier County High School

* September 23rd
Oak Ridge High School
Away Game

* September 30th
Daniel Boone
Home Game (District)

* October 7th
David Crockett
Away Game (District)

* October 14th
Tennessee
Home Game (District)

* October 21st
Morristown West
Away Game (District)


Gatlinburg-Pittman High School

* September 23rd
Oneida High School
Away Game

* September 30th
North Greene
Home Game (District)

* October 7th
Cosby High School
Home Game (District)

* October 14th
Happy Valley
Away Game (District)

* October 21st
South Greene
Home Game (District)

* October 28th
Sullivan North
Away Game (District)


Pigeon Forge High School

* September 23rd
Lenoir City
Away Game

* September 30th
Elizabethton
Home Game (District)

* October 7th
Unicoi County
Home Game (District)

* October 14th
Chuckey-Doak
Home Game (District)

* October 21st
Johnson County
Away Game (District)

* October 28th
Claiborne
Away Game (District)


Northview Academy Cougar

* September 23rd
Coalfield
Away Game

* September 30th
West Greene
Away Game (District)

* October 7th
Chuckey-Doak
Away Game (District)

* October 13th
Johnson County
Home Game (District)

* October 21st
Unicoi County
Away Game (District)

* October 27th
Elizabethton
Home Game (District)


Seymour High School

* September 23rd
Sullivan East
Away Game (District)

* September 30th
Cherokee
Away Game (District)

* October 7th
Scott Grainger
Home Game

* October 13th
Grainger County
Home Game (District)

* October 21st
Volunteer
Away Game (District)

* October 28th
Greeneville
Home Game (District)


Photo by Angie Stanley of Gatlinburg Daily Post.

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Labor Day Weekend and Rod Run in Pigeon Forge

Labor Day Weekend starts today! And we're thankful for the break. It's been QUITE a summer here in the Smokies with blazing hot temperatures, a lot of activity and a lot of work needing to be done. There's no better place in the South to enjoy a 3-4 day weekend than the Smokies and we hope you all come out to visit us!

One thing to note particularly is that Dollywood will be having a brand new special event going on tomorrow on park. "Rock The Smokies" will provide several rounds of Christian rock artists throughout the park that perform at 1:00PM, 4:00PM and 7:00PM. There will also be fireworks going off to celebrate Labor Day on September 3rd and 4th. See more on this at http://www.dollywood.com/themepark/Festivals/RockTheSmokies.

And then, you guessed it, it's Rod Run season in Pigeon Forge! Shades of the Past Rod Run XXXIII rolls into town from September 9th to the 10th and the Pigeon Forge Fall Rod Run begins the next weekend between September 15th and the 17th. The Shades of the Past Rod takes place up at Dolly's Splash Country while the Fall Rod Run takes place at the LeConte Conference Center in Downtown Pigeon Forge, but you can still expect the entire town to be in automotive party mode during the nights on those two weekends. See more information on that at www.mypigeonforge.com.

We'll be back later in September with some more news going on to start the Fall season in the Smokies. Stay tuned! www.allthesmokies.com.

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Celebrate Freedom 2016

Throughout the month of August, the city of Pigeon Forge initiates "Celebrate Freedom", where many businesses offer discounts to current and former military personnel as well as currently employed emergency personnel/first-responders.

The full list of what which businesses are offering discounts and what those discounts are would overfill this article, but you can see the official list here. Later on in the month, there will be a four-day tribute to military and first responders at Smoky Mountain Resorts from August 15th to the 18th and a "Welcome Home Veterans" parade on August 27th.

Additionally, Stringtime in the Smokies will be going on at the Old Mill Square on August 6th and features Grassroots Gringos, Richard Bennett, Wyatt Rice and Robinella as performing acts. There will also be a Smoky Mountain Cornhole Tournament. Festivities begin there at 11:00AM.

More information on these events can be found at www.mypigeonforge.com/events.

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2016 Fourth of July Festivities

There is a lot to love about Summer - backyard BBQ, city park picnics (also BBQ), municipal swimming pools, frisbee, baseball, fireflies and so much more - but the moment everyone looks forward to is a single 20 minute segment in early July, and you already know what it is.

But in the Smokies of East Tennessee, the magic of the 4th of July isn't just 20 minutes after sundown, it lasts the whole day starting 5 minutes after 11:55PM on July 3rd with the Midnight Parade in downtown Gatlinburg. This parade has been a tradition in Gatlinburg for years and years and for more than an hour, you and the whole family can watch an amazing patriotic parade - and that just BEGINS the 4th of July celebration!

Then after that, starting at 10:00AM is the River Raft Regatta at Christ in the Smokies in downtown Gatlinburg where you can race any unmanned, floatable objects toward the goal at Ripley's Aquarium. This event is sponsored by the City of Gatlinburg Special Events Office and the Gatlinburg Recreation Department.

In Pigeon Forge, Patriot Park is having Patriot Fest at 12:00PM. The whole park becomes a center of activity with a huge sound stage, lots of activity, food tents, cooling off station, music by half a dozen acts on the stage that is specifically built for the occasion (headlined this year by singer-songwriter Joe Diffie) and much more that go on until the fireworks start between 9:30PM and 9:45PM. The fireworks in Gatlinburg start at 10:00PM and if you're already downtown, you won't have to go far. The fireworks in Gatlinburg are designed to be seen from anywhere on the downtown sidewalk.

Come spend your 4th of July here with us in the Smokies! There's lots to do that's awesome for the whole family and we would be glad to have you. www.allthesmokies.com.

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Tax Free Weekend 2016 Info

We received this email some time ago and felt it was relevant to share here.

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Barbeque, Bluegrass and Wilderness

One last month for Spring 2016, so the latter end of this month will make it worth the trip with two favorite special events going on at the same time.

Starting this Friday is Dollywood's "Barbeque and Bluegrass" Festival and it goes on until May 22nd. For this awesome week-and-a-half, the price of admission at Dollywood includes round-the-clock performances from Backline, Flatt Lonesome, The Boxcars, The Steeldrivers, Loose Strings Band, Steve Gulley & New Pinnacle and almost two dozen additional artists playing throughout the park and the best in pulled pork, smoked sausage, chicken and much more served at Market Square. See more on this at www.dollywood.com.

And then, start on May 18th and going on until the 22th is the new Spring version of the Wilderness Wildlife Week that for over a generation was held in January. Other than the seasonal change, the W3 is every bit the same as we've always enjoyed. The hikes, lectures, workshops and special guest appearances continue to exceed our expectations. You can get more information on that at http://www.mypigeonforge.com/events/wilderness-wildlife-week/.

Have an awesome May! We'll be back in June with more special events and news. www.allthesmokies.com

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New Developments in Pigeon Forge April 2016

The Smokies are in a new era of change. If you haven't been to Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg or Sevierville for even a year and a half, you might be surprised to learn of all the new things going on here in the Smokies!

Here are some new things you should be looking forward to in Pigeon Forge this season:

* New Publix
2016 seems to be the year of the grocery store! At least it feels that way with the new Publix grocery store coming to downtown Pigeon Forge right next to Wears Valley road. We've already seen increased competition from Krogers and Food City to gear up for it, and that means visitors and local consumers win all the way around!

* Goat Coaster
Goats On the Roof on Wears Valley Road has been one of those success stories where no one really saw it coming or expected it would be as big a hit as it is, but it has, and now the attraction is expanding to offer an alpine coaster on the premises as part of their "one-stop-fun" approach. http://thecoastertn.com/

* Cal Ripkin Experience
This project was long in the making on Teaster Lane and it's finally open! The Cal Ripkin Experience is a sports complex with six baseball fields (made with synthetic turf), a 14,137 square foot clubhouse, a concession stand and more. There will be plenty of tournaments, events and more featured there. https://www.ripkenbaseball.com/youth_baseball/pigeon_forge

* New Chipotle in Sevierville
Can you believe we've never had a Chipotle in Sevierville before? It's true, but these days we're getting all kinds of new restaurants and chains we'd never had before and Chipotle is a welcome addition to our local palatte.

* Dolly Parton's Lumberjack Adventure Dinner and Show
The Lumberjack Feud was/is such a good show that the same management company owning Dollywood and Dixie Stampede decided to add it to their high quality brand of entertainment. The new Lumberjack Adventure will celebrate the Appalachian history of Tennessee lumberjacks, offer new content, food and more. http://dollyparton.com/lumberjack-adventure

There will be more to talk about in Gatlinburg soon enough, so stay tuned with us here at Gatlinburg Lodging and Allthesmokies. www.allthesmokies.com

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March Events For 2016

March has brought us probably been some of the best of 2016 we've seen so far - and we're only 9 days in. Such can be expected when you're greeted with warm temperatures, green grass, flowers and trees already blooming and sunshine that makes you glad you went outside.

And we follow that up with two highly anticipated special events coming up very soon.

March 15th is the start of A Mountain Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge, TN, at the LeConte Conference Center downtown. This is a surprisingly popular and enriching special event for fans of the Appalachian culture here in the Smokies with many amazing quilts on display, workshops for and taught by professional quilters, and prizes for top quality works of art as well. Quiltfest goes on from 3/15/16 to 3/19/16. You can find more on that at www.mypigeonforge.com/events/quiltfest/.

And then, also on March 19th, is an event a LOT of people look forward to - Dollywood's "Festival of Nations" and grand re-opening for the 2016 season. This year the entertainment will include:

* Mother Africa
* Los Pampas Gauchos
* Atahualpa
* Celtic Coast
* David Charrier
* Duo Del Sol

And more that you can find at www.dollywood.com.

As always, check back with us next month and get a good amount of Smoky Mountain information at www.allthesmokies.com.

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Valentine's Day 2016

During the post-holiday Winterfest season, the Smoky Mountains become far more quiet and dignified due to the hibernation of nature that expands throughout the mountains, and thusly it becomes a wonderful atmosphere for romantic getaways. We all know that the big date of this month is Valentine's Day (February 14th, for those of you guys who have a habit of forgetting and then getting in trouble) and we wanted to offer some suggestions for you and your partner to consider for a Smoky Mountain Valentine's Day weekend.

Lodging:

www.summitcabinrentals.com
www.deerridge.com
www.covemountain.com
www.cosbycreekcabinrentals.com
www.moosecreekcrossing.com
www.erainthesmokies.com
www.riverhouseatthepark.com
www.cabinsofthesmokies.com
www.thepointresorttn.com
www.vacationsatdouglaslake.com

Dining:
www.alamosteakhouse.com
www.bestitalian.com
www.crystellecreek.com
www.greenbrierrestaurant.com
www.pancakepantry.com
www.parkgrillgatlinburg.com
www.peddlergatlinburg.com

Hope to see you in the Smokies this February!

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Winterfest After the Holidays

Certainly by NOW you've regained your composure from the holidays, yes? Well, if not, we don't blame you. 2015 was one of the biggest years we've seen in a decade and that meant there were parties, energy, revelry and crowds to spare. We haven't had such a big blast since whatever year we're trying to remember that clearly had to be some time ago.

With all that went on, can you believe it's still Winterfest in the Smokies here for at least two months after the holidays? Yessir, and it might be hard to imagine since the special events and such hibernate like our black bears until Spring comes around, but there's still pretty of great things to do around here to enjoy the "dead" season.

Here's a short list of reasons you should come stay in the Smokies this month.

1. Low traffic, low prices for gas ($1.65 as of current) and many places in town running specials for their lodging or restaurant accommodations. Alamo Steakhouse and Bennetts BBQ run B1G1 free specials for this month and the next, many cabin companies run Winter Specials on their condos and cabins - the list only begins there.

2. Romantic bliss in all the air - from the peaks on down to the valleys, there is a stillness to the ambience in the mountains that makes one reflective, introspective, and finally amorous to their romantic partner. If the bare mountain in the distance holding up the snow-capped peaks in the distance while the the quiet, crisp winter air blows over you doesn't make you feel like baring your soul to your partner and to nature herself, nothing will.

3. The Winter Sports season is currently going on at Ober Gatlinburg. This is the only spot for miles and miles around that provides safe but thrilling opportunities for skiing, snowboarding, snow tubing, ice skating and more. All the indoor activities are still going on and offering an arcade, mini-golf, carousel and, yes, more. www.obergatlinburg.com

Stay tuned with us next month as we get more in-depth about how to get romantic in the Smokies. See ya then!

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