2007-2008 EVENTS CALENDAR. 2007 IS GATLINBURG'S BICENTENNIAL!

View the final events of the Gatlinburg Bicentennial celebration here.

Saturday, Sep. 1, 2007 through Sunday, Dec. 30, 2007

Old Fashioned Hayrides

Enjoy a unique, fun-filled hayride in downtown Gatlinburg as fall makes way for winter in the Smoky Mountains. Enjoy breathtaking views of Gatlinburg Winter Magic lighting displays and Great Smoky Mountains National Park that surrounds Gatlinburg on three sides.

Departure is at Traffic Light #6 at Mountain Mall. Rides run from 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and leave approximately every 45 minutes. Proceeds benefit United Way.
Downtown Gatlinburg

Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007 through Saturday, Jan. 26, 2008

Trolley Ride of Lights

Enjoy a guided trolley ride of Gatlinburg's spectacular Winterfest lighting displays. Departure from Mass Transit/Trolley Center at Ripley's Aquarium Plaza. For advance reservations, call 865/436-0535. Tours leave nightly thru December 30, excluding December 7, 24 & 25, at 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m and Saturdays only during January.
Downtown Gatlinburg

Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2008 through Friday, Feb. 29, 2008

Gatlinburg Winter Magic

Visitors of all ages can marvel at the traditional mountain scenes, colorful winter displays, playful teddy bears and other familiar, much-beloved displays both downtown and along Hwy. 321 which have been making Gatlinburg a must-see destination for both the young and young at heart for years.

New for 2007, displays featuring animals indigenous to Great Smoky Mountains National Park including deer, foxes, squirrels and rabbits are introduced, with many areas accentuated by branches and scrolls which have been converted to LED. The north end of Gatlinburg will receive an injection of fresh exhibits and subtle enhancements, while most of the timeless displays visitors have grown accustomed to over the past 17 years are converted to LED or phased out and replaced by soon-to-be new favorites.

Adjacent to the famous Parkway, River Road features a “magical” touch along the popular Riverwalk area, where the romantic arched walkway is enhanced by a pair of graceful 40-foot swans and several ornate floral representations to set the tone for romance in lovers of all ages.

The convergence of the Parkway and River Road forms the landmark downtown triangle that is transformed into a cluster of tall evergreens swirled in color, certain to become a popular photographic backdrop as visitors enter the above two sections on foot or via the Parkway. Smoky Mountain Romance touches are added in several display areas after the holidays, with wild animal scenes, winter forests and swirling trees accenting the season.

 Also new in 2007 is the addition of Winter Magic Tunes & Tales to the entertainment lineup. Through the holiday season, visitors can meet characters and storytellers and enjoy caroling and entertainment along the Parkway weekend evenings during this premiere event.

            Seven quartets of holiday carolers dressed in traditional Victorian era costumes will roam the streets of Gatlinburg on Friday and Saturday evenings from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. through Christmas. The carolers will be delivered throughout the city by horse drawn wagons & carriages and sing a capella classics of the season.

During the magical Friday and Saturday nights of Winter Magic Tunes & Tales, Santa Claus & Mrs. Claus will be on hand to meet with children of all ages at the Riverbend Mall. Zeno the Gatlinburg Bear will also be skipping hibernation this year to make appearances and greet holiday visitors on the streets.

On Friday nights near Traffic Light #3, a Yule Log fireside sing-along will take place for the whole family to get together and sing their favorite holiday season songs.
Throughout Gatlinburg

Friday, December 7, 2007

Schwan's Fantasy of Lights Christmas Parade

Gatlinburg's Winterfest Celebration features the 32nd Annual Fantasy of Lights Christmas Parade at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 7, 2007. This year's parade is sponsored by The Schwan Food Company. With millions of twinkling lights and more than 100 parade entries, Gatlinburg's Fantasy of Lights Christmas Parade is the perfect way to get the holiday season off to an illuminating start! Enjoy an appearance by the world famous Budweiser Clydesdales as well as lighted floats, marching bands, and giant helium balloons. Special appearance by Santa himself!
Downtown Gatlinburg

Friday-Saturday, December 14-15, 2007

Christmas on Ice

The annual “Christmas on Ice Show” at the Ober Gatlinburg Ice Skating Arena features local amateur skaters performing ice skating routines to traditional Christmas music, choreographed by rink instructor Devon Harman. Show time Friday is 7:00p.m. and Saturday night performance begins at 5:30p.m. The indoor Ice Skating Arena is the centerpiece of Ober Gatlinburg's 62,000 square foot upper Tram Terminal and Mall. The ice arena, crafts market, scenic chairlift, alpine slide, and aerial tramway are all open year round.
Ober Gatlinburg

Monday, December 31, 2007

New Year's Eve Ball Drop & Fireworks

Gatlinburg welcomes the arrival of 2008 with a street party that begins around 11 p.m. Monday, Dec. 31. An estimated crowd of 40,000 revelers gather in the streets of downtown Gatlinburg. At the stroke of midnight, the sky will light up with a fireworks and music show. The event is free to the public and features music and free party favors.
Downtown Gatlinburg (Historic Nature Trail Rd at Space Needle)

Friday, January 25, 2008

Southern Exposure Competitions

Watch or compete as skiiers and snowboarders take to the slopes for an afternoon of competition followed by the funniest sled race ever!
Ober Gatlinburg

Monday-Tuesday, January 28-29, 2008

Tennessee Winter Special Olympics

Watch and cheer as Special Olympics atheletes compete for the gold in their annual Winter Olympics day. Events include snow skiiing, ice skating and snowboarding.
Ober Gatlinburg

Friday, March 14, 2008 through Saturday, June 14, 2008

Gatlinburg SpringFest

During the three-month Springfest celebration that begins in early March and continues into the second week of June, visitors witness Gatlinburg's transformation into spring when the city's streets overflow with baskets of beautiful blooming flowers and plants. Pansies, daffodils, tulips, mandevillas, bougainvilleas, lantanas, scaveolas and wave petunias are among the many varieties of flowers seen throughout the city. Live entertainment can be found along sidewalks, adding a festive flair to the time-honored Downtown Parkway stroll.
Downtown Gatlinburg

Arts & Crafts Community Easter Arts & Crafts Show

Arts and crafts have long held a deep association with the Southern Appalachian Mountains . Nowhere else in the South will you find a richer heritage of fine craftsmanship than in Gatlinburg. Great Smoky Arts & Crafts Community, established in 1937, is the largest group of independent artisans in North America . Located on an eight-mile loop at the northeast edge of Gatlinburg, the Community proudly preserves the craft heritage of the Great Smoky Mountains year-round. This area offers you the best in a wide range of craft shops, including pottery, woodcarving, candlemaking, quilting, weaving, broommaking, and painting, among many other fine art forms.
Gatlinburg Convention Center

Easter Sunrise Service

On Easter morning, March 23, join in the local tradition and attend Ober Gatlinburg's 11th Annual Easter Sunrise Service enhanced by the beauty of the Smokies. Free tram rides to the mountain top begin at 5:45 a.m. and continue in 15 minute intervals until the service begins. Complimentary parking at the resort will be provided for those who prefer to drive. A breakfast buffet will be waiting and available at the Ober Gatlinburg Restaurant from 7 a.m. until 10:30 a.m.
Ober Gatlinburg

Ribfest & Wings

Roll up your sleeves and dig into the tasty menu at Gatlinburg's 6th Annual Ribfest & Wings festival on Thursday, April 17, from 4 to 9 p.m. in its new downtown location.

Come out and enjoy live entertainment, children's activities and a hot wing eating contest, each promising a lip-smackin' good time!

This year's event takes place on the Parkway parking lot surrounding the Harley Davidson store across from Hard Rock Café near Traffic Light #3.

An armband for Ribfest & Wings may be purchased that allows as long as they last sampling, or shell out a “buck for a bone or two wings.”

Children's activities include face painting and balloon artists to create the most inventive creatures ever!

A portion of the proceeds will benefit Gatlinburg Lodging & Hotel Association's educational scholarship fund.
Downtown Gatlinburg

58th Annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage

The Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage is an annual seven-day event in Great Smoky Mountains National Park consisting of a variety of wildflower, fauna, and natural history walks, motorcades, photographic tours, art classes, and indoor seminars. Most programs are outdoors in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, while indoor offerings are held in various venues throughout Gatlinburg, TN.
Throughout Gatlinburg

Gatlinburg Scottish Festival & Games

27th Annual Scottish clans meeting featuring Highland athletics, bagpipe competitions, Highland dancing, border collie demonstrations, haggis hurling, entertainment, whiskey tasting, food & merchandise vendors.
Mills Park

Gatlinburg Fine Arts Festival

A family oriented fine arts festival featuring juried artists from around the country, delicious cuisine and music.
Downtown Gatlinburg

Gatlinburg MountainFest

Gatlinburg is known throughout much of America as the Gateway to the Smokies and for its rich mountain heritage. Summer is one of the peak travel seasons to Gatlinburg and what a perfect time to introduce a new event! Gatlinburg's 3rd MountainFest kicks off Friday, May 23 with two fun-filled days of bluegrass and genuine Appalachian mountain music, along with crafters and demonstrations.

Local crafters will demonstrate their skills as passed down from generation to generation. Entertainment will include numerous popular mountain bands, including some of the acts participating in Smoky Mountain Tunes & Tunes TM , as well as clogging groups.

On Saturday, May 24, listen as music talents playing fiddles, banjos, and guitars compete for awards and cash prizes in the Mountain Strings Competition.

The MountainFest TM celebration takes center stage from noon to 10 p.m. on Friday, May 23 and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 24 in Downtown Gatlinburg.
Downtown Gatlinburg

Smoky Mountain Tunes and Tales

Picture this… it's early evening in the Smokies. You are strolling along the Parkway in downtown Gatlinburg and see a gathering of people just ahead. As you draw closer, you begin to hear the distinctive sounds of a dulcimer. Curious, you stop to watch and listen. A dulcimer player gracefully strums an upbeat mountain melody as those around him clap rhythmically in time.
After listening for a few minutes, you continue on your evening Parkway stroll and soon come upon yet another gathering. Here you find a group of people performing old fashioned clogging. The audience is laughing as a few onlookers who undertake an impromptu dance performance along with them soon learn just how difficult the steps of authentic Appalachian dance really are.
These are just two of numerous entertainment mini-performances you can experience every evening from June 13 through August 31 as you stroll in downtown Gatlinburg. It is Gatlinburg's Smoky Mountain Tunes and Tales – returning for its third season in 2008, featuring costumed musical performers, storytellers and artisans portraying various time periods from the 1800s to today.
At 6 p.m. each night, a horse-drawn wagon carries the performers down the Parkway to their designated locations for the evening. Fourteen nightly acts involve the audience as they each perform in simultaneous 15-minute performances along the Parkway throughout the evening.
Downtown Gatlinburg

Midnight Independence Day Parade

The first 4th of July Parade in the good ol' U.S.A. happens in Gatlinburg. Join us for a fun-packed Holiday when the celebration of our nation's birthday begins at 12:01 a.m. in Downtown.

For the 33rd consecutive year, Gatlinburg will kick off America’s Independence Day celebration with the nation’s first parade, presented by Red Baron Pizza, which will lead off at midnight to the cheers of 90,000 to 100,000 spectators.

A tribute to our five branches of military service will be among the many highlights. As soon as the street is closed, the parade route will come alive with pre-parade entertainers that will begin the excitement of what is to follow. Giant helium balloons will soar through the skyline of downtown Gatlinburg, from red, white, and blue Stars to Alphonso the dragon, Humpty Dumpty, and a giant patriotic Eagle and All-Star Train. More than 100 volunteers will be signed on to help the balloons navigate the streets of Gatlinburg, with over 100 entries of all types scheduled to appear.
Downtown Gatlinburg

Gatlinburg's River Raft Regatta

Gatlinburg's popular River Raft Regatta takes place at noon on Wednesday, July 4th, on the Little Pigeon River in downtown Gatlinburg. This unmanned river raft race is open to anything floatable except balls and plastic eggs. In the past, families have entered boats made out of matchsticks, floating rocks, as well as little rubber ducks. Registration takes place between 11 a.m. and noon, with the race beginning promptly at noon.
Downtown Gatlinburg

"Stand Here" Fireworks Finale

“Stand Here” will be the best advice for visitors as Downtown Gatlinburg's skyline will transform into a flood of brilliant colors on the night of Friday, July 4, 2008 when the sights and sounds of a spectacular fireworks display will fill the night sky in commemoration of America's independence. The fireworks show, scheduled to begin shortly after sunset, will be a twenty-minute production with visibility throughout the downtown area.
Numerous segments of the show will feature spectacular rocket bursts 500 feet overhead. “The downtown Parkway will be the best place to watch the show,” stated George Hawkins, Special Events Manager for Gatlinburg's Department of Tourism. “Between traffic lights #3 and the sky lift, our visitors will have great views, as will the businesses and accommodations that overlook the downtown area." “By staging the fireworks in this manner, spectators can enjoy the attractions, shops, nightlife, and restaurants throughout downtown prior to the display, with no worry about finding a good viewing spot as the fireworks begin,” Hawkins added. “The display should make for a perfect finale to Gatlinburg's Fourth of July Celebration.” .
Downtown Gatlinburg