This spring and summer you will be seeing restaurant additions to Pigeon Forge! These three restaurants will be a great addition!
The Partridge and Pear – A new restaurant opening as part of the Christmas Place Inn set to open this summer. The restaurant will serve lunch and dinner, individually and family style. The Partridge and Pear will of course follow the common theme of the Christmas Place Inn to make you feel like your Celebrating Christmas at any time of year. “The menus at the restaurant will remind you of a festive Christmas gathering, and include a wide variety of regional, traditional, and specialty dishes to suit every palate. Steaks, seafood, and locally-grown produce prepared in slow-food style, a welcoming atmosphere, and detailed service will be the hallmarks of your dining experience at The Partridge & Pear at Christmas Place.”
Mellow Mushroom – A great pizza addition to Pigeon Forge, it will be located at 2485 Parkway, and will be taking the place of the Flying Horse Grill. Mellow Mushroom will be opening May 10.
Five Guys – This burger joint has their burgers perfected! They are very limited in their menu choices, but what they offer they do it well! Five Guys will be located at 2526 Parkway and will be opening on May 5.
Check out what else is new to Pigeon Forge
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is doing its part to help motivate people who want to get outdoors and exercise more. The park says the new program, “Reward Yourself — Hike the Smokies Challenge,” will help visitors reach individual milestones.
On Sunday, the park will give out free mileage record books at Sugarlands and Oconaluftee Visitor Centers between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and at Cades Cove Visitor Center from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The booklets will be available afterward for a dollar. Afterhiking 100 miles, 250 miles and 500 miles, the visitor can bring the mileage record back for a mileage pin and to be recorded in the “Hike the Smokies” Web records.
There are 850 miles of hiking trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. On these trails you can wander the mountain ridges, investigate the isolated coves and experience for yourself the mystery of the mountains!
Enjoy the area’s best ribs and wings as well as live entertainment during Gatlinburg’s Ribfest & Wings on Thursday, April 22. One admission price allows sampling until the ribs and wings run out as the Parkway transforms into a Street Fair. The festival hours will be from 5 to 9 p.m., with musical entertainment starting at 5 p.m., food sampling from 6 to 9, eating contests, and loads of atmosphere on the Parkway between Traffic Light 6 and Riverside Motor Lodge/Reagan Terrace Mall.
This year’s event returns to the Parkway with the entertainment menu spiced up by the classic tunes of the Beat Daddys, featuring their soulful rock ‘n roll blues. The main stage will also feature the musical group Soulfinger, spearheading a neo-classic soul movement with original sounds.
A panel will judge and award the best ribs or wings in seven categories. All vendors will be vying for the coveted “People’s Choice Award” chosen by popular vote.
Hot wing eating contests sponsored by All Sauced Up will feature wings prepared in sauces such as “Blazing Bomb,” “Treacherous Tongue,” “Fire Pit Hell,” “Scorching Screaming” and “Next Day Disaster.” Prizes will be awarded to the “Hot Wing Eating Contest Champion of the Year.” See if you can handle it!
The “Vermonster Eating Contest” sponsored by Ben & Jerry’s is another highlight of the evening of fun and festivities.
An armband for Ribfest & Wings may be purchased for $12 (or $5 for kids) that allows sampling until 10 p.m. or as long as the ribs and wings last. To enter your recipe as a vendor and compete for awards in categories including restaurant, lodging, attraction, retail, financial institution, public safety and civic organization, call the Office of Special Events at 436-0506.
A portion of the proceeds benefit Gatlinburg Hospitality Association’s educational scholarship fund. The ninth annual Ribfest & Wings is sponsored by Star 102.1, Food City, Coca-Cola, the Best Western Twin Islands Motel and Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies.
For more information about Ribfest & Wings and other Gatlinburg Springfest events, visitwww.gatlinburg.com or call 436-4178.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park will celebrate the fourth annual National Junior Ranger Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 24, with special activities in two of the Park’s visitor centers, and in the town of Gatlinburg in conjunction with the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage’s Greener Living Expo. Children and their families can join in a variety of free, hands-on activities at Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg; W. L. Mills Conference Center in Gatlinburg; and Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee, N.C.
Activities planned at the visitor centers will range from a Junior Naturalist Walk to making dinner bells at a blacksmith shop. Making historic toys, beeswax candles, cornhusk dolls, and visiting touch tables with animal skins, skulls, and scat are a few of the other natural and cultural opportunities that will be available. Children can earn their Junior Ranger badge by completing three of the specially planned activities. A Junior Ranger booklet is also available, for those who would like to explore the Park in more depth. Information on the specific programs is available at the visitor centers.
As part of the Greener Living Expo at the Mills Conference Center, Park Rangers will be on hand from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. to help children learn about green living of the earlier settlers. Children participating in this program can earn Junior Ranger day awards. National Junior Ranger Day is a special event for National Park Week, celebrated this year between April 17 and 25. This year’s theme is “Share a park, shape a life.”
The Gatlinburg Chamber of Commerce Foundation will host the third annual Earth Day Festival Tuesday, April 20, with crafts, games, food, live music and other fun activities. Festivities will take place from 3 to 7 p.m. at Mynatt Park with performances by Taylor Brooks, Boogertown Gap, Jeff Bowen and others. This event is open to the public, free to attend and features earth-friendly crafts, informational booths and children’s activities. This year’s festival will also feature food vendors, live music and a small disc golf display.
The celebration is the kick-off for a week of environmental and community events in Gatlinburg. Some of these include the 60th Annual Wildflower Pilgrimage and Greener Living Expo at W. L. Mills Conference Center, April 21; community Ribfest and Wings on the Parkway, April 22; National Junior Ranger Day, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., April 24 at Sugarlands Visitor Center and the W.L. Mills Conference Center, and other events.