Spring has sprung in Pigeon Forge and with a new season comes plenty of fun and exciting new events! The East Tennessee weather has warmed up and we are ready for beautiful flowers and green Smoky Mountains!
The Spring Grand Rod Run kicks off the car show season with classic Fords, Chevy/GMCs and Gold Wings. Pigeon Forge is known for their very popular car shows and we’re excited to see what this year’s Rod Run will bring! The Spring Grand Rod Run will be from April 15 – 17. Keep reading about the Rod Run and many more Pigeon Forge car shows.
April 26 – 30 is the 61st Annual Wildflower Pilgrimage. Come out and celebrate the beauty of Great Smoky Mountains National Park with over 150 different programs, including hiking tours, motorcades, demonstrations and classroom lectures centered on the flowers, plants and wildlife in the great outdoors. For more information, call (865) 436-7318 ext. 222 or visit the website.
All you rib and wing lovers will LOVE Gatlinburg’s Ribfest & Wings Celebration on April 28! Visitors enjoy a sampling of the area’s best ribs and wings as well as free live entertainment during this popular ninth annual event. One admission price allows sampling until the ribs and wings run out. The Parkway transforms into a Street Fair. (800) 568-4748.
These are only the big events happening in April. May brings the Dolly Parade, Bloomin’ BBQ & Bluegrass and more car shows and fun festivals! Be sure to check out ourcalendar of events and don’t miss your favorite events!
Dolly Parton kicks off her Better Day Tour in Knoxville, TN on July 17. This will be the first time in at least 26 years she’s performed a local show outside Sevier County. The show will be at Thompson Bowling Arena but no other information has been released. Tickets will go on sale early April and Dolly’s Dollyites, her online fans, will have first dibs on the tickets. If you’re interested in becoming part of her online community check out Dolly’s website.
All the proceeds of her tour will go to Dolly Parton’s Dollywood Foundation and its Imagination Library, which delivers thousands of books to pre-schoolers around the world. Her Better Day tour will also hit Texas, Virginia and Los Angeles.
Dolly started her professional music career in Knoxville playing on local radio as a child. For most of her touring career, she has kept her shows in Sevier County, with many of those shows being set at Dollywood. Her 2011 tour supports her new CD “Better Day,” coming later this year.
There are two spring cleaning events in Sevier County to help get ready for the upcoming tourist season. If you’re in town we would love your participation!
Keep Sevierville Beautiful is hosting the semi-annual Roads and Rivers day this Saturday, March 26, from 9 am to noon. Volunteers are asked to participate by signing up at any of the registration sites to receive their assignments. Registrations sites are as follows: Sevierville Primary School, Welcome Center on the Spur, Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge, East Tennessee Realty Group in Wears Valley, Wilderness at the Smokies Resort in Sevierville, Sevier County Food Ministries on Old Knoxville Highway in Sevierville, First Baptist Church in Seymour and the Smokies Park clubhouse in Kodak. All volunteers must come to these sites first to receive maps, trash bags and equipment. Each participant is encouraged to bring gloves, wear sturdy shoes and long pants. They will also receive a free ticket for the Tennessee Smokies’ “Keep Sevier Beautiful” night scheduled during the baseball season. For more info on volunteering call 865-774-6677 or find Keep Sevier Beautiful on Facebook.
Today kicks off the City of Gatlinburg’s annual Sparkle Days where city residents and business owners get a chance to easily dispose of those items not usually included in garbage collection. The Sanitation Department will pick up, free of charge, scrap metal, old appliances, brush and even junked vehicles. Sparkle Days is scheduled for March 21 through April1 where the first week is reserved for commercial (21-25) and the second week will be residential collection (28-April 1). Interested in scheduling a pickup time or a list of exclusions please call 430-1370. The Gatlinburg Recreation Department is also encouraging neighborhood residents to form litter pickup groups where they will be provided with large garbage bags and the staff will retrieve from the roadsides. Interested in a litter group please call 436-4990.
Help Keep Sevier County Beautiful!