Blog for Zipline Attraction in the Smoky Mountains
Located in Pigeon Forge, TN and near Gatlinburg and Sevierville.
Harvest Festival Returns To The Great Smoky Mountains
By Ross Bodhi Ogle
Posted on September 6, 2016
On weeks like this, when the high temperatures are holding fast in the nineties, it's hard to imagine that autumn is just around the corner. But according to the calendar, there's only a couple of weeks until fall officially arrives. And here in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, that also means it's time for the annual Smoky Mountain Harvest Festival, the time when the communities of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville celebrate the changing seasons and lay down the welcome mat for all the good things that come with the arrival of autumn.
One of the most obvious ways you'll notice the presence of Harvest Festival is in the form of fall decorations. Municipal sites and private businesses alike deck out their premises for the season with festive fall décor, ranging from hay bales and scarecrows to gourds, pumpkins and antique farm implements. It's a great way to set the stage for the imminent arrival of nature's own color show, when the foliage makes its annual transformation from summer green to the vibrant reds, yellows and oranges of autumn.
But that's not everything there is to experience when it comes to Smoky Mountain Harvest Festival. In addition to decorations, each city hosts a wide range of special events and festivals, each of which pays tribute to the arrival of fall in its own special way.
In Gatlinburg, for example, Ober Gatlinburg Ski Resort presents its annual OktOberfest celebration, September 23 to October 30. This event features Bavarian-style food, beverages, music and live entertainment daily at the attraction, which sits atop Mt. Harrison and is easily accessible by the Ober Gatlinburg Aerial Tram.
Also look for the Gatlinburg Craftsmen's Fair, which runs October 6 through 23. A tradition spanning nearly 50 years, this event brings in top artisans from around the United States, and they display their work in a wide variety of arts and crafts media – from pottery, jewelry making and woodwork to painting, sculpture and photography. The fair also offers craft demonstrations and live bluegrass performances daily.
At Ripley's Haunted Adventure in Gatlinburg, you can get in the mood for Halloween with the attraction's annual Fright Nights, which take place each weekend through October, and at Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies, young trick-or-treaters will enjoy the Trick or Treat Kickoff Carnival at the Aquarium plaza, complete with games, inflatables, candy and costumed characters.
In Townsend, Tennessee, you can experience the arrival of fall the old-fashioned way at the annual Fall Festival and Old Timers Day event. Taking place at the Townsend Visitors Center September 23 and 24, this festival features traditional bluegrass concerts, crafts, clogging, daily jam sessions and demonstrations of craft forms like cornmeal making, blacksmithing, sorghum molasses making, apple butter making, basketry, weaving, spinning and quilting. Storytellers will also share tales that carry on the region's rich culture and heritage. Admission is free, although parking does cost $8.
Also in Townsend that same weekend is the Nawger Nob Arts and Crafts Festival – which runs the 24th and 25th and features local artisans, crafters and more – and Little River Railroad Days, September 24 only, which celebrates Townsend's once-strong ties to the railroad and lumber industries that put the town on the map in the 1800s.
In Pigeon Forge, upcoming events of note include the National Quartet Convention (September 25 through October 1), the 40th Annual Pigeon Forge Rotary Club Craft Fair (October 1 through 29) and Halloween Trick or Treat at the Pigeon Forge Community Center on October 27.
We'll be sharing more fall events as the dates draw closer, but in the meantime, we're still getting our zipline on in a big way here at Smoky Mountain Ziplines. We've had a big summer with our new zipline course, and we're looking forward to a big fall as well. We've got the most exciting ziplines Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville have to offer!
