Sevierville TN Annual BBQ Cookoff and Bluegrass Concerts

What do springtime blooms, great barbecue cookin’ and the sounds of Appalachia all have in common?  They’ve come together again for the 9th Annual Sevierville Bloomin’ BBQ Festival taking place this May 17-18, 2013 in downtown Sevierville.

We hope you’ll make your reservations with us at Ogle’s Properties and plan to have a big ‘ol time at this fantastic festival.  You’ll probably need both days to take it all in and get your fill of bluegrass music and vocal competitions, State BBQ Competition, and local crafts.  The festival is free, the concerts are free, and we hope you are free for the weekend!

Grab your lawn chair and bring it along so that you can sit back, relax, and enjoy this great lineup of free entertainment:

Free Concert!
Main Stage, May 18
8 p.m.

Friday May 17 

5 p.m. – Main Stage Bluegrass Band (TBD)
6 p.m. – 2012 ICM Bluegrass Artist of the Year The Roys (Main Stage)
7 p.m. – Jimbo Whaley & Greenbrier Band (Main Stage)
8 p.m. – Bluegrass Traditionalists Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Band (Main Stage)

Saturday May 18

11 a.m. – Cirque de Chine Performers (Back Porch Stage)
11:30 a.m. – Mountain Soul Vocal Competition (Back Porch Stage)
11:30 a.m. – Lumberjack Feud Performance (Main Stage)
12 p.m. – Cirque de Chine Performers (Main Stage)
1 p.m. – Mountain Ruckus Band (Main Stage)
1:30 p.m. – Lumberjack Feud Performance (Back Porch Stage)
2 p.m. – Rickey Wasson & American Drive Band (Main Stage)
3 p.m. – Cumberland River Band (Main Stage)
4 p.m. – The Rigneys Award-Winning Family Band (Main Stage)
5 p.m. – Rickey Wasson & American Drive Band (Main Stage)
6 p.m. – Cumberland River Band (Main Stage)
7 p.m. – The Rigneys Award-Winning Family Band (Main Stage)
8 p.m. – HEADLINER:  The Bluegrass Album Band (Main Stage)
Click Here for a Map of Downtown Sevierville and Festival Event Locations 

In addition to the free concerts and live stage shows, there’s plenty more to see and do.  Browse and purchase the wares local craft vendors, eat and judge some of the best BBQ from across the state of Tennessee and take the kids to play in the Kid’s Zone.  So make your getaway reservations and head to the Smokies for two full days of fun and the rare opportunity to enjoy some of the best names in bluegrass music!  Visit the official Bloomin’ BBQ and Bluegrass web site.

Dolly Homecoming Parade and Shriner’s FunFest Parade

Who doesn’t love a parade??  Pigeon Forge TN is well aware of this family fun event and for that reason parades are regularly scheduled!  In fact, two are coming up back-to-back May 10 & 11, 2013, so come on out and get your vacation money’s worth!

The mother of all parades in Pigeon Forge is Dolly’s Homecoming Parade, Saturday, May 10. Yes, there will be floats, horses, baton twirlers, marching bands and all the hoopla.  This year spectators can even expect to see a submarine and NASCAR racecar!  But the Grand Marshall is what makes this parade special for the over 50,000 people that traditionally line the Pigeon Forge Parkway… Miss Dolly Parton herself!  What extravagant costume will she be wearing this year?

Dolly Homecoming Parade – Friday, May 10
Shriner’s FunFest Parade – Saturday, May 11

The Dolly Homecoming Parade will begin at 6 p.m. on River Road near traffic light #7 and will travel north along the Parkway to traffic light #3.  It’s a given that you’ll want to arrive early and bring a lawn chair to be sure you reserve your best seat in the house.

You’ll want to bring your lawn chair right back to the Parkway by 9 a.m. Sunday morning, May 11 for the Shriner’s Pigeon Forge FunFest Parade!   In case you are not aware, the Shriner’s are a group of men who raise money to pay hospital bills for children all over the United States.

The FunFest Parade sports motorcycles, go-karts, and mini 18-wheeler and Corvette replicas performing intricate and daredevil antics right on the Parkway!  And what’s a parade without some antique tractors, a salute to America, and bagpipe music thrown in?   The parade is just FUN and entertaining for both young and old as they watch these BIG kid Shriners acting silly for nearly a full hour.

Talking about getting your money’s worth… since there are two parades on two days, let us invite you to a choice of two great places to stay!  They are the Best Western Twin Islands and the Best Western Crossroads Inn.  The Best Western Twin Islands is nestled within lush landscape and feels like a secluded resort where you can enjoy a quiet picnic by Gatlinburg’s river or a dip in the pool.  And the Best Western Crossroads Inn provides oversized rooms and extra amenities you expect on a great vacation.

Both hotels are on the trolley route, and also within walking distance of the restaurants and attractions on the Parkway in Gatlinburg.   Pigeon Forge parades and Gatlinburg accommodations await you; come and join us for a delightful weekend getaway!

Best Music Festival in the Smokies

Part of the charm of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park system is the many history and learning lessons they sneak in under the guise of entertainment.  (LOL!)  For instance, coming up April 19-21 is the 9th Annual Music of the Mountains Festival.  Who doesn’t enjoy music?  The Music of the Mountains Festival endeavors to teach deep cultural Smokies and Southern Appalachian history by sharing the regions’ rich musical traditions.  See?  Sneaky learning is happening.

The joy of toe-tapping, knee-slapping, good-time music is not only spread over three days, but it is also spread over three park locations.  Friday evening, April 19 you’ll enjoy Celtic music by Four Leaf Peat at the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center in Townsend TN for $5 per person.

Great Smoky Mountains Music Festival
April 19-21, 2013

On Saturday, April 20 from 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Sugarlands Visitor Center in Gatlinburg will treat you to a full day of traditional Appalachian music including Lost Mill String Band, Boogertown Gap Band, Brien Fain, Mountain Strings, and more at no charge.  There is also a free evening concert Saturday at Ripley’s Aquarium Plaza with Steve Brown and Hurricane Ridge from 7-8:30 p.m.

And last but not least, on Sunday, April 21 at the Smoky Mountain Visitor Center in Cosby TN from 2-4 p.m., you will be entertained by the traditional offerings of Cocke County TN with a concert titled, “Heritage, Harp, and Hymns” for only $4 per person.

Don’t miss this springtime weekend full of mountain music that can be heard drifting through the mist of the Great Smoky Mountains!  For a complete list of performers and times scheduled for The Music of the Mountains Festival, vist the Great Smoky Mountains special events page or call Sugarlands Visitor Center in Gatlinburg at (865) 436-1200.

Call the front desk at Crossroads Inn at (800) 925-8889 or Twin Islands at (800) 223-9299 to make your reservations and mention our “Stay 2 Nights, Get an Additional Night Half Price” discount coupon.  Click to print your coupon and have a harmonious stay with us!

Honoring Vietnam War Veterans

What do the Theaters of the Smokies, Patriotism, Aaron Tippin, Heartfelt Thanks, The Tennessee National Guard, the Marine Corps Band, and a Welcome Home Parade have in common?  Come April 15-17, 2013 you can vacation with us in downtown Gatlinburg and visit Pigeon Forge to see firsthand.  If you don’t want to wait that long, read on.

April 15-17, 2013 in Pigeon Forge

For four days, these elements will come together to salute and celebrate the veterans of Vietnam.  Pigeon Forge and the Theaters of the Smokies have arranged a star-studded, entertainment celebration for these brave men and women to express their appreciation for their service to our country.

At the center of the welcome home event will be the huge “Welcome Home From Vietnam Parade.”  And what a parade it will be!  Along with troop transports streaming down Pigeon Forge’s main Parkway there will be confetti cannons shooting colored paper into the air, bands, and colorful floats and displays.  A color guard consisting of the American, Tennessee, POW/MIA, and Vietnam Veteran’s Flags will lead the way, followed by the United States Marine Corp Band (subject to availability), and then our Vietnam veterans.  Viewers of the parade are encouraged to bring folding chairs or be prepared to stand street-side while cheering for our troops due to limited stands.

The tribute will close out with a “Gala Vietnam Veterans Charity Dinner” followed by the “Patriotic Tennessee Celebrity Concert.” The star studded concert will be filled with patriotic songs, spectacular staging, and special effects.  Among the performers will be country-pop star T.G. Sheppard (“Fooled Around and Fell in Love”), and featured guest artist Aaron Tippin, best known for his hits “You Gotta Stand for Something,” and  “Where the Stars and Strips and The Eagle Fly.”  Aaron Tippin traveled with the Bob Hope USO Show during Desert Storm and has returned to Iraq and Afghanistan to perform for the troops numerous times.

The four-day salute will also include a “Salute to Vietnam Veterans” dinner and show at Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede, and a “Tribute to the Troops Variety Show,” a great afternoon of live music and entertainment provided by the Pigeon Forge theaters, all with a patriotic theme and produced especially as a thank you to the troops.

Each morning during the event a very special Reunion Hall will also take place.  This gathering will be exclusively for veterans to gather and reconnect with long lost, but not forgotten, comrades in arms.

If you are a Vietnam veteran and would like to be a part of this celebration, or if you would like to join Pigeon Forge in showing your gratitude to our vets, click on the link below.  All Vietnam veterans, families and friends are welcome.

To register for this event, visit the City of Pigeon Forge Welcome Home from Vietnam website.

Masquerade Ball by Discover Life in America

In conclusion of the popular Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage taking place April 23-27, Discover Life in America is hosting a family FUNdraising event called The Salamander Ball to support its mission to discover and understand America’s species through science and education.

April 27, 2013 at 7 p.m.
Gatlinburg Convention Center

This very special event is named after the Lisa Hortsman children’s book that many of you have probably picked up over the years at one of the National Park visitor’s centers.  The book, Salamander Ball, is a wonderful story about the first human to ever witness a Salamander Ball.

Attendees are encouraged to add to the festivities by dressing in costumes reflecting a favorite Smoky Mountain wildflower or creature.  There will be delicious hors d’oeuvres and beverages, a Smokies’ Salamander beauty pageant, live and silent auctions, a kid’s only area with games and crafts, and great entertainment by The Johnson Swingtet.  The Johnson Swingtet is a rotating group of the area’s finest swing musicians that honor great jazz artists of the past to create a truly HOT swingformation!

And there’s more!  “Big Red” the salamander and a live “salamander zoo” will be on exhibit.  It’s going to be a great family-friendly evening at the Gatlinburg Convention Center from 7-10 p.m. on Saturday, April 27.  Free parking is available off Reagan Drive, or leave your car right here at Twin Islands or Crossroads Inn and ride the trolley.

The cost for adults is $75 per person and children under age 12 are free.  Click these links to view or download the Ball Flyer, to purchase single tickets or purchase an entire table for 10 people for $650.

If you attend, please stop by our front desk so that we can see your Salamander Ball attire!