Bear Camp - 23rd Annual Mountain Quiltfest

It’s officially the season of hot apple cider, warm blankets, and pumpkin patches. It’s also the season for fall festivals, and the Smoky Mountain area is full of them!

Here are three festivals you can enjoy while on your Smoky Mountain vacation.

1. Dollywood Harvest Festival

If you love Dollywood and the fall season then you won’t want to miss this event! From early September to late October this annual celebration marks the best weather and some beautiful fall foliage in the Smokies. Stay late into the evening to see beautifully carved pumpkins, lit up and on display. During the day you’ll enjoy fall themed food, and colorful leaves all throughout the park.

2. Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair

In early to mid October the Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair heads into full swing. Artisans from across the country gather to peddle their wares while musicians serenade the crowds. You’ll see everything from woodworking and pottery to handcrafted jewelry and leatherworkings. If you have an appreciation for handmade goods then this event is for you.

3. Wears Valley Fall Festival

The Wears Valley Fall Festival takes place in mid October and is a favorite event for locals. Come experience the hundreds of vendors, melodic live music, and incredible Southern cuisine. If you’re interested in a true rustic, Appalachian festival with plenty to do and see for the whole family, then this one is for you.

No matter the festival you choose you’ll need a place to stay. Choose from one of our many options at Bear Camp Cabin Rentals today!

Quilting, Pigeon Forge Cabins & Gatlinburg Cabins go back a long way

If you had to guess which events that traditionally take place in Spring draws some of the biggest crowds and most hardcore of fans to the subject at hand, and it wasn't a Rod Run, would you guess the annual Mountain QUILTFEST? Probably not, but then again, quilting has a surprisingly large and dedicated base of people, as Pinterest and Instagram have shown us, and the artform was more than a necessity here in Appalachian history.

With as cold as the Winter gets here in the Smokies, it's safe to say that if out ancestors here didn't know how to quilt and pass it down along the line, we wouldn't HAVE an Appalachian culture to celebrate today! We wouldn't have survived!

But thankfully we did and so did quilting. Heck, quilting more than survives in the South - as evidenced by this being close to the quarter-century mark for as many years as we've been enjoying everything the Mountain Quiltfest has to offer. The Quiltfest is a near week-long affair going on between March 21st and March 25th for 2017 and many, many, MANY exquisite works of quilting art will be on display for all to see. Traditional patterns, creative patterns and maybe even some avant-garde quilting can all be expected along with over 50 vendor booths filled with quilts and quilting merchandise.

But displaying and selling quilts is not the only big reason this event draws major crowds - there is also much to find for those who want instruction and participation too. More than 15 quilting instructions will be there providing workshops to help quilters of all skill sets learn and hone the craft. The featured instructor will be RaNae Merrill from New York City (http://www.ranaemerrillquilts.com/) and, as traditional as the event itself, there will of course be a quilting competition with over 20 categories to enter into - there's even a youth category as well! Over $20,000 in cash and prizes are available to winners, so those of you with some confidence have a good reason to come on by!

A Mountain Quiltfest will be held at LeConte Conference Center in downtown Pigeon Forge and it's extremely convenient to get to from just about any of our cabins here at Bear Camp Cabins. Find the closest cabin to the event available by going to https://www.bearcampcabins.com/find-a-cabin/.

Click Here to Get more information on the 23rd A Mountain Quiltfest