Dogwood Arts Festival

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!

For all we talk about the wonders of nature and Appalachian culture in East Tennessee, we tend to keep it rather narrowly focused on Sevier County and the events we have going on here; as though the culture of the Smokies is limited to this one county alone. In fact, within just an hour or so driving west on Chapman Highway, you can find even more to be culturally stimulated for in the big city of the Smoky Mountains: Knoxville, TN.

And the event? The one at the headline of the article here, the annual Dogwood Arts Festival.

Whereas Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Sevierville are reasonably spread out and keep it quite simple as far as urban development typically goes, Knoxville is THE big city of our frame of reference. Thus, it contains a whole new universe of artistic stimulation as inspired by all those who have been there and congregate there from all corners of the world. If you've ever been to a big city (and surely you have), you know what we mean - now imagine how those cultural elements can come together to celebrate Appalachia and you're probably already getting your bags packed to come see it without even realizing it!

The Dogwood Arts Festival is a highly anticipated Spring event going on this year between April 28th and April 30th and taking place at the famous Market Square in downtown Knoxville - the extremely artsy and quaint center for many such events on Knoxville's event calendar. The ironic impetus for this festival started 70 years earlier in 1947 when journalist John Gunther depicted Knoxville as "the ugliest city" in the United States in his book "Inside USA". To make a long story short, this inspired the city of Knoxville to renovate its image, and this eventually gave way to the Dogwood Arts Festival as we know it today. Bob Hope performed at it in 1970, Elvis Presley performed at it in 1972 and Paul Harvey even wrote about it in a 1995 piece, "A Commentary on the Dogwood Arts Festival". Now that's a tradition with a pedigree!

The event is a full weekend of arts and crafts booths, performing arts, performing artists, culinary arts demonstrations, tastings, a children's creation station and, yes, you'll be able to see those incredible Dogwood trees blooming that gives the event its name.

Arts and crafts booths include exhibitions and sales on:

* Clay

* Pencil drawings

* Pastel illustrations

* Glass artwork

* Jewelry

* Leatherwork

* Metalwork

* Photography

* Sculpture

* Woodworking

And many more.

There will be much food and awesome quenchables to nourish visitors (yes, beer!) and several stages to hold the performing artists. Blooming Boulevard will naturally return (pun intended) and provide even more color and delight with plenty of flower markets for plants, herbs and trees. On the last day of the festival will be the Art Slam, a live art competition taking place at Krutch Park from 12:00PM to 5:00PM and create an original work of art within three hours' time.

And there'll still be more!

Again, the Dogwood Arts Festival is going on between April 28th to April 30th for 2017 at Market Square in Downtown Knoxville. Their hours are as follows:

Friday: 11:00am-9:00pm

Saturday: 10:00am–9:00pm

Sunday: 11:00am–5:00pm

Admission? It's FREE.
See more on the Dogwood Arts Festival