Things To During The Week - Great Ways to Spend Time

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!

Welcome to Harvest Festival season! This is the magical season where we reflect and celebrate our Appalachian culture and history to its zenith quality while enjoying the blooming colors that will soon explode across the mountains. In this article, we wanted to share with you some things you can do throughout the week in the Smokies that help fully bring the Harvest Festival season to you, as well as helping you see those awesome colors!

Pigeon Forge Rotary Craft Club Tent

Now - October 29th, 2016

39 years going strong with this awesome Harvest Festival tradition! In the parking lot of Patriot Park, the big red tent goes up and hosts artists and crafters from around the city and nearby areas underneath it. It's a small but fun little affair that really adds to the autumn season with locally made paintings, halloween items, clothing, jewelry and much more.

There is also occasionally some musical entertainment. Admission is by donation.

The Old Mill

Open Year-Round

Just across the street from Patriot Park is Pigeon Forge's most famous shopping center and town square. It's also the classiest little area in the city offering a general store full of locally made foods, gifts and Smoky Mountain curios, a hiking store, a pottery, ice creamery, two restaurants, candy store, forge works, distillery, winery and some beautiful walking along the famous mill that gives its name along with the waterfalls and Pigeon River.

Dollywood's National Southern Gospel and Harvest Celebration

Now - October 29th, 2016

Dollywood celebrates Harvest Festival and pays tribute to the culture as well as everyone else with the added bonuses of being able to fly through the mountain colors and see them in thrilling ways via the numerous rides and rollercoasters they have on site. For the festival specifically, they open stalls throughout the park and bring artists, crafters and genuine inheritors of the pioneer ways that demonstrate those old ways to a modern audience. THEN we have the Southern Gospel entertainment - if this is a genre you have even a passing interest in, then you've gone to heaven early! Southern Gospel groups are in marathon sessions throughout the park for nearly the entire month of October.

Gatlinburg Arts and Crafts Community

Open Year-Round

No trip to the Smokies during the Autumn season is complete without taking a trip through the highly atmospheric and culturally reverent Arts and Crafts Community in the Glades off of Highway 321. It would take a full day to see all the stores both pristine and rustic offered at the 8-mile loop. Famous and off-the-beaten-path stops include Alewine Pottery, the Fox and Parrot Tavern, Blackwolff Knives, Cliff Dwellers Gallery, Glades Soda Fountain, Jim Gray Gallery and much, much more.

Ober Gatlinburg

Open Year-Round

Oktoberfest: Now - October 30th, 2016

You want to see some colors? Take a ride on the Ober Gatlinburg tram up to and/or down from the famous mountaintop amusement park and you'll get to see miles and miles of Smoky Mountain bloom. The tram is not just the transport to the amusement park but an attraction in and of itself - of course, you'll want to stay for the park anyways as it offers a full zoo, indoor ice-skating and the only Oktoberfest in our area where you can indulge your inner German with fine beers, yodeling, oompah music and, as always, more!

That should get you more than started on your Harvest Festival trip to the Smokies! Choose one of our cabins here to find the one that best accommodates your Autumn needs and convenience for the attractions/events you hope to indulge in. We hope to see you this October!