Dollywood’s Flower and Food Festival Features More Than 500,000 Blooms
Fans of Dolly Parton know that there’s no better place to celebrate the country icon’s music and legacy quite like Dollywood, her theme park located near the Knoxville-Smoky Mountains in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The newest addition to the park’s attractions and entertainment lineup is the annual Dollywood Flower and Food Festival, which was slated to debut in 2020 but was delayed due to COVID-19.
The 2021 festival is officially a go, with Dollywood welcoming guests for what is sure to be a lush extravaganza of delicious food and floral displays between April 23 and June 7. Along with culinary delights prepared by Dollywood’s in-house chefs, the festival will include more than 5,000 flowers designed to pay homage to Smoky Mountain turtles, raccoons, frogs, and black bears, along with 10- to 15-foot topiary tributes to some of Parton’s most beloved songs, including “I Will Always Love You” and “Coat of Many Colors.”
Along with plenty of Instagrammable photo ops, live concert events, and interactive displays to suit guests of all ages, the festival will feature a display called “Umbrella Sky” on Showstreet, allowing visitors to stand beneath hundreds of colorful umbrellas suspended in the air over the pathway.
In a press release announcing the festival, Parton explained a bit about the inspiration behind a springtime event like this one. “When I was a little girl, I loved springtime because everything seemed so bright with color,” she shared. “It started to get warm outside and you just felt like you could finally get out of the house after being cooped up in there for so long, which is something I know we’re all feeling right now. But the thing I remember most about those spring days were the flowers that would start blooming all over the hills. So, the Smokies really were the inspiration for this festival.”
Standard Dollywood tickets (from $79 for an adult one-day pass to $109 for three days) will provide admission to the festival, and attendees can buy a special dining pass ($29.99 per visitor) that lets them sample up to five meals at any of the festival’s culinary locations.
As Parton herself said of the festival, “I just know it is really going to make the whole park feel so joyful. It’s a special time of year, and I really think Dollywood is a great place to get outdoors and enjoy it all.”