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Pigeon Forge Winterfest Kickoff
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During Winterfest, Pigeon Forge is draped in more than 6 million holiday lights, creating a winter wonderland for locals and guests alike to enjoy during the city’s annual Winterfest celebration. The lights of Winterfest shine from November 7, 2024 until February 16, 2025.
Winterfest Kickoff and Salute to Our Veterans
On the eve of Veterans Day, a music-filled veterans tribute, featuring a performance by the 101st Airborne (Air Assault) U.S. Army Band, will kickoff Pigeon Forge’s annual Winterfest celebration. Veterans of all branches of the U.S. armed services are invited and encouraged to attend.
Winterfest kickoff events take place in the city’s Patriot Park (186 Old Mill Ave.) and begin at 3 p.m. with a veterans tribute and concerts by the local high school choruses. The event will conclude with the activation of six million lights throughout the city followed by a show-stopping fireworks display.
Performances by the Pigeon Forge High School Choir, Gatlinburg-Pittman Highlanderettes & Ensemble and Jimbo Whaley and Greenbrier will precede the presentation of colors by the Veterans Military Honor Guard of Pigeon Forge.
The 101st Airborne (Air Assault) U.S. Army Band, an active-duty U.S. Army band stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, takes the stage at 6:15 p.m. for a free 45-minute tribute concert. Specializing in horn-driven funk and dance music, the band performs at formal events, festivals, and concert venues for service members and the public.
Quilts of Valor will honor three Sevier County veterans. Randal Underwood and Floyd Smith, both Vietnam veterans, and James Hood, a veteran of the Korean Conflict, each will be awarded a quilt handmade locally by the Smoky Mountain Patriotic Quilters of Sevier County. Quilts of Valor, a national organization founded in 2003, honors veterans and service members for service, sacrifice and valor by covering veterans touched by war with comforting and healing quilts.
The Pigeon Forge Winterfest kickoff event concludes with the activation of six million lights throughout the city followed by a show-stopping fireworks display. All Winterfest kickoff event entertainment is free. Free parking is available in the city’s Municipal and Mountain parking lots located just off Teaster Lane. A variety of food trucks will offer guests dining options for purchase throughout the event.
Winterfest Kickoff Schedule
*Schedule subject to change
3:00 – PFHS Choir
4:00 – GPHS Choir
5:15 – Jimbo Whaley & Greenbrier
6:15 – Presentation of Colors
6:20 – Quilts of Valor Presentation
6: 25 – Winterfest Kick-off
6:45 – 101st Army Band
7:45 – Fireworks Finale
Wonders of Light Christmas Village
Open on select days in November, admission is free to explore more than 35 booths featuring artisans and crafters selling a variety of seasonal and gift items. The Wonders of Light Christmas Village is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on November 7-10, 15-17 and 22-30 (opens at 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day).
Winterfest Wonders of Light Walking Trail
Pigeon Forge Winterfest is bigger and brighter with the Wonders of Light walking trail! See larger-than-life nature-themed outdoor lights displays along the city’s Riverwalk nature trail from November 7, 2024 through February 16, 2025.
The Wonders of Light walking trail, which opened in 2022, reveals five new light displays this year. Joining the trail are a fun fly fisherman with leaping trout, a span of woodland creatures, additional fireflies, and a 90-foot-wide section of colorful wildflowers, butterflies, flowers and mushrooms. Six deciduous trees will be illuminated, too, increasing the walkway’s glow power. The returning 52-foot-long caterpillar is joined by large-scale inchworms, ladybugs, and mushrooms amid blades of grass, expanding this single display’s width to 90 feet.
Learn more about the Winterfest Wonders of Light Walking Trail.