Dollywood Flower & Food Festival
After many canceled trips that I had planned to go to Tennessee this year, more specifically Dollywood, I finally made it. Last year we became season pass holders in the hopes of going to the many festivals that the theme park holds each year, but as we all know, 2020 has not been the year to make plans and stick to them.
I knew that I wanted to attend the Flower & Food Festival as soon as I saw the advertisement for it on the Dollywood website last year. The main attraction at the event was going to be a beautiful flower installation that represented Dolly’s mother sewing the famous “Coat of Many Colors” that basically everyone knows about after a wonderful movie was made about it a few years ago. My heart was crushed after the announcement came in March that Dollywood would be closing down until further notice due to the unfortunate virus that has plagued the world. I had already made plans to attend the Festival of Nations, the Barbecue and Bluegrass Festival, and the Flower and Food Festival. After canceling my hotel reservations for all of those events, I patiently awaited the day that Dollywood would reopen.
While I was on vacation in June, the announcement that I had been waiting on finally happened. Dollywood was going to reopen to season pass holders on June 15, 2020 and to the general public on June 17, 2020. I obviously couldn’t take another vacation so quickly since my schedule at work was already made, so I decided to ask for a small summer vacation at the end of July. As soon as my vacation was approved I made hotel reservations for Tennessee. I was just hoping that the festival wouldn’t be over before I got there.
About two weeks before I was scheduled to go, Dollywood announced that the festival would be ending on August 2, 2020. I almost jumped for joy because I knew that I was going to be able to see what I wanted to see. The festival was originally going to run in the spring, but due to the closure of the park, it was pushed back until the summer. At first I believe they weren’t sure how long the festival was going to run because they didn’t know how the floral installations would hold up to the heat of the summer in Tennessee.
Even though you no longer have to make reservations to visit Dollywood, I still decided to make a reservation for my mom and myself for 9 in the morning on July 28, 2020. I wanted to make sure that we would be able to get in. We arrived around 8:30, and that gave us enough time to go through the temperature check, mask check, bag check, and then stand in line to await the opening of the park. I was the second person in for the day, and I went to taking pictures for this blog, and a video for a vlog.
I just have to say that the Umbrella Sky that is up over Showstreet is absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking. Vibrant umbrellas are suspended overhead and you can’t help but stop to take pictures. Many people have requested that it stays up permanently, but I’m sure that won’t happen. Hopefully they will return next year. As you begin to walk underneath the umbrellas, you come to your first “mosaiculture” that has been designed for this particular festival. It is an upside down umbrella which fits perfectly with the umbrellas overhead.
Next up is some butterflies, the main “Coat of Many Colors”, a family of raccoons, a bear family, and a group of turtles and a frog. I had read that an umbrella designed with hearts on the side that represents “I Will Always Love You” was also there, but I never found it during my visit. I do have to admit that I didn’t cover the entire park on this visit, so it was possibly located in another area of the park.
I have only been to Dollywood twice as of now, but I love to visit the replica of her childhood home. It amazes me that such a large family could live in a house so small, but I know times were different not so many years ago. The cabin on display at Dollywood was constructed by her brother and decorated by her mother. An interesting fact is that many of the items on display inside the replica cabin are actual family treasures.
What is Dollywood with music? I had the Dollywood app running on my phone, so after a quick stop to get a refillable souvenir cup for the season, I knew that it was almost time for the Kingdom Heirs to take the stage at the theatre directly across from where we were. I really didn’t know anything about their music, but I do believe that I became a fan in about 30 minutes of attending their show. They are in their 35th season of performing at Dollywood. I was impressed, and I shall make an honest attempt to see them perform again when I return.
After waiting in line to ride the Dollywood Express, we were sadly not able to board the train. Due to having to social distance everyone on the rides, the people ahead of us were able to board, and at that point, the train was full. The gate was closed, and the next train would be leaving in an hour. I personally am not going to wait an hour to do anything, especially if I have the opportunity to return again one day in the future, so I told my mom that we would just catch the train on our next visit there. We decided that we would finally go eat lunch. We did stop by and get some of the famous cinnamon bread that we have heard so much about. I got the extra icing and apple butter to go along with it. The bread was given to us in a paper bag, and I could tell that it had just been taken out of the oven.
On the way to go get lunch, I saw that another band was playing, so we made the detour to listen to some more music. The Smoky Mountain String Band was on the stage. I missed some of their act, but I definitely enjoyed the part where one of the performers was acting as if he was on a surfboard at the beach. I am going to have to check them out again as well when we go back.
We were finally on our way to check out the food that had been added to the menu for the festival. I had already done my research online about the food, so I knew that we were going to try the Chicken Stir Fry and the Zucchini Cake Fritters. I had heard excellent things about both of them, and I was not disappointed. I really wanted to try the Blueberry Lavender Lemonade as well, but I decided to just drink my Diet Coke that I already had instead. We ate some of the cinnamon bread for dessert, and it lived up to my expectations and more. It was still warm and the icing and apple butter just made it taste even better. We will definitely have to buy some more of that on a future trip.
We walked around a little more after eating lunch. I was thrilled to see Dolly’s bus parked in front of her museum, but sadly it was closed as well. It’s all good though. I have until June of 2021 to visit as much as I like before my pass expires. Hopefully I will get to experience some of the things I missed this time. More festivals are already on my calendar and in my travel plans.
I had to get one more look at the Umbrella Sky before we left. I’m in agreement with others, so hopefully it will return again. Before we completely left the umbrellas, we stopped in the bakery and purchased an umbrella cookie to celebrate the festival and obviously the umbrellas. It was rather tasty as well, and we got another cookie that represented the flowers.
Finally it was time to leave. We stopped in the gift shop that you have to walk in to leave the park, and I picked out a few shirts. I have already picked out a couple more that I want to purchase on a future visit. My hands were full already from carrying around the rest of our bread, so I couldn’t fully shop the way I wanted to. There’s always next time.
Dollywood is a theme park, but I like to think about it as more than just a theme park. I was once told that if you like rides, like to eat, or like to shop, that you would enjoy your visit there. I don’t really ride rides, but I love to shop, and I occasionally like to try out different foods. While I normally don’t eat at the places I visit, I figure since we are only going to have our Dollywood pass for a season, we are going to make the most of it and experience everything we can. Dollywood is located at 2700 Dollywood Parks Boulevard in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. While you are there, take in the beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You will not be disappointed.
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