Disclosure: We were provided with tickets to Dollywood which included Dollywood‘s Harvest festival, however, all opinions are my own.
There are so many great times of year to visit Dollywood, but I would have to say that fall is my new favorite! Right now through November 2, included in the price of your admission is access to the Harvest Festival and Great Pumpkin Luminights!
Great Pumpkin Luminights
So what is Great PumkinLuminights? It’s a fun event that happens after dark, where you can see literally THOUSANDS of beautifully carved pumpkins glow all around the park as part of Dollywood’s Harvest Festival. They also have characters walking around, photo opportunities, fun fall treats to purchase, and just an overall fun fall atmosphere (NOTE: this is a family-friendly event and is not spooky or scary at all!)
The “trail” of pumpkins starts on one side of the park and goes all the way around to the other side, with plenty to look at along the way. We started on one side just before dusk, then hung out in the middle with all the photo opps for a big until it got really dark. Emma Kate had a great time mingling with those in costume. (NEW! Kids can dress up for this event!)
We love Dollywood’s Harvest Festival!
Then, we continued our trek around Dollywood, riding a couple of rides as we went. The park was open until 9:00 the day we were there, so we had plenty of time to take in the beauty of all the pumpkins.
I also wanted to note that the pumpkins look beautiful in the daytime as well and are great backdrops for family photos!
Harvest Festival Highlights
Also going on at this time is the harvest festival. There were tons and tons of gospel choirs singing all throughout the day as part of the southern gospel jubilee, and you could just look at the times guide, and pop in and out as you pleased. My parents loved this part of the day!
You will also find many amazing craftsmen as part of the festival. Just look for their booths scattered around. We got to see people working with weaving looms, making utensils out of wood, and one guy was even crafting a fiddle! It was really neat to watch these talented people work.
Fall Food
There are even specialty fall food items for purchase at this time of year. We tried two things, the pumpkin fluff, and also the pumpkin funnel cake which was AMAZING, and if you go, I highly recommend purchasing (it’s enough for multiple people to snack on!)
We got several forks and all had a few bites. I think I will be dreaming about that one for a long time.
Related: Visiting Dollywood with small kids
Merchandise
There was also cute merchandise at different shops. They had light up pumpkins that blew bubbles as well as shirts for the whole family, and other fun stuff as well.
Overall, this was a super cute fun family event at Dollywood, and a great way to get in the fall spirit, ride some rides, learn a few things, and see beautiful decorations. I give it two thumbs up and hope I can go back someday!
For more information on Dollywood’s Harvest Festival and to purchase tickets, visit Dollywood.com
