The single most important event of the 2023 calendar year. Don’t stop BELIEVIN’! This 3rd Annual event will feature Bigfoot competitions, guest speakers, live music, vendors, food trucks and other great surprises. You won't wanna miss this! May 6, 2023 from 10am - 6pm at the Townsend Visitor Center Super Surprise Guest Speakers, Vendors, Live Music, Food Trucks, Bigfoot Competitions, Famous Bigfoot Researchers & Much More!

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL Scotland in the Smokies is calling you!!! Celebrating its 42nd year, the Smoky Mountain Scottish Festival and Games is Tennessee’s oldest festival of Scottish, Irish and Celtic culture. Presenting folk, roots, rock & pop music, highland athletics, pipes & drums, highland and Irish dance. Whisky tastings, vendors and a great selection of beer and food from the Scottish, Irish and British homelands. Enjoy a weekend of family fun in the beautiful foothills of Townsend, Tennessee, just outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Originally founded in 1981 as the Gatlinburg Scottish Festival and Games, the Games are one of the oldest Scottish Festivals in the country. In 2010, a new home was established in the city of Maryville on the grounds of historic Maryville College, home of "The Scots." In 2022, we moved the event to a larger venue just down road in Townsend. You don't have to be Scottish in order to enjoy this unique Festival! Our location in the foothills of The Great Smoky Mountains is the perfect backdrop for you and your family to get a wee glimpse of Scotland -and to discover and appreciate the rich traditions and history of the Scottish and […]

June 3, 2023, at the Talley Ho Inn we will have our second annual Chevy/GMC 1947 to 1955 Truck Show! We have the Heritage Tractor & Engine club as our special guest and they will provide demo's throughout the day. Music will be provide by local Mountain/Bluegrass bands. Food & restrooms available, Free admission and Free parking! Great family fun event. For more information check out our FB group page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/smokymountainnationals

Get a taste of Appalachian cultural with regional food, music, and history at the Taste of the Smokies, an annual community event benefitting the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center

One Night Only ~ Get Ready for a Foot-Stomping, Bluegrass Extravaganza as Renowned Grammy-Winning Band, The Travelin' McCourys, Takes Center Stage on the Dancing Bear Event Lawn on July 6th!

From Iceland to Italy, and all over the U.S., San Francisco-based band Dirty Cello brings the world a high energy and unique spin on blues, rock and Americana. Led by vivacious cross-over cellist, Rebecca Roudman, Dirty Cello is like cello you’ve never heard before. From down home blues and rock with a wailing cello, to virtuosic stompin’ Americana, Dirty Cello is a band that gets your heart thumping and your toes tapping!

The inaugural Appalachian Homecoming event will be hosted August 4-6, 2023, by Dancing Bear Lodge & Appalachian Bistro in Townsend, Tennessee. Presented in conjunction with Lodge Cast Iron, the immersive three-day celebration will explore the rich cultural and culinary history of the East Tennessee Mountain Region, welcoming industry leaders like author and James Beard Award Winner Chef Sean Brock, entrepreneur and Blackberry Farm’s Chief Fermentation Officer Roy Milner, and the smokehouse legend Allan Benton of Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams. On Saturday, August 5th, guests will engage in various workshops led by renowned leaders and chefs in the Appalachian culinary community. Each workshop will explore a different topic at the foundation of Appalachian culture, past, present and future. On Saturday evening, the Bacon at the Bear Dinner Event will benefit New Hope Children’s Advocacy Center, a nonprofit providing assistance to local children in crisis. This dinner event will feature guest chef stations, curated cocktails, live music and bacon-centric dishes. Concluding the festival on Sunday will be a Farewell Bluegrass Brunch prepared by Executive Chef Jeff Carter and his culinary team.

Looking for something to do while you are down in the Great Smokey Mountains? Come and party with Drengroffroad. We are teaming with Cades Cove Jeep Outpost to invade the town of Townsend Tennessee on Aug25th and Aug 26th for a 2-day live music festival and Jeep Show from 2pm to 10pm. A portion of proceeds will go to Mission22 to help with suicide prevention for our Military Featuring Live Music From: Jeremy Rowe, Tennessee Holy Water, Mr. Grey, And Rattle Trapp. With tons of vendors, Food, and Beverages, A kid's zone, A Jeep Show Contest, Raffles and more. This will be one event you will not want to miss. So come out support Mission22 and party with Drengroffroad. Tickets are $25 per person. Kids under 16 are free. 2-day Passes $40 per person Parking is $6 (with a portion of proceeds going to the Townsend Fire Department.) 2-day Parking passes $10 Jeep show entry is $10 we will do one each day (Trophies and Prizes Awarded) Pre- sale event shirts are $20 (they will be $25 day of event) Kids Zone *Welcome Packets will be sent out prior to the event with tickets, passes, and more. * **Tickets are […]

The 9th annual 2023 Bike Bash Returns with the best event yet on Saturday September 16th, 2023! Riders will be capped at 225 so please register early! We will have three rides of 28, 39, and 55 miles with full support. Our famous post ride gourmet lunch returns with a fabulous spread, live music and complimentary beer. Packet pick up starts on Friday evening 9/15/23 at a location TBD from 5:30-6:30 PM and resumes on Saturday morning of Race Day (9/16/23) at 7:30 Am. All rides promptly take off at 8:30 Am this year. Once again, we will ride through the curves with a full police escort! Post ride gourmet lunch starts at 10:30 Am and ends at 1:30 pm. Please plan your ride accordingly.

Applications are now available! Click here to Enter and for more information! Join us for a fall celebration in the tradition of old-time county fairs with all-around family fun for the whole family. We will celebrate all that is good about an old-fashioned country fair with activities that include living history demonstrations of open hearth cooking, spinning, weaving, wood turning, blacksmithing and there will be livestock with cows, chickens, and goats. Popular activities include historical games like Farmer in the Cove and the Ladies Skillet Throw.  Farmer in the Cove is a hands-on experience for children to learn the chores of a typical farm family in the 19th century.  Some of the ‘chores’ include picking apples, gathering eggs, sweeping the cabin porch, doing laundry by hand, corn shelling, and planting crops.

Free family Fun event demonstrations, museum tours, arts and crafts, model railroad, music and more.

We're offering our popular Old Town Tour. It's a walking tour that takes participants back in time to the days of Townsend's Little River Railroad & Lumber Company. The walk gives participants a snapshot of how life in Townsend was years ago. The tour is led by Don Headrick, lifetime resident of Townsend, and is free. It begins at 10:30 A.M. and takes about an hour and fifteen minutes. Hope you can come and join us for this walk back into the past. To join the tour line up near the gift shop porch steps by 10:30.