Sitting on the edge of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Little Tennessee River, eastern Tennessee's Blount County is home to several small cities and an abundance of natural resources. More than 25 miles of trails and several lakes make it a haven for outdoor activities such as hiking, biking and fishing. Blount County also is the site of a handful of fall festivals and shows that celebrate the region's heritage and the arrival of autumn, when the surrounding mountains and foothills burst into bright hues of red, orange and yellow.
The prime attraction at this three-day October event, scattered around numerous spots in downtown Maryville, is an impressive live music lineup that in past years has included nationally known acts such as Bo Diddly, Alabama, Jason Aldean, Vince Gill and Rascal Flatts. Tickets are required for concerts, with one-day or three-day packages available for general admission and reserved seating. Free festival attractions include an arts and craft show that offers its own schedule of live entertainment, an antique tractor parade and demonstrations of skills such as basket weaving, corn shelling and broom making. Also free is Adventure Land, a 16-acre family section with activities for children of all ages, including magic shows, a train, a laser-tag maze, climbing wall, carousel and bumper cars.
This free festival is typically held on the last weekend in September at the Smoky Mountain Visitors Center in Townsend, a small town near the entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The two-day event pays homage to the region's mountain heritage with activities that include storytelling, children's games, arts and craft booths, pie eating contests and artisan demonstrations such as spinning, woodcarving, beekeeping and making sorghum molasses and apple butter. The air is filled with the sights and sounds of bluegrass and mountain music, cloggers and the tempting aromas of Southern-style foods.
This two-day event normally happens over a weekend in early October on the grounds of the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center in Townsend, home to nearly a dozen historic buildings such as a farmhouse, artisan shops, barns, log cabins and a smokehouse. The festival includes a cash-prize contest for woodcarvers in a variety of categories. Many artists display and sell their carvings, and another highlight is woodcarving classes that are provided free of charge or for a small fee.
This festival, on the campus of Maryville College, is typically a mid-October Saturday affair coinciding with the school's homecoming weekend. About 50 vendors display and sell handcrafted items such as jewelry, pottery, quilts, soap, woodcarvings and paintings in the school's Clayton Center for the Arts. The event, which also includes a bake sale, is a fundraiser for scholarships provided by the Blount County chapter of the Maryville College Alumni Association.
