Gatlinburg's Festival Of Trees Celebrates 50th Anniversary
A must-see holiday event.
Nata Serenko/Getty Images
Gatlinburg, Tennessee is marking its 50th anniversary of the Festival of Trees, an annual fundraiser that kicks off the holiday season in the Smokies.
Visitors come each year to see hundreds of twinkling Christmas trees elaborately decorated by sponsoring organizations and individuals. The sponsorships and donations at the event benefit the Boys & Girls Club of the Smoky Mountains, which serves 1,600 kids in Sevier County, and the Gatlinburg Chamber of Commerce Foundation Scholarship Fund.
Sponsors also have the option of offering their decorated trees for sale, which certainly gets us in the Christmas spirit. From the photos we've seen on Facebook, those trees look gorgeous. Many have themes, like jolly Santas, frilly feathers, or peppermint swirls. Just imagine the joy of taking one home to admire and setting it up—all without fighting tangled lights or digging out the boxes of Christmas ornaments from the attic.
This year the Festival of Trees begins with a ticketed Candy Canes & Cocktails Preview Party and Silent Auction at the W. L. Mills Conference Center on Tuesday, November 21. The $50 tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite.
The public can enter for free after that to ooh and aah over the trees and wreaths, get a photo with Santa, and do holiday crafts. Wreaths and other holiday decor will be for sale too. Gatlinburg's Festival of Trees is open from Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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