What’s May got going on in the Smokies? How about more barbecue and bluegrass in the county than should be legal? We exaggerate to build an idea of scale, we hope barbecue and bluegrass never becomes illegal here for it would close the door to two major foundations of Southern culture in the Smokies.
We have not one but TWO “barbeque and bluegrass” festivals going here soon, so bring a famished stomach and a hungry… ear? for the food and music because there will be a lot, lot, lot of both! The first one is the Sevierville Bloomin’ Barbeque and Bluegrass Festival which actually takes place around the Sevier County courthouse in the historic section of downtown Sevierville on May 18th to the 19th. It’s usually the only event that shuts down that part of town and it’s a really fun atmosphere. There is, naturally, hundreds of different ways to get the best barbecue platter you’ve ever had and there will be a marathon of bluegrass and local acts playing on stage while arts and crafts booths open up on the avenues surrounding it. Lots of great stuff there and you can see more at http://www.bloominbbq.com/.
And then after that, we have Dollywood’s “Barbeque and Bluegrass” festival going on from May 25th to the June 10th for 2018. They serve mountains of exquisite barbecue foods – pulled pork, smoked sausage, chicken and much more – at Market Square while bluegrass groups play virtually round-the-clock all throughout the park.
Artists for this year include:
* Blue Highway
* ClayBank
* Dailey & Vincent
* Dale Ann Bradley
* Darin & Brooke Aldrige
* Darrell Webb Band
* Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
* Fireside Collective
* Flatt Lonesome
* Hank, Pattie and The Current
* High Fidelity
* Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers
* Lonesome River Band
* Molly Tuttle
* Mountain Faith
* NewTown
* Nu-Blu
* Phil Leadbetter and The All-Stars of Bluegrass
You’ll be able to get to each of these events with roughly 20 or so minutes from many of our houses in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and the Smokies. See our cabin list and find the right one for the festival you’d like to visit! See more on Bloomin’ BBQ and Bluegrass at http://www.bloominbbq.com/. See more on Dollywood at www.dollywood.com.
