Autumn comes alive high above downtown Gatlinburg during Anakeesta’s Bear-Varian Fall Festival, a long-running seasonal takeover that mixes Smoky Mountain fall color with Bavarian-inspired food, craft beer, and family entertainment. Villages fill with pumpkins, scarecrows, and harvest décor, while the AnaVista Tower and Treetop Skywalk deliver wide views of the changing leaves.
More than 200 juried craftspeople working at their booths across 150,000 square feet, with country, bluegrass and gospel shows twice daily included in admission.
Five German-style beers, schnitzel and strudel, live polka bands and stein-holding contests on the mountaintop at Ober Gatlinburg, a tram ride above downtown.
Downtown closes to traffic for a street festival of chili tasting, live music and the countdown that switches on a million lights.
Lighted floats, marching bands and giant balloons fill the Parkway for Gatlinburg's night parade, one evening only.
A 15-foot LED ball drops 200 feet down the Space Needle at midnight, after live music, a drone show and a fireworks finale over downtown Gatlinburg. Free to attend.
Anakeesta's mountaintop villages trade fall colors for thousands of holiday lights, live entertainment and a glass-bottom gondola ride above downtown Gatlinburg.
Rows of Christmas trees and wreaths decorated by local businesses and schools, free to browse over Thanksgiving week, with every sale supporting Sevier County kids.
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