Salute to Veterans Parade to Kick Off Winterfest

Pigeon Forge’s season-long Winterfest celebration will kick off in a whole new way in 2011. Hosting events such as Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas, the Winter Magic Chili Cookoff and the Festival of Trees, Pigeon Forge makes it a goal to outdo themselves every year, offering more events than celebrations then in the past while also offering a different variety to its yearly visitors. This year, Winterfest will be starting off with an all-new Salute to Veterans Parade on November 8, 2011.

Beginning at 4:30PM, Pigeon Forge aims to kick off the event in a bigger and better way, unlike anything Winterfest has seen before. The Salute to Veterans Parade will honor the men and women who have served our nation through the military, as well as recognize current members of the armed forces.

Beginning on the south end of Pigeon Forge and working its way north via the Parkway, the parade will come to an end at the city’s beautiful Patriot Park. Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner, Many-Bears Grinder, will be delivering the key-note address. There will be live entertainment throughout the day by the Pigeon Forge Community Chorus as well as a military band – certainly not anything you will hear every day!

The parade will be a blast for the whole family. Children, military buffs and eager onlookers will enjoy a variety of vintage and current-day military vehicles at the park. The highlight of the event will take place that evening as Pigeon Forge illuminates its display of five million holiday lights for the first time.

Pigeon Forge’s Winterfest will continue until February 26, 2012 and hosts other events such as Wilderness Wildlife Week , Saddle Up!, and the Smoky Mountain Christmas Parades.