Dollywood To Focus on Live Entertainment During 2018 "Season of Showstoppers"

Dollywood recently announced that for their 2018 season they will be focusing on presenting their largest-ever selection of live entertainment, naming 2018 the "season of showstoppers."  The park is spending $1 million more than any previous year on its entertainment schedule, showing just how committed they are to providing excellent family fun.

The theme park will present a multitude of entertainment performances, including headlining acts such as "The Marshall Tucker Band, The Drifters, T.G. Sheppard, Suzy Bogguss, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Crystal Gayle, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and a host of other award-winning artists."

“Music is the universal language that unites all of us,” Parton explained. “It celebrates our people, our families and our communities. I’ve made music my life’s work because I feel each and every one of us has a special song to sing. I’ve made sure that here at my Dollywood, we use music to encourage and inspire those songs in each and every one of our shows.”

Throughout various festivals and other events that run the entire Dollywood season, the headlining acts at the park next year have some impressive statistics.  In total they have "42 gold albums, 18 platinum albums, 30 Grammys, 14 Country Music Association Awards, 10 American Country Music Awards, five American Music Association Awards and 62 Dove Awards."

The performances will take place during many special festivals and events:  Dollywood's Festival of Nations runs March 17th through April 9th, the brand new Spring Mix music series will be held April 11th through 29th, followed by the Barbeque & Bluegrass festival, stretching May 25th through June 10th.

Once summer rolls around, Dollywood's special performances will include iLuminate, of America's Got Talent fame, and DRUMLine Live!, which was developed by the consultants to the hit 2002 movie Drumline.  The rest of the year features Rock the Smokes in late August, Harvest Festival in September, then both the Great Pumpkin LumiNights and Smoky Mountain Christmas as the year comes to an end.

© Dollywood

The theme park also announced what will become of the land taken up by the recently removed River Battle attraction.  The area will become the Plaza at Wilderness Pass, a special events area.  The space will be used to house activities related to the special events and festivals detailed above.  This news article has a bit more information from the park on the development.

© Dollywood

The area will be dressed up for each of the park's events, and offer a space for relaxation and recharging.  It also appears as though the station from the former River Battle ride will be repurposed in the expansion.  The above art shows the space decorated for Dollywood's Smoky Mountain Christmas celebration, while the art above it shows off a summer scene.