Gatlinburg’s 37th annual Fantasy of Lights Christmas Parade will showcase one of the City’s largest and best known attraction families, Ober Gatlinburg Ski Resort, Aerial Tramway and Amusement Park, which is celebrating its 50th season..
Actress Catherine Bach, also known as Daisy Duke from the Dukes of Hazard, and local skiing legend Rolf Lanz will serve as the parade’s Grand Marshals as it travels through downtown Gatlinburg on Friday, Dec. 7, starting at 7:30 p.m. to the cheers of an anticipated crowd of more than 70,000 spectators.
Ober Gatlinburg has attracted millions of visitors over its 50 years with its tramway, ice skating rink, alpine slide, scenic chairlift, Wildlife Encounter, amusement and water rides, Amazin’ Maze and carousel to supplement wintertime skiing, snowboarding and snowtubing.
Distinguished entries in this year’s parade include two pink fire trucks from the Radcliff/Vine Grove, Ky. Fire Department, the Guardians of the Ribbons as well as a talented list of high school marching bands.
Winter Wonderland at the Carousel provides visitors with the opportunity to meet Santa and take photos in the hours leading up to the parade. Lots of sweet treats will be available the afternoon of the parade at Carousel Mall in the midst of the main viewing area for the parade at Traffic Light #3 on parade day.
The parade excitement for young and old also includes more than 100 parade entries, marching bands from Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama, and large balloons taking to the streets.
The parade begins at Traffic Light #1A on Hwy 321 at 7:30 p.m. and ends about an hour-and-a-half later at Traffic Light #10.
Jamming sidewalks and balconies along the parade route, a large crowd will be able to soak up the illuminating glow of Gatlinburg Winter Magic, the City of Gatlinburg’s popular holiday lights program which has received a $1.5 million injection of new displays plus a 100-percent conversion to energy-efficient LED bulbs over the past few years.
To learn more about these and other events in Gatlinburg, call 800 56-VISIT (568-4748) or visit the Gatlinburg website at www.gatlinburg.com.