The Gatlinburg Harvest Festival Raises Awareness For Fall's Beauty
I wanted to say something like, “fall is in the air,” but that would certainly be extremely dishonest considering how hot this summer has been in Gatlinburg and many other areas around the country. Once the busy Labor Day weekend passes us by, we will be inundated with signs that the cooler season (hopefully!) is just around the corner. The currently un-decorated Gatlinburg—aside from the colorful flowers in town—will be adorned in all the typical festive fall-like leaves, (real and fake) pumpkins, and yes, Halloween stuff as well. You can’t leave out the scariest day of the year in the last gasps of October!
Unfortunately, but for good reason, the decorations will have a much more artificial look, due to the City of Gatlinburg’s advisory on the real kind. This is a consequence of the surge in bear activity and poor human behavior, which has caused around two dozen bears to be euthanized this year. But don’t worry, as visitors, you’ll still have no problem adoring the various cool fall emblems all over the town. As a local, I will be focused on seeing how different the businesses decide to decorate this year, as a result of the City of Gatlinburg’s advice to residents.
Visitors can do many things in Gatlinburg as part of the annual celebration of the fall season. The community goes all-out with their decorations for bragging rights as to who’s the best in town. Why is this and how is it voted on? Well…YOU! That’s right, you can weigh in on your favorite displays in the Smoky Mountain Harvest Festival People’s Choice Awards. Whew, that’s a mouthful! Take note of all the creative deco-work and vote for which is your favorite. Be sure to visit the official Gatlinburg Tourism Page, and also download the app on your phone.
You are encouraged to invite your kids on this next activity during your fall vacation to Gatlinburg. The Scarecrow Scavenger Hunt is a fun way for the whole family to participate. I don’t care what anyone says, I get quite a lot of enjoyment out of scavenger hunts. While frustrating at times, it is very exciting searching for things and checking them off for competition’s sake. In Gatlinburg, you’ll be trying to locate 30 unique, life-sized scarecrows throughout town. Again, download the Visit Gatlinburg app to locate them and share a selfie with the straw man to your social media pages with the hashtag #GatlinburgFall. Fun stuff, indeed!
I remember vividly experiencing fall for the first time as a resident last year, and it was simply wonderful. I have no reason to believe it won’t have the same effect this year. While we had visited in the fall a few times as visitors, nothing can really compare to witnessing the change from bright green to a dazzling array of red, orange, brown, and yellow. No hill or mountainside looked the same. The shades and patterns made up a visual to pretty to describe in words. It may not mean much for a guy that says few words to be rendered speechless, but the emotions were still flowing in the wake of our late-summer move last year. I won’t soon forget it, and I’m looking forward to a repeat of last year in 2024’s version.
This is the end of my latest article, but I want to thank you once again for reading and subscribing to my publication. I appreciate the love and support, as it’s given me the motivation to make this a full-fledged Gatlinburg passion project. Please let me know how you feel, and what you’d like to see to make this a better guide for you and others who love visiting (and living) Gatlinburg and the beautiful Smoky Mountains!