GATLINBURG, Tenn. – The National Park Service invites visitors to experience the spirit of the season at Great Smoky Mountains National Park during two popular holiday events on Saturday, Dec. 9 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sugarlands Visitor Center will host the Festival of Christmas Past, Present and Future and Oconaluftee Visitor Center will host its annual Holiday Homecoming. All “Christmas Across the Mountains” activities are free and open to the public.
At the Festival of Christmas Past, Present and Future, NPS rangers and volunteers, along with staff from Gatlinburg’s Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, will showcase the history of arts and crafts of the mountains. Visitors can enjoy authentic Appalachian music by Wild Blue Yonder, a display of Christmas trees through the decades, caroling, and hands-on kids crafts. Rangers will also lead a special “Memories Walk” on Fighting Creek Nature Trail at 2 p.m., which features NPS volunteers sharing Christmas stories.
Oconaluftee Visitor Center’s Holiday Homecoming is a celebration of winter holiday traditions from the many people who call Southern Appalachia home. During the event, the Mountain Farm Museum comes to life with demonstrations by rangers and volunteers displaying Appalachian Christmas traditions and winter preparation. Traditions on display include hearth cooking, blacksmithing, and broom making. Visitors are invited to join an old-time jam session with dulcimers, fiddles and banjos from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
The Oconaluftee Visitor Center is on Newfound Gap Road, two miles north of Cherokee, N.C. Sugarlands Visitor Center is on Newfound Gap Road, two miles south of Gatlinburg, Tenn. Park partners Friends of the Smokies and Great Smoky Mountains Association provided generous support for both events.
- National Park Service release
