Well over 8,000 people turned out as Gatlinburg kicked off the 26th year of Smoky Mountain Winterfest Wednesday night with the annual Gatlinburg Chili Cookoff and Winter Magic Kickoff on the Parkway in downtown Gatlinburg. To signify the start of Gatlinburg Winter Magic, city officials turned on more than 3 million lights across downtown. A tough night of competition led ...

Sevierville Parks and Recreation is now registering teams for the winter basketball league. The 3-on-3 basketball league will be co-ed and for adults 18 and over. Games will be played on Monday and Thursday nights beginning November 30, 2015. The registration deadline has been extended until November 24, 2015. Prices for the basketball league are $100 per team. Registration packets ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park welcomed 1,370,640 visitors in October 2015, exceeding 2014’s mark of 1,303,640. This year’s visitation makes 2015 the second highest October visitation in the park’s history. Only October 1987 saw more visitors. October is traditionally the second busiest month of the year for the national park, driven by visitors coming to see the park’s fall foliage. ...

The Smoky Mountain Opry™ Theater in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. is getting ready for a big fundraising event benefiting the non-profit American Eagle Foundation (AEF), which will showcase an extravaganza of entertainment. On Sunday, December 13, 2015 at 8 p.m., Christmas at the Smoky Mountain Opry will host a special benefit show featuring renowned American Idol season 14 runner-up Clark Beckham, ...

Sevier County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to announce that it has received a new bullet and stab protective vest for K-9 Dasko, thanks to a charitable donation from non-profit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. The protective vest was sponsored by an anonymous donor and is embroidered with the sentiment “This gift of protection provided by Vested Interest in K9s, ...

Get in the holiday spirit by joining in the Smoky Mountain Winterfest Celebration. Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville and Sevier County will kick off their 26th Annual Smoky Mountain Winterfest, which begins Nov. 9, 2015 and continues through February 2016, with three days worth of music and entertainment. More than 14 million lights adorn the streetscapes and businesses throughout Sevier County, ...

The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security will conduct a security workshop for businesses on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015 at the Music Road Hotel from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Regional Advisor in Charge, Dwayne C. Collins will cover topics: What is Suspicious Activity: What to do? What is Terrorism? Sudden Violence: Surviving an Active Shooter(s) “We feel it ...

LeConte Medical Center, Fort Loudoun Medical Center, Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, Methodist Medical Center, Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System and Roane Medical Center have been recognized for their dedication to patient safety by being awarded an “A” grade in the Fall 2015 Hospital Safety Score rankings released by The Leapfrog Group. The Safety Score rates how well hospitals protect patients from ...

An adults-only race anchors a weekend of activities at LeConte Center at Pigeon Forge in April, 2016. Everyone who runs in the RetroRunning event next April in Pigeon Forge is guaranteed to set a personal record. That’s because it’s the only race ever that’s exactly 5 miles, 916 yards long. The peculiar distance and the fact it’s only for runners ...

Mark calendars for the 3rd annual Gran Fondo Asheville, a fun and festive ride on Saturday, June 18, 2016. Road cyclists will take in the natural beauty of Western North Carolina as they cruise along a well-marked course with the option to push themselves for brief timed periods, competing to win. With the event being held two months earlier than ...