Pigeon Forge's 11th Annual Saddle Up! Includes Concerts, Chuckwagons, Cowboy Church and More

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (November 2010) – The Great Smoky Mountains town of Pigeon Forge, Tenn., has announced the lineup of entertainers who will bring help bring the sights and sounds of the American West to East Tennessee next February.

Saddle Up!, Feb. 24-27, 2011, is part of Pigeon Forge Winterfest, a four-month season of activities that begins in November.

Some of the top performers in the world of western music and cowboy poetry will perform during the 11th annual event. Among them are Wylie & the Wild West, the Quebe Sisters Band, Brenn Hill, Chris Isaacs, Jean & Gary Prescott, Yvonne Hollenbeck and Ray Doyle. Concerts (1 and 4 p.m. on Feb. 25 and 3 p.m. on Feb. 26) are $15 each.

“An Intimate Evening with Wylie & the Wild West,” a new dinner concert, is Thursday, Feb. 24, at 6 p.m. Presented by the Inn at Christmas Place, the event takes place at the Partridge & Pear restaurant and begins on a social note when ticket holders can spend time with the award-winning cowboy band. A four-course meal is followed by a concert. Tickets are $50 each, and fewer than 40 will be sold to keep the evening “intimate.”

One of the most popular components of Saddle Up! is a competitive chuckwagon cookoff, on Saturday, Feb. 26. Sponsored by the Pigeon Forge Hospitality Association, chuckwagon cooks prepare lunch for guests and evaluation by a panel of judges. Tickets are $10.

Belz Outlets hosts two activities—the new Western Marketplace, presented by Stages West (free admission), and the Western Swing Dance (tickets are $5), a perennial favorite. Sunday morning’s Cowboy Church, a non-denominational service preceded by a chuckwagon breakfast (tickets are $5), concludes Saddle Up!

Saddle Up! tickets will be available online beginning Nov. 1 at www.MyPigeonForge.com/saddleup. Information about all aspects of visiting Pigeon Forge is at www.MyPigeonForge.com or by calling toll-free 1-800-251-9100.