Harvest Festival and The Great Pumpkin LumiNights is one of our favorite Halloween events in the Knoxville area! We’ve been twice now, once in 2018 before we left for Germany and again this year in 2021. We’re really missing the Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival this year, but not to worry, if you can’t make it all the way to Europe, this event is amazing and includes pumpkins galore, pumpkin food, AND rides.
They have some of the biggest pumpkins I’ve ever seen and amazing hand-carved pumpkins that are put together in fun statues. These carved pumpkins are fun to see at night and day, so don’t feel like you’ll miss out if you can only go one or the other. They both have such a different feel, so I do recommend making a full day of it if you can, but I understand if you have little ones who just can’t hang that long or can only go after work. Still worth it!
WHEN TO GO
This year (2021) the festival is open now-October 30th.
It is open 10 am - 9 pm every day EXCEPT Tuesdays during the Fall. They will also not be open on Halloween this year.
You can find the daily schedule here, it will show you the schedule for shows and events in case there is one you want to make sure to see while you’re there.
If you can go on a weekday, I recommend that for shorter lines to the rides. We ended up going on a day that drizzled for a few minutes and the rest of the day was clear, but I’ve never seen the lines so short. So apparently, a semi-rainy day at Dollywood is the time to go!
PRICE
The price for attending Harvest Festival and Dollywood’s Pumpkin LumiNights is just the usual park entrance fee, you get all the perks of the park with the added benefit of all the pumpkin goodness.
You can find combination packages if you want to attend for multiple days on their website.
WHAT TO BRING
You’ll obviously want to bring cash/cards for all of the food and souvenirs available for purchase, along with your tickets if you haven’t purchased them in advance.
I recommend carrying a backpack for your money, a light rain jacket, a phone, and anything else you or your family might need. You can’t bring food in (they have amazing food available), but you can bring one unopened bottle of water per person.
For your souvenirs, leave some room in your backpack so you aren’t carrying anything extra around for the entire trip. They also have the option to send anything you purchase to the front for you to pick up as you walk out of the park.
WHAT TO BUY
Food, duh. More on that in a minute.
It sounds so random for a theme park, but I love the clothes at their shops. Especially at Dolly’s Closet, but all of the shops have really cute clothes and hats.
Of course, there are tons of little souvenirs for the kids, on our most recent trip Iris picked out a light-up bubble machine and a pretty little necklace that they hand-engraved on site. Something fun and something special she can hopefully keep for a very long time.
FOOD
I love the pumpkin and fall-themed food this time of year at the park! My favorite this trip was the pumpkin bisque. Make sure to grab a map on your way into Dollywood and it will tell you where to grab any of the pumpkin and fall food you have your eye on.
Have you been to Dollywood’s Harvest Festival and The Great Pumpkin LumiNights before, if so, what was your favorite part? Any of you headed that way soon? This time of year is the BEST time of year to be in the smokey mountains!
You can see the rest of my Pigeon Forge travel posts here.
We were given complimentary tickets to Dollywood, but all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
♡ MALLORIE