ALL ABOUT the Dollywood Christmas Festival: 2023

There are big things coming to the Smoky Mountains just in time for the Holidays. Don’t miss out on all these great Dollywood Christmas Events!

Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Festival is in FULL swing right now and runs through January 6, 2024! While I love warmer months, the beautiful decorations, lights, and sounds of the season make November and December one of the best times to visit the area, especially my favorite… Dollywood!

Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas presented by Humana, officially kicked off on November 4th and is one of the world’s premier theme park events. The festival has been nominated as part of USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice travel awards for Best Theme Park Holiday Event. 

Smoky Mountain Christmas also won the 2022 Golden Ticket award from Amusement Today for Best Theme Park Christmas Event in the world, an award the festival has earned for 15 consecutive years. In fact, Dollywood is the only park in the world to ever win the award!

So, let’s get to it. Dollywood in December is one of the most beautiful sights you’ll see in the area, but a lot of people have questions about visiting in the colder months. I’ve put together a list of those questions and answers from a Dollywood Insider perspective to get you ready for your winter visit to the Smoky Mountains!

FAQs about Dollywood In December

+ Are Dollywood rides open in December?

Yes, they are! Almost all of the Dollywood rides stay open all year around. A couple that you would expect to be closed are the water rides, like Daredevil Falls and Smoky Mountain River Rampage. A few of the rides, like some Dollywood rollercoasters, do have to close at certain temperatures to follow ride manufacture guidelines, but they aren’t closed for the entire month of December.

+ When does Dollywood decorate for Christmas?

It takes a long time to put up over 6 million lights! Dollywood starts decorating for Christmas in August, if you can believe it!

+ Dollywood Christmas Dates

Smoky Mountain Christmas runs from November 4th until January 6, 2024. The park is closed on the last Monday in November and on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in December. That’s it! These are by far the best Dollywood hours and open days the park has ever seen during the Dollywood Christmas festival.

+ Dollywood Christmas Hours

During the entire Smoky Mountain Christmas festival the park will be open from 11am – 9pm. Again, check the calendar to be sure the park is open on the day you plan to visit!

+ Should I buy season passes to visit Dollywood in December?

There’s no better time to visit than Dollywood in December under the 6 million twinkling lights. AND there’s no better time to buy a Dollywood Season Pass because if you buy a Gold or Diamond Season Pass during the Christmas festival, you’ll get the whole season of 2024 free!

Get all the details and learn how you can purchase on a 9 month payment plan + get bring-a-friend-free passes too, here.

+ What can you do at Dollywood in December?

The better question would be what can you not do – Dollywood in December is just as great as any time of the year, if not better!

+ How much does it cost to get into Dollywood to see the Christmas lights?

You’ll either have to buy a Dollywood Season Pass or a Dollywood ticket. I’ve got 10 tips on how to find discount Dollywood tickets to help if you’re only interested in visiting one day during the holiday season.

Here are all the great things that are happening, thanks to Dollywood Christmas festivities!

Dollywood Christmas Lights

The Christmas lights at Dollywood are bigger, better, brighter and MORE every year. This year there are over 6 million lights to walk through this year!

A couple of my absolute favorite light displays are Glacier Ridge, which you’ll find if you turn left after entering Dollywood and head up the hill towards Wild Eagle. You also want to be sure to see the light show in The Plaza with the huge music and light show with the huge Christmas Tree – in fact it’s a 50 foot animated tree.

New for 2024 is the Dollywood Christmas Drone Show! When the sun goes down, the winter sky shimmers to life! Watch as hundreds of festive drones dance to festive tunes, lighting up the night with Christmas cheer in a new holiday spectacular your whole family will love.

Dollywood Christmas Shows

If you’ve ever been to Dollywood, you know that some of the best entertainment are actually the shows and the 2023 lineup is amazing.

• Appalachian Christmas – outdoor show at the Back Porch Theater
• Candlelight Carolers – outdoor show at the Robert F. Thomas Chapel
• Christmas with the Kingdom Heirs – Showstreet Palace Theater
• Christmas in the Smokies – a HUGE family favorite – DP’s Celebrity Theater
• Heart of the Holidays – Dreamsong Theater
• Holiday Wild Roots – outdoor show at the Showstreet Gazebo
• Mistletones – outdoor show at The Village Depot
• O’ Holy Night – outdoor show at the Valley Theater
• Twas the Night Before Christmas – Pines Theater

Dollywood Christmas Tasting Pass

The Festival Tasting Pass is one of my favorite things about visiting Dollywood and I’m excited to tell you that the Christmas foods are amazing!

Check out the menu here: https://www.dollywood.com/themepark/dining/Christmas-Tasting-Pass You can also pre-purchase your Tasting Pass before you go or just pick one up at any Festival Booth location. You can read about the perks and all the $$ savings of the Tasting Pass in this post.

Does Dollywood have a Christmas parade every night?

The Parade of Many Colors is a Dollywood Christmas activity that I certainly miss and hope that they’ll bring back again one day. For now, it’s been replaced with the drone show, but the Parade of Many Colors did include vibrant floats, interactive characters and a number of other surprises sure to inspire guests with its heart-warming message.

Dollywood Christmas Hotel

It’s also a fabulous time to stay at the DreamMore Resort OR the brand new HeartSong Lodge & Resort. If you think Dollywood is beautiful during Christmastime, you have to see DreamMore.

I wrote an entire post about why you should visit DreamMore during the winter and with the perks you’ll receive during the Christmas season, like free trolley rides to Dollywood and Time-Saver passes, it’s a great time to stay. 

And no visit to Dollywood during cold weather is complete without a loaf of Cinnamon Bread and a mug of hot chocolate! Be sure to add a visit to The Grist Mill to your family’s traditions!

More Amazing Dollywood Christmas Activities

– Light the Way 5K

Whether you run or walk, you HAVE to do the Light the Way 5K at least once. The 2023 run has already taken place, but put it on your list for 2024. My husband and I did it a few of years ago and had fun, even though it was only 18 degrees! Brrr!

In addition to the beauty of the event, proceeds go for a great cause. The event benefits Keep Sevier Beautiful (KSB) and the Share It Forward (SIF) program at Dollywood.  KSB, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, is a volunteer-based organization which focuses on waste reduction/recycling, litter prevention and beautifying public spaces through education and community based programs. 

KSB’s goal is to protect the natural beauty of the area that millions of visitors come to see each year.  SIF is a non-profit charity established for the purpose of raising and using funds to assist The Dollywood Company employees and their families in times of need.

Christmas Dinner Shows in Pigeon Forge

While Dolly Parton’s Stampede and Pirate’s Voyage are two of the most popular dinner shows in town, there are others you should add to your calendar to see in December too! Each of those have a special holiday themed show, as well as Hatfield and McCoy and Smoky Mountain Opry! 

There you have it – tons of info on how to spend the best time of the year… Dollywood at Christmas!

Christmas in Dollywood 2023 will be one of the best festivals in Dollywood history and you definitely don’t want to miss it!Save