Silver Dollar City presents “The Grand Exposition” and a new festival
New for 2006, Silver Dollar City Presents The Grand Exposition with 10 New Family Rides, New Festival and New Additions to All Festivals - Plus the Moscow Circus, a Once-In-A-Lifetime Experience!
In a project that is the theme park’s biggest expansion ever for kids, Silver Dollar City presents an all-new $8 million development for 2006 - the Grand Exposition, adding 10 new family rides, nearly doubling the number of rides at the park and increasing ride capacity more than 50 percent. Also new is Southern Gospel Picnic, the Midwest’s largest gathering of Southern Gospel artists, and new for World-Fest is the Moscow Circus, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. New for Kids’ Fest, the live stage show Jim Fowler’s Wonders of the Wild LIVE! presents dozens of live native and exotic animals from grizzly bears to pythons, and the Extreme Parrots show features colorful performing birds. Throughout the season, the internationally-awarded 1880s-style theme park presents music and entertainment, demonstrating craftsmen, themed rides and foods from festival specialties to home-cooked feasts.
Debuting in Spring, The Grand Exposition opens a whole new region of the park encompassing two acres, where guests are transported back in time to experience the golden era of the World’s Fairs and Expositions of the late 1800s. Rides include the five-story Wave Carousel for high-flying adventure, the ship-themed Mighty Galleon which sends riders nearly 60 feet in the air, the multi-dimensional Electro Spin ride which travels 55 feet in the air as it spins, the twirling tea cups of the Royal Tea Party with a center control for interactive fun, and the fast paced Racing Regatta.
WORLD-FEST
April 6 - May 7 (Open Wednesdays through Sundays)
New for 2006, Silver Dollar City’s World-Fest brings in a once-in-a-lifetime event, the world-renowned Moscow Circus, with stunning acrobatics showcased in a show designed for Silver Dollar City; and the Zunyi Acrobats of China for their first U.S. performance. Also new are musicians from the Czech Republic, a mariachi band from Mexico and a new Irish show. World-Fest presents performers from countries around the world, from the colorful German stiltwalkers of Zebra Stilzentheater to Swiss alpenhorn musicians, and international foods including Caribbean snapper and Italian tiramisu, all part of America’s largest international festival.
BLUEGRASS & BBQ
May 13 - June 4 (Open Daily)
Silver Dollar City’s Bluegrass & BBQ returns, a sensational 23 days of all-American bluegrass music and an even bigger spread of America’s favorite barbecue. The festival features 500 performances by the most talented artists of the popular roots music genre, from bluegrass celebrities to rising stars, with bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs performing in a special concert. Featured bluegrass headliners include IBMA* Entertainer of the Year Cherryholmes, and 2005 IBMA Emerging Artist of the Year The Grascals. The expanded House of BBQ features grill styles from smoky Texas-style barbecue to sweet Kansas City favorites, Memphis dry rubs and Carolina vinegar-based sauces.
NATIONAL KIDS’ FEST
June 9 - August 20 (Open Daily)
Silver Dollar City showcases its greatest expansion ever for kids, The Grand Exposition, during the National Kids’ Fest. The festival also presents a new stage show, Jim Fowler’s Wonder of the Wild LIVE! with dozens of live native and exotic animals such as grizzly bears, alligators, wolves, tigers, leopards and pythons. Also new, Extreme Parrots perform and the popular Purina Dog Team Challenge returns, along with championship cloggers, all during America’s largest kids’ festival.
NEW FESTIVAL: SOUTHERN GOSPEL PICNIC
August 31 - September 10 (Open Daily)
The all-new festival Southern Gospel Picnic is the Midwest’s largest gathering of Southern Gospel artists, bringing together the rich harmonies of gospel music and the home-cooked spread of an old-fashioned picnic on the grounds. Gospel greats such as Grammy nominees The Crabb Family, Jeff & Sheri Easter, The McKameys, The Kingsmen and the Cumberland Quartet are featured, along with golden fried chicken with all the picnic-style fixings. Music continues under the stars as Southern Gospel Nights is presented each evening.
FESTIVAL OF AMERICAN MUSIC AND CRAFTS, with a Salute to the Great American Cowboy
September 14 - October 28 (Open Wednesdays - Sundays)
The Festival of American Music & Crafts brings back the Salute to the Great American Cowboy, preserving the legend and lore of the American West. Western themed entertainment includes performances by Riders In The Sky and a special concert by country star Mark Chesnutt. Gunsmoke’s Buck Taylor host stars of America’s favorite Westerns. Trick riders, ropers and rodeo stars perform throughout the festival, and cowboy bootmakers from around the country will compete in the Best of American Bootmakers showcase competition. The festival also features hundreds of musicians playing country, gospel and bluegrass, including special concerts Oct. 4 and 5 by six-time IBMA* Female Vocalist of the Year and Grammy nominee Rhonda Vincent. Over 125 visiting craftsmen demonstrate American’s heritage crafts, and festival food specialties include roasted prairie chicken, buffalo chili and Southwestern favorites.
AN OLD TIME CHRISTMAS
November 4 - December 30 (Open Wednesdays - Sundays through Dec. 3, Thursdays - Sundays Dec. 7-23, daily Dec. 26-30)
An Old Time Christmas is one of the nation’s most acclaimed Holiday events, profiled as one of the top Christmas celebrations in the country by USA Today and People Magazine, and named the “USA’s Best Holiday Light Show” two years in a row by America’s Best Online. The festival presents the dramatic five-story special Effects Christmas Tree, adorned with over 250,000 lights coordinated to blaze to the musical movements of Christmas songs, and the colorful Holiday Light Parade with dazzling, musical floats that glide through the streets of the City each evening. A popular musical production of the famous classic, A Dicken’s Christmas Carol, returning with a new scene, features pyrotechnic special effects, elaborate sets, an impressive cast, and flying spirits. The festival presents a dramatic production of the Living Nativity and more than four million lights.
