Silver Dollar City ablaze with fall foliage and National Harvest & Cowboy Festival

Silver Dollar City's National Harvest & Cowboy Festival

Silver Dollar City’s National Harvest & Cowboy Festival

“The Fall foliage in Branson is a spectacular sight to see and there’s not a better place to become immersed and surrounded by it than Silver Dollar City,” said Tammy Johnson, the Director of Operations for the Branson Tourism Center.”From the very beginning, the park was designed to blend in with the surrounding Ozarks hills whose heritage it celebrates and the Fall foliage surrounding the parks visitors everywhere they look is proof positive of how successfully that has been done,” she added.

Johnson said that the Ozarks Fall foliage season starts and normally peaks during, Silver Dollar City’s annual “National Harvest & Cowboy Festival” (Festival), which will run from September 12 – October 25 providing the parks visitors with an excellent opportunity to view the Branson’s Fall foliage up close and personal. In addition, they will have a first hand opportunity to see why the U.S. Congress proclaimed Silver Dollar City as ‘The Home of American Craftsmanship” in honor of its five decades of presenting and promoting that craftsmanship.

The Festival will feature not only the 100 demonstrating craftsmen of Silver Dollar City, but “125 top craftsmen from around the country, including ‘Best of Missouri Hands’ juried artists and a showcase of Western artists” and is one of the largest gatherings of American craftsmen and artists in America. It is an unparalleled opportunity to experience and see demonstrations on a variety of American crafts all in one place including copper enamel jewelry, gourd carving, blacksmithing, pottery, copper and stone sculpture, basket weaving, soap making, stained glass, quilt making, knife making and dozens more.

The Festival also celebrates the history and tradition of the American Cowboy. This will be the final year for “The Pinkerton Man,” an original Western stunt show that debuted during the 2012 Festival filled with “high-flying action and special effects, including dramatic 3-story falls, high-slide rappels, hero fights, pyrotechnic effects and explosions, with professional stunt men and women leading a cast of 16, plus live animals, comedy and original live music performed by the ‘Sons of the Silver Dollar.'”

Reminiscent of the Wild West shows of the 1880s, the new “Silver Dollar City Wild West Show” will feature “a trick riding troupe, a horse-riding female sharpshooter, trick roping, bullwhip artistry, comedy canines and Native American hoop dancing.” The show will be “hosted by rodeo rider and roper A.J. Silver, named Act of the Year by the International Rodeo Association and features “Nakotah LaRance, 6-time world champion Native American Hoop Dancer whose skills were showcased in Cirque du Soleil’s touring show ‘Totem.'”

The Festival’s entertainment also includes Western and Bluegrass music performed by musicians including “Home Rangers,” “Nothin’ Fancy,” “Horse Crazy Cowgirl Band,” “Link Union,”” Southern Raised” and “The Bankesters.”Other featured events include the “Extreme Mustang Makeover,” with mustang expert Fred Woehl taming and training rescued wild mustangs; Kent Rollins, a ranch owner whose chuck wagon cooking talents have been featured on the Food Network’s “Chopped” and “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” demonstrating trail-side cooking; three-time winner of the Academy of Western Artists’ “Will Rogers Award,” Cowboy Poet Chris Isaacs presenting cowboy stories and poems and the return of the popular “Barn Dance” with Silver Dollar City’s own “Horsecreek Band,” who are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year, providing the music.

 

Branson Tourism Center’s Johnson points out that all of the activities of the National Harvest & Cowboy Festival are in addition to everything else the award winning 1880’s theme park offers on a daily basis. This includes 30 rides and attractions and the park’s Outlaw Run wooden coaster “which was named Best New Ride of 2013 worldwide in an industry poll conducted by ‘Amusement Today’ magazine, winner of the ‘Travel Channel’s Insane Coaster Wars: World Domination’ in Episode 2, and recently named one of the 12 biggest game-changers in the history of theme park attractions by CNN.com.”

In terms of value and being able to enjoy all that Silver Dollar City has to offer at your leisure, Johnson points out that the Branson Tourism Center offers a two day Silver Dollar City Pass that is a great value and offers a discount over buying two separate one day passes. For additional information or tickets for Silver Dollar City, the “National Harvest & Cowboy Festival” or any of Branson’s other shows and attractions or for lodging arrangements please contact BTC by either calling their toll free number 1-800-785-1550 or through their website https://www.bransontourismcenter.com/.

 

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