City: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN

Category: Annual Events & Festivals

Telephone: (888) 889-7415

Description: One of the highlights of this festival, the largest in Sevierville, is the state championship barbeque cook-off, with barbeque teams from around the country competing for $15,000 in cash prizes. Each team serves up 20 pounds of pulled pork, 24 pounds of brisket, 5 pounds of chicken, and 10 pounds of ribs!The festival also includes bluegrass concerts, kids’ games (including climbing walls and bounce houses), food, and authentic mountain crafts. At the Bluegrass Music Tent, you can even learn to play a banjo, guitar, mandolin, or a fiddle. Another highlight is the Annual Mountain Soul Vocal Competition Finals, in which male and female contestants from around the country sing any of the 3,000 songs penned by Sevier County native Dolly Parton. The goal isn’t to imitate Dolly or to do an impression of her, but to perform the song in the singer’s own style (be that rock, rap, swing, soul, bluegrass, or—of course—country). The winner not only gets cash, but also a recording session in Nashville and an autographed guitar by Dolly herself. Admission to the entire festival is free, even for the concerts.