Smoky Mountain Fourth Of July Celebrations
Smoky Mountain Fourth Of July FREE celebrationsare occurring all over the Tennessee Smokies. Family fun starts with the Gatlinburg parade at 12:01am Sunday, a tribute to military personnel. To follow up there will be several concerts downtown Gatlinburg featuring a variety of musical performances. Gatlinburg’s River Raft Regatta will take place Sunday at noon. The Gatlinburg Regatta will start on River Road and end at Ripley’s Aquarium bridge.
Gatlinburg will host a fireworks display, after dusk Sunday, at Fun Park. Enjoy the fireworks in full glory from atop the Gatlinburg Spaceneedle and if you are unable to make it to Gatlinburg for the festivities be sure to watch from our Gatlinburg Webcam, mounted atop the Gatlinburg Spaceneedle.
Pigeon Forge will be hosting several Fourth Of July events starting Saturday, July 3rd, with the annual Patriot Festival held at Patriot Park. Recording artists Diamond Rio will be the feature performer and other groups will include Jimbo Whaley, Steve Azar, Greenbrier, TelluRide, Thompson Square, and a local band with members ages 9-11 called Grafite.
Unable to make it to Pigeon Forge for the fun, be sure to check out all the Patriot Park activities from our Pigeon Forge Webcam. Zoom into the action from your home computer and take photos if you wish FREE!
Gatlinburg Tenness Ripleys Aquarium Gets Penguins
Ripley’s Aquarium Of The Smokies, Gatlinburg Tennessee attraction, is due to open a habitat for about 20 African black-footed penguins about mid-March.
The penguins home will be a 30,00 gallon indoor-outdoor habitat, replacing the old restaurant at Ripley’s Aquarium. The habitat is being constructed in such a manner as to permit close interaction with visitors. The penguins will be able to swim through tunnels, beneath visitors feet, from one portion of the penguin habitat to another. Visitors will be able to crawl through their own clear tunnels and pop up on the penguins private beach. This will permit visitors to come face to face with willing penguins.
The African penguins cost $15,000 each. A nesting area (rookery) will also be constructed, permitting population replacement and growth in numbers. This appears to be a top notch move on Ripley’s Aquarium Of The Smokies part. They were named “”top aquarium in the nation” by TripAdvisor in 2009.
