Silver Dollar City launches its biggest festival year ever, with new original stage shows, performing groups, and festival showcases. New in spring: an Irish Celebration with World-Fest’s largest Irish production show ever, including authentic fire dancing; and a special concert by Grammy-winners the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for Bluegrass & BBQ. The biggest Kids” Fest ever presents more nationally branded entertainment than ever before, with The Magic of Peter Gossamer, a new Ice Circus and a new live stage show from VeggieTales. Fall’s National Harvest Festival adds a new Tribute to the All-American Farmer in October and a special concert by country music artist John Conlee. An Old Time Christmas dazzles with the nationally-acclaimed sound and light show on the Square and also presents the new show Frosty, an interactive show for kids.

Debuting in September, Silver Dollar City, long recognized as the “Home of American Craftsmanship,” takes the art of demonstration to a whole new level with the new Culinary & Craft School, designed to pass along knowledge of America’s heritage crafts and other want-to-know secrets and tips such as cooking techniques and craft seminars. Set within a new building stylishly decorated with handcrafted items from the park’s master craftsmen, the Culinary & Craft School will feature heirloom displays, multiple demonstrations, hands-on activities and classes for take-home skills.

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ABC’s Good Morning America will be live at Silver Dollar City, December 1st, 2007 from 6 a.m – 7 a.m. Branson is part of a 5-day special called “GMA Lights Up The Holidays”. The first 500 guests qualify to bring a new unwrapped toy and get a free return ticket to Silver Dollar City good for anytime in the month of December. The toys will go to benefit Love, INC.

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7-Story Swing Has Roller-Coaster Speed and Barn-Bursting, High-Flying, Super Soaring Thrills!

New for 2007, Silver Dollar City takes the hands-on, old-fashioned fun of a barn swing and gives it giant-sized, high-tech thrill power – presenting the Giant Swing! This $6 million ride will launch riders more than seven stories in the air — and nearly upside down — at roller-coaster speeds for barn-bursting, high-flying, super-soaring, big-air thrills. The Giant Swing will open in Spring, 2007.

Set within a massive hay barn in the new Great Barn area of the park, the Giant Swing’s two colossal arms hold back-to-back seat rows, so riders soar backward as well as forward. Compressed air power launches the swings, sending riders 75 feet high in opposite directions and through the barn roof before powering them back toward the ground and past each other at speeds up to 45 miles per hour. The swings then soar 75 feet skyward, high above the trees on the other side, arcing a full 230 degrees so riders are nearly upside down. The tremendous acceleration produces back-to-back G-force kicks and sensations of weightlessness for a full throttle, high-flying thrill ride.

Alongside the Giant Swing are two silo-themed, interactive climbing towers where riders use rope-pulls to propel themselves over 30 feet in the air. Using a unique pulley system, pairs of riders can race each other to the top of the tower as it rotates for towering views of the City, before they free-fall gently back down. Kids and parents can ride the silo tower rides together for family-team races to the top.

The Giant Swing seats 16 riders on each swing arm, with a ride capacity of 640 per hour. The height requirement is 48 inches, roughly the height of a six or seven-year-old. The silo tower rides have a capacity of 300 per hour. The Giant Swing is created by S&S Power of Logan, Utah, and the silo towers are by Heege, with construction and theming of the rides by Silver Dollar City. They will be located behind the Lost River waterway in a previously undeveloped area.

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Silver Dollar City Presents Nationally Acclaimed Holiday Festival, An Old Time Christmas

Festival Shines with Holiday Light Parade, 4 Million Lights, ‘A Dickens’ Christmas Carol’, November 4 through December 30

It’s Christmastime throughout the City when Silver Dollar City presents one of the nation’s most spectacular holiday festivals, profiled as one of the top Christmas celebrations in the country by USA Today and People Magazine, spotlighted in the Wall Street Journal, and named the “USA’s Best Holiday Light Show” two years in a row by America’s Best Online. An Old Time Christmas, November 4 through December 30, features a dazzling Holiday Light Parade, a dramatic five-story Special Effects Christmas Tree, and one of the park’s biggest production shows ever, A Dickens’ Christmas Carol.

During An Old Time Christmas, the theme park is transformed into an evening wonderland with over four million lights and 1,000 decorated Christmas trees. The colorful Holiday Light Parade, with musical floats covered in bright lights, winds through the streets of the City each evening. Lighting up the Square is the five-story Special Effects Christmas Tree, with over 250,000 lights blazing with the musical movements of Christmas songs.

Silver Dollar City’s acclaimed production, A Dickens’ Christmas Carol, presents an all-new scene set inside a snow globe. This original musical adaptation of the famous classic by Charles Dickens features elaborate sets and stunning visual effects, with flying spirits, vanishing ghosts, revolving scenery and pyrotechnic special effects. The production showcases a talented cast of 14 actors, accompanied by a live band.

A returning favorite feature of the festival is a dramatic presentation of the Living Nativity, presenting an inspiring look at the story of the birth of Christ.

The traditional lighting of the five-story Special Effects Christmas Tree takes place each evening at 5:30 p.m. on the Square. Silver Dollar City’s unique creation, the Special Effects Christmas Tree presents classics such as “Carol of the Bells” and Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” in a spectacular light and sound show. Performances begin with the tree lighting ceremony and continue every 15 minutes until park closing.

The tastes of the season are in abundance throughout the park, from a Prime Rib Buffet at the Mill Restaurant to traditional favorites such as Turkey and Gravy with Cran-Apple Raisin Dressing. Festive holiday treats include old-fashioned Chocolate and Marshmallow S’Mores, Gingerbread Cookies, Apple Dumplings, Hot Wassail, Cappuccino and creamy Hot Chocolate.

Holiday shows include Cedric Benoit and the Cajun Connection performing in a Cajun-style holiday show, and the rollicking Christmas comedy “Frontier Fa-la-la-Follies” in the Silver Dollar Saloon. The Cumberland Quartet with Tracy Heaston returns in “A Christmas Homecoming.”

Especially for kids, Tinker, the 17-foot Talking Christmas Tree talks, sings and interacts with kids. Santa himself is available to hear requests, and kids can make ornaments, create Christmas cards and decorate Christmas cookies. Guests are invited to join in the singing of Christmas carols at the historic Wilderness Church and ride the Silver Dollar Sing-Along Steam Train.

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Experience the Classic West At Silver Dollar City’s Festival of American Music & Crafts
Presenting a ‘Salute to the Great American Cowboy’
September 14-October 28 (Wednesday through Sunday)

Experience the legend and lore of the classic West when Silver Dollar City presents the Salute to the Great American Cowboy within the Festival of American Music & Crafts. Trick riding and roping, western entertainment, bluegrass stars and the nation’s top craftsmen are featured during the festival which runs September 14 – October 28 at the Branson, Missouri theme park.

The entertainment lineup includes a special concert by country star Mark Chesnutt on Sept. 23, and special western shows with Grammy-winner Riders In The Sky and the popular Sons of the San Joaquin. Six-time IBMA* Female Vocalist of the Year and Grammy nominee Rhonda Vincent headlines the bluegrass entertainment with special concerts Oct. 4 and 5, and hundreds of musicians perform throughout the festival.

Widely recognized as the premier event for fine craftsmanship, the festival features stone carvers, copper sculptors, silversmiths and stained glass artists, part of more than 125 visiting artists from across the country who fill booths lining the streets of the theme park with their colorful handwork. Best of Missouri Hands juried artists are spotlighted with crafts including handcrafted pewterware, bent-willow furniture, blown glass art and stoneware pottery.

A special showcase of western crafters features custom-made leather hats, Navajo jewelry, western art, bronze sculpture, hat making and saddle and tack making. Guests can vote for their favorite custom-made cowboy boots as boot makers from around the country compete in the new Best of American Boot Makers Competition.

The tastes of the fall harvest are served up throughout the park, with smoked turkey legs, roasted corn on the cob and hearty skillet meals cooked on open grills. For a full festival feast, guests can dine at Tastes of America in the Red Gold Heritage Hall, featuring barbecued ribs, roasted prairie chicken, southwestern tacos or buffalo chili, and desserts from blackberry cobbler and peach pie to hot apple dumplings, while trick riders, ropers and rodeo stars perform in the Red Gold Arena.

Cowboy Features

Meet some of television’s top western heroes when Gunsmoke’s Buck Taylor hosts stars of classic American Westerns such as Clint Walker and James Drury, and catch performances by Waddie Mitchell and other Western Heritage Cowboy Poets. Dancers can kick up their heels at the country barn dance.
Performers include:
Roy Rogers, Jr. Les Gilliam and the Silver Lake Band Sourdough Slim
Red Steagall Sons of the Silver Dollar R.W. Hampton
Pake McIntyre Syd Masters and the Swing Riders Bill Barwick

Bluegrass & Traditional Music

Along with bluegrass star Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, national touring bands and rising bluegrass stars perform at stages throughout the park.
Performers include:
The Biscuit Burners Old School Bluegrass Hit & Run Bluegrass
Special Consensus Midnight Flight Southern Drawl
Nothin’ Fancy The Boohers 3 Fox Drive

The sounds and smells of the fall harvest fill the Silver Dollar City Square, where guests can see sorghum making, demonstrations of cow milking with the turn-of-the-century dairy equipment, and street shows with a stagecoach that is a replica of the historic Butterfield Stage Line. A cast of talented singers and dancers perform in Classic Country Nights at Echo Hollow Amphitheatre each evening.

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Silver Dollar City Soars with an All-New Southern Gospel Picnic Festival

A Glorious Gathering of Food, Friends and Great Harmonies
August 31 – September 10

Southern Gospel, known for its strong American roots, is said to be music that moves the soul. In recognition of a resurgence of the music’s popularity, Silver Dollar City is celebrating two great traditions in an all-new festival: Southern Gospel Picnic brings together the rich harmonies of America’s heartfelt music with the home-cooked spread of an old-fashioned gathering. More than 500 performances will resound throughout the park with Southern Gospel Picnic running August 31 – September 10.

Presenting gospel music 7 days a week for 11 straight days, performers range from the traditional to the contemporary including Grammy nominees and Dove Award winners The Crabb Family, Jeff & Sheri Easter, The McKameys, The Kingsmen and The Perrys.

Southern Gospel Nights literally envelop a star-studded stage with an outdoor presentation each evening in Echo Hollow Amphitheater. Performers include The Florida Boys of the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame, Grammy nominees Dixie Melody Boys and Dove Award winners Gold City.

In honor of another southern tradition, the festival presents The House of Chicken & Fixin’s featuring Applewood Smoked Chicken with all the picnic-style fixings such as fried green tomatoes, fried apples and au gratin potatoes. An array of desserts will complete the picnic with a variety of pies and cakes that are long-time favorites at church socials and family reunions.

“With this new festival Silver Dollar City is promising a glorious gathering of food, friends and great harmonies,” said SDC entertainment coordinator, D.A. Callaway. “We’ll host the top names in gospel music in a setting promising to be the largest ‘picnic on the grounds’ in our history.”

Silver Dollar City, an 1880s-style theme park located near Branson, Missouri, presents six world-class festivals from April through December . The park also features over 20 rides and attractions including the all-new Grand Exposition with 10 new family rides in an all-new area of the park.

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Silver Dollar City Rings the BBQ Bell in a Toe-Tapping Way!
Announcing the Return of Popular Bluegrass & BBQ Festival

The ringing of the BBQ bell will soon resound through the Ozark hills with the return of what is becoming one of the most popular of all the Silver Dollar City festivals: Bluegrass & BBQ! Now in its second season, the 2006 festival, which matches up America’s favorite pastimes of mountain music and outdoor cooking, offers an expanded lineup while adding an extra week to the event. This year’s festival kicks off May 13 and runs through June 4.

“When we set out to build this event, our guests were very clear they wanted a spring music festival, and research showed barbecue ranks just as high. Based upon our history of listening to our guests, we decided to put the two together,” said D.A. Callaway of Silver Dollar City Entertainment. Callaway added that after last year’s popularity, the quality and quantity bar was set even higher with expansions including more music, more barbecue and more days.

“With every instrument tuning up, there will be a grill firing up,” Callaway said. Although the statement isn’t a literal count, the House of BBQ has been moved to the largest presentation hall on the park, The Red Gold Heritage Hall. Barbecue choices will feature smoky Texas-style, sweet Kansas City favorites, Memphis dry rubs and Carolina vinegar-based sauces. Tasting begins on the Square with demonstration of pit-style cooking and hundreds of barbecue sauces from around the country to sample.

The expanded festival also features a who’s who of American Bluegrass, with 50 bands and more than 1,000 performances from award-winning artists to rising stars, at a time when bluegrass music is exploding in popularity.

“We are in a Golden Age in bluegrass where pioneers of the music are still out there headlining and a new generation of talent is expanding the boundaries.” said Dan Hays, the executive director of the Nashville-based International Bluegrass Music Association. With the quality and quantity of bluegrass bands featured, “Silver Dollar City is one of the most significant and vital presenters of live bluegrass music anywhere in the world,” Hays said.

Bluegrass legend and 11-time Grammy winner Ricky Skaggs performs in a special concert May 28, headlining a lineup of featured bluegrass performers including Entertainer of the Year* and Entertaining Group of the Year** Cherryholmes; Emerging Artists of the Year* and Instrumental Group of the Year** The Grascals, and 2006 Bluegrass Band Champions** Billie Renee and Cumberland Gap. National touring bluegrass favorites include NewFound Road, Pine Mountain Railroad, the Lewis Family and the Chapmans.

Young bluegrass artists from around the country compete for honors and cash prizes as the park hosts its annual Youth in Bluegrass Band Contest, May 27-28. “Many of our past Youth in Bluegrass winners are now national touring bands, so the contest is a great place to see the freshest new talent in bluegrass.” Callaway said.

“One of the things people like best about this festival is a chance to get barbecue pointers from the experts – ‘how to’ tips on smoking and grilling methods, and sauce recipes,” said Mark Momany, culinary expert for Silver Dollar City. To kick off the festival, nationally recognized barbecue experts and authors Karen Adler and Judith Fertig, who have co-authored 9 cookbooks as the BBQ Queens, will share grilling tips and recipes at Silver Dollar City on Saturday, May 13. “Everyone likes to put their own signature in their barbecue and we like to introduce people to new flavors, such as smoking meats using ground pecan shells, corncobs or fruitwoods such as apple or pear,” Adler said. “At Silver Dollar City, we’re saluting two traditions with deep America roots – bluegrass and barbecue.”

Each evening, the show Classic Country Nights is featured in Echo Hollow Amphitheatre, with a special guest bluegrass group each night. Silver Dollar City also features rides and attractions including the Grand Exposition, an all-new development with 10 family rides showcased in an expanded, two-acre area of the theme park; six festivals; a dozen restaurants and over 100 demonstrating craftsmen.

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Silver Dollar City’s World-Fest Presents World-Renowned Moscow Circus, A Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience

New for 2006, Silver Dollar City’s World-Fest presents a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the world-renowned Moscow Circus, with stunning acrobatics showcased in a show custom designed for Silver Dollar City, and the Zunyi Acrobats of China for their first U.S. performance. These shows premiere along with the Grand Opening of the all-new Grand Exposition with 10 new family rides on April 6 at the Branson, Missouri theme park.

The Moscow Circus, with a 200-year tradition, produces the most talented acrobats and aerialist in the world. Supported by Russian Empress Catherine the Great in the late 1700s, the Moscow Circus is the world’s longest running and most prestigious circus organization, and has been a prized part of Russia’s cultural heritage for centuries. “Bringing this tradition of quality and excellence spanning generations of performers to World-Fest gives our guests a rate opportunity to see some of the very best in the world in acrobatics, trapeze, gymnastics and clowning,” said Rex Burdette, Silver Dollar City’s World-Fest Coordinator. The Moscow Circus performs through the entire festival, April 6 – 7.

In the tradition of the late 19th Century expositions that brought exotic performers from other lands and technological wonders to towns across the U.S., Silver Dollar City opens its all-new $8 million development for 2006 – the Grand Exposition, with 10 new family rides, the theme park’s biggest expansion ever for kids. The Grand Exposition, opening with World-Fest, nearly doubles the number of tides at the park and increases ride capacity more than 50 percent. From the five-story Magnificent Wave Carousel to the interactive twirling tea cups of the Royal Tea Party, the rides are designed for families to enjoy together in the historically themed setting.

Also new this year, World-Fest presents the Zunyi Acrobats of China performing for the first time in the U.S., musicians from the Czech Republic, a mariachi band from Mexico and a new Irish show with dancers, musicians and story tellers. Some of the returning performers from countries around the world are the colorful German stiltwalkers of Zebra Stilzentheater, a troupe of Swiss alpenhorn musicians, a steel drum band from Trinidad and pan flute musician from Ecuador.

Food and craftsmanship take on an international flavor too, as the park offers a pavilion of specialties such as Jamaican jerk chicken and Caribbean snapper, Mexican fajitas, oriental platters, Greek pies and salads, and desserts including Italian tiramisu and a Swiss chocolate fountain. The unique craftsmanship of talented artisans from 32 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, including handcrafted baskets, jewelry, textiles, musical instruments and home decor, is featured in a showcase from Ten Thousand Villages, new this year for World-Fest.

Each evening, the show Classic Country Nights is featured in Echo Hollow Amphitheatre, with guest performances during World-Fest by a bluegrass band from the Czech Republic.

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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.

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Coming in 2006: Silver Dollar City’s Biggest Expansion Ever for Kids
The Grand Exposition
10 New Family Rides in an All-New Area

In a project billed as Silver Dollar City’s “Biggest Expansion Ever for Kids” the number of rides on the theme park is nearly doubling and rider capacity is increasing by more than 50 percent. New for 2006, Silver Dollar City presents The Grand Exposition – an all-new development with 10 family rides showcased in an expanded, two-acre area of the theme park.

The $8 million Grand Exposition brings the total number of rides at Silver Dollar City to 21 and increases ride capacity at the park to nearly 13,000 per hour – up 5,000 riders per hour. It is an addition that families say they want, according to Silver Dollar City General Manager Brad Thomas.

“As a critical part of our business practice, we conduct surveys and focus groups asking people for a variety of input,” Thomas said. “In conducting extensive research with moms, they told us they want more rides they can ride together as a family. So instead of adding one new major ride, we decided to add 10 new family rides that bring the park’s ride capacity up more than 50 percent.”

The theming of the new area is inspired by the world’s fairs and expositions of more than 100 years ago with decor and details closely adhering to authenticity in colors, artwork and atmosphere of the era. From the high-flying swing ride to a family-sized coaster, there are seven rides that parents can ride with their kids, and three rides that smaller kids ride alone.

All 10 rides are being designed and manufactured specifically for Silver Dollar City in Italy by the 100-year-old Zamperla company, known worldwide for their craftsmanship and for designing rides for the Disney parks. The rides are styled to match the Grand Exposition theme, recreating the excitement of the magnificent expositions that showcased the technological wonders of the late 19th Century and combined imagination, technology and entertainment.

“As the traveling expositions drew people from hundreds of miles around to marvel at the latest mechanical innovations and American ingenuity, Silver Dollar City’s Grand Exposition is in keeping with our hallmark of bringing the past to life,” said Thomas. “We’ve chosen the theme of a very grand and exciting era that evokes the elements of the expositions of the late 1800s.”

Grand Exposition rides include the five-story Magnificent 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 which travels 55 feet in the air before spinning up another 55 feet the opposite directions; the twirling tea cups of the Royal Tea Party and the soaring Elephant March, both with controls for interactive fun; the fast-paced Racing Regatta and the Grand Exposition Coaster.

The Grand Exposition, which opens in Spring, 2006, is the largest addition of rides added at one time in the park’s history. Major rides at the park include last year’s explosive launch roller coaster PowderKeg, profiled as one of the top-ten rides for 2005 by the Wall Street Journal and named the Best Family Thrill Coaster on the Planet by Thrillride.com; and the multi-looping, multiple inversion roller coaster WildFire.

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