Springing Back to Life: Festival Season 2021 in the Tennessee River Valley Rebounds

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., June 23, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Oh, what a difference a year makes! No more are event promoters telling tales of pandemic-lockdown woe in the Tennessee River Valley.

Relaxed attitudes and eased restrictions on public gatherings have worked wonders for festivals cancelled or dramatically scaled back last year. By most accounts, 2021 events did exceptionally well this spring, both in attendance and vendor sales -- even if the weather occasionally tried to inflict residual sniffles.

Local businesses that cater to visitors and guests were in dire need -- and appear to have received -- a "vital bounce" in commercial activity this spring, said Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association Executive Director Alicia Phelps, who noted that the festival and event sector is a key component of the tourism and hospitality industry.

"We are more than ready to welcome visitors back year-round," Phelps said. "While some of our most noted events still had an adjusted format early on, popular summer series, fall festivals, and winter happenings are set for full-scale comebacks."

Not only do festivals provide community-building and wellness-enhancing social contact among neighbors, friends and friendly strangers, they're often also a central component of economic sustainability for local nonprofits dedicated to heritage protection and cultural preservation.

Recently conceived or inaugural events also cashed in on a renewed can-do spirit well-matched with the public's will-travel-to-play-and-party mood.

Industrious mountaineers and enterprising townsfolk in Monroe County, Tennessee for example took a gamble this year and launched a first-ever Tellico Trout Festival on May 1. The aim of the event was to promote their area's extraordinary abundance of highly productive cold-water stream fishing as well as celebrate Southern Appalachian artists and the alluring charms of historic downtown Tellico Plains.

And it looks like they landed a keeper.

"The Tellico Trout Festival was just an overwhelming success," said Nancy Dalton, tourism promotion director for the Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association, which serves Polk, McMinn and Monroe counties. "All the vendors did well and they're really looking forward to it again. In fact, some of them have already signed up for next year."

Likewise, there's nothing fishy about claims that the World's Biggest Fish Fry in Paris, Tennessee was no flop either, said Ivy McWherter of the local chamber of commerce.

The four-day catfish fillet-fueled feast in April fully lived up to the claim in its name by luring in boatloads of pro tem pescatarians from local waters and distant shores alike. Two months later, Henry County was still swimming strong when they kicked off the Tennessee River Jam, which made an even a bigger splash after a year adrift than when it was launched in 2019.

"We're up and running, and doing everything we weren't able to do last year," McWherter said.

Media Contact

Mark Engler, TRV Stewardship Council, 865-585-0811, [email protected]

SOURCE TRV Stewardship Council