Springtime is a time for rebirth in Gatlinburg’s Great Smoky Mountains. Flowers pop out of the ground in vivid colors. Trees turn green with a burst of new growth and leaves. Birds chirp and other wildlife begins emerging from a winter slumber. Frost and snow melts from the high country and sends water cascading down spectacular water falls.

While the Smoky Mountains are best known for the brilliant fall color season, spring may be an even more beautiful time to experience the Gatlinburg area. In addition to the amazing scenery that surrounds you, you’ll also find an abundance of spring events and activities that highlight the town’s annual Springfest celebration from March 11 - June 6, 2011.

Throughout this three-month celebration, Gatlinburg visitors and experience the transformation into spring. While the mountainsides explode in color with wildflowers, Gatlinburg’s streets also bloom with baskets of flowers and plants throughout the city. Live entertainment can be found along city sidewalks, providing a welcoming atmosphere.

Members of Great Smoky Arts & Crafts Community will display their beautiful and unique handcrafted wares at the Gatlinburg Convention Center during the annual Easter Arts & Crafts Show held April 21-24, 2011.

On Easter morning, April 24, visitors can also join in the local tradition and attend Ober Gatlinburg’s 13th annual Easter Sunrise Service. Starting at 5:45 am, you can enjoy a free tram ride to the mountain where the Easter service takes place at 6:30 a.m. Complimentary parking at the resort is also provided for those who prefer to drive. A breakfast buffet is also available at the Ober Gatlinburg Restaurant.

Another popular Gatlinburg event is the annual Ribfest and Wings celebration on April 28. The smell of hickory-smoked barbeque fills the air and you’ll have an opportunity to sample secret sauces on delectable ribs and wings from more than twenty vendors from all over the Southeast. The festive downtown party also features free entertainment.

The 61st Annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage takes place April 27 through May 1. This event is ideal for hikers and nature lovers and offers the chance to see the Smoky Mountains’ delicate wildflowers in bloom. The five-day event offers more than 150 different hiking tours of trails ranging from easy to strenuous, as well as exhibitions, demonstrations, classroom lectures and motor excursions.

Gatlinburg’s bevy of Spring events continues May 13-14 with the Scottish Highland Games. All Scots are invited to join in the Scottish parade to kick off the event. Following the parade, Mills Park in Gatlinburg becomes competitive ground for the annual Scottish Festival & Games where clans meet and activities feature Highland athletic events, bagpipe competitions, highland dancing, border collie demonstrations, entertainment and whiskey tasting, along with food and merchandise vendors.       

Finally, the Gatlinburg Fine Arts Festival, a family-oriented festival featuring juried artists from around the country, takes place on Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies Plaza and River Road, May 14-15, 2011.

It’s all part of the fun and entertainment that fills the Gatlinburg area in springtime. For more on these events or to get information on discount Gatlinburg vacation packages and accommodations, please visit http://www.westgatereservations.com/ or http://www.gatlinburgvacationstore.com/.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Gatlinburg, TN offers thousands of acres of protected terrain that is home to one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world with an amazing collection of plant and animal life.Yet, there in the heart of the mountains, you’ll also find more than 10,000 exotic creatures comprising more than 350 species - from the sea! It’s all part of Ripley’s^® Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg.

This extensive array of sea life can be explored throughout a variety of fun and entertaining exhibits.

The Tropical Rainforest recreates a lush marine world where more than 2,000 species of fish thrive. You’ll discover freshwater stingrays, cardinal tetras, four-eyed fish, poison dart frogs, zebra cichlids, armored catfish, piranhas, mudskippers and more.

The aquarium’s Ocean Realm exhibit is a collection of delicate undersea life such as the Pacific Giant Octopus, sea anemones, living corals, jelly fish and weedy sea dragons.

At Touch-A-Ray Bay, you can dip your hands into a shallow lagoon and touch rays as they glide by effortlessly. Their skin is smooth and touching their top sides will not harm the rays. Aquarists are on hand to assure the safety of guests and rays and to answer any questions.

Additional rays can be seen in Stingray Bay, where these unique creatures glide through the water like majestic birds. Related to sharks, rays are fish without bones. Instead their flexible bodies are made of cartilage. You can also watch as divers enter the tank and hand feed these large but gentle animals.

The aquarium’s largest and most popular exhibit is Shark Lagoon, where you’ll find thousands of fish of every shape and size. You’ll leisurely travel on a moving 340-foot long glide path through an acrylic tunnel offering face-to-face encounters with snappers, tarpons, grunts, squirrelfish, a green sea turtle, giant stingrays, sawfish and, of course, sharks.

You’ll find the colors of the rainbow amidst the delicate Indo-Pacific Coral Reef where thousands of colored fish swim near the tropical Pacific islands. The aquarium hand crafted replicas of the reef to create a vibrant oasis where divers hand feed fish and where some of the “plants” are actually plant like animals such as hammer corals and brain corals that rely on the sun for nutrition.

At Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, it’s not all about looking. It’s also about having fun. And the Discovery Center allows you to experience nature first hand. Interactive displays invite you to learn by participation. You can solve puzzles, test your knowledge against the experts or friends, and even touch live horseshoe crabs - one of the strangest creatures in the aquarium.

For more on Gatlinburg family vacation packages and Great Smoky Mountain National Park, go to http://www.gatlinburgvacationstore.com/ or http://www.westgatereservations.com/.

Get ready, Gatlinburg. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town!

Kris Kringle, aka Santa Claus, star of the 1970’s children’s classic animated holiday TV special — Santa Clause is Comin’ To Town — is headed to Gatlinburg to serve as the Grand Marshal of the 35th Annual Fantasy of Lights Christmas Parade on Dec. 3, 2010.

Kris Kringle is also featured in the ice sculpting event ICE! At the Opryland Hotel in nearby Nashville, TN.  The Christmas classic “Santa Claus is Comin’ To Town” is brought to life in the form of two million pounds of expertly carved ice. The event includes character sculptures, ice slides and other scenes hand-carved by artisans from Harbin, China. ICE! and will be on display from Nov. 19, 2010 through Jan. 2, 2011.  

The Gatlinburg parade offers marching bands from across the Southeast, giant helium balloons and more than 100 entries including the famed and funky Oscar-Myer Weinermobile first was designed by Carl Mayer, nephew of Oscar Mayer, in 1936. Today’s Weinermobile travels across America giving away famous Weinerwhistles along the way. The unique Wienermobile measures 24 hotdogs high, 60 hot dogs long, 18 hot dogs wide and weighs the equivalent of 140,500 hot dogs.  

The parade begins at Traffic Light #1A on Hwy 321 and ends about an hour-and-a-half later at Traffic Light #10. It’s all part of Gatlinburg’s Winter Magic festivities.

To learn more about these events in Gatlinburg visit http://www.gatlinburg.com/. Or go to http://www.gatlinburgvacationstore.com/ for details on discount Gatlinburg vacation packages and accommodations.