Dollywood’s Flower & Food Festival

Dollywood’s Flower and Food Festival is in full swing! From beautiful blooms to delicious treats, you’ll be amazed at the attention to detail throughout the whole theme park.

colorful umbrellas hanging from wires lining the entry street of Dollywood Theme Park

DOLLYWOOD’S FLOWER AND FOOD FESTIVAL

Dollywood is transformed into a beautiful flower paradise from April 21 until June 11 (for the 2023 season). While Dollywood is always a beautiful place to take in the landscaping, it is really kicked up a notch during the flower and food festival… as in over one million blooms!

If you love the shows at Dollywood, they also have spring shows including many street performers singing and entertaining throughout the park.

FLOWERS

As soon as you walk in you are greeted with a beautiful umbrella display seemingly hanging from the sky. Be sure to stop and have your picture taken under the umbrellas!

As you continue your walk you will pass by beautiful umbrellas and butterflies made of flowers. Once you enter Rivertown Junction (Market Square/Festival Fare will be in front of you), you will see a show-stopping display of flowers made into a “Coat of Many Colors”. Simply unbelievable!

female sewing a jacket, both female and jacket made completely of flowers with butterflies surrounding

As you make your way around the park you will see frogs, turtles, bears, ducks, and many more creatures… all in flower form.

Collage of animals (bears, duck, tutles, frogs, butterflies) made of flowers located in Dollywood Theme Park

Another large jaw-dropping display of flowers portrays a beekeeper with bees. Breathtaking!

larger than life beekeeper and bees made of flowers in Dollywood Theme Park

If you are interested in the making of the flower displays, check out the picture below regarding Mosaiculture.

sign describing the 5 step process of mosaiculture located in Dollywood Theme Park

FESTIVAL TASTING PASS

The flowers aren’t the only great thing about spring in Dollywood! One of our favorite things about Dollywood is the festival-tasting passes. This one did not disappoint!

(Excuse the bite taken out of the cookie before the picture was taken!)

college of different foods available (tacos, quinoa cup, cookie, pork slider) during food and flower festival at Dollywood Theme Park

When you buy the tasting pass you get to choose five items to try. For the Flower and Food Festival, you can choose from the following options:

BEVERAGES

Full disclosure that we never get the drinks as part of the tasting pass. In order to get the most value out of the pass, the food options are usually the best things to use it on.

Blueberry Boba Tea
Blue Woog
Mango Boba Iced Tea
Passion Fruit Lemonade
Strawberry Lemonade

FOOD

We loved the BBQ Pork Sliders, Cuban Sandwich, Quinoa Salad, and Street Tacos. The other items were great as well but the previous ones were our favorites!

BBQ Pork Sliders (comes with a small side of coleslaw and beans!)
Bulgogi Nachos
Cobb Salad
Cuban Sandwich
Garlic Shrimp Mac & Cheese
Loaded Mac & Cheese
Loaded Potato Tornado
Pretzel Crab Melt
Quinoa Salad
Street Corn Salad
Street Tacos
Sweet & Tangy BBQ Meatballs

DESSERTS

Berry Funnel Cake
Select Bakery Treats (cookies & cupcakes!)
Pistachio Waffle Ice Cream Sandwich

I’ve been to Dollywood a few times during the Flower and Food Festival and during one of my visits, we happened to be there during a time when Dolly Parton herself made an appearance! We were able to see her in a parade through the park for the Grand Opening of the new Big Bear Mountain coaster! It was definitely a great day.

Dolly Parton riding in a parade through Dollywood Theme Park waving at fans

Stay tuned for our post on how to make the most of your Festival Tasting Pass (we have some great tips!).