Dollywood's Harvest Festival Nominated For USA Today 10Best Award

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (Monday, Aug. 24, 2026) — Dollywood’s Harvest Festival presented by Humana has once again been nominated for the USA Today 10Best Award for Best Theme Park Halloween Event. 

The Harvest Festival—which features the wildly popular Great Pumpkin LumiNights—has been a perennial favorite for the award. The USA Today contest, which now is live, runs through Monday, Sept. 21 at 11:59 a.m. Winners will be announced on Sept. 30.

A page with a link to the voting page can be found at www.dollywood.com/vote. Anyone is eligible to vote and may do so once per day, per device. Nominees for all categories are chosen by a panel of relevant experts, which includes a combination of editors from USA Today, editors from 10Best.com, relevant expert contributors and more.

Dollywood’s Harvest Festival (Sept. 14- Oct. 31) provides fabulous fall family fun, with Great Pumpkin LumiNights serving as a great glowing end to the evening. Dollywood stays open late every night (until 9 p.m.) during the festival, allowing families more time to enjoy 12,000 carved pumpkins throughout the park.  Guests can enjoy extended park hours (9 a.m.- 11 p.m.) from Oct. 3-15. 

Harvey’s Boo Bash, Dollywood theme park’s very first separately-ticketed, after-hours special event, is set to carve out a new fall tradition this year, serving up a harvest of family-friendly fun and festivities after dark. 

Harvey’s Boo Bash takes place on Oct. 16, 23 and 30 after Dollywood’s Harvest Festival presented by Humana closes to regular park guests at 9 p.m. The event takes place from 9 p.m. until midnight, providing guests the opportunity to enjoy Great Pumpkin LumiNights as well as several exclusive activities and offerings just for them. Among the fun are a number of candy collecting stations and access to many of Dollywood’s award-winning attractions, including the all-new NightFlight Expedition. 

A limited number of tickets will be sold each evening, meaning those who attend have more opportunities to ride Dollywood’s available attractions and collect enough free candy to satisfy even the largest sweet tooth. In addition, guests will get to enjoy meet & greets with all of Dollywood’s favorite harvesttime characters, while two dance parties also take place during the evening, one at 9:30 p.m. to kick off all the festive fun and another at 11 p.m. for a late-night celebration!