Table of Contents. Dollywood Harvest Festival
Dollywood's Harvest Festival is the park's fall season: live music and fall food by day, Great Pumpkin LumiNights after dark. It runs September 14 through October 31, 2026, and LumiNights is included with regular park admission. That last part matters. Guests still ask us if they need a second ticket for the pumpkins. They do not, unless they are going to Harvey's Boo Bash.
We are 12 miles from the front gate. A cabin stay turns a park day into a two or three night trip with a hot tub at the end. Book the cabin on this site. Buy park tickets from Dollywood.
What Harvest Festival is
Harvest is the festival that sits over regular park operations in the fall. You get the rides, the shows, and the seasonal food, then the park leans into pumpkins and lights after sunset. It is the season we send families who want one big ticketed day and one quiet cabin day.
Day versus after dark
Daytime is live music and fall food. After dark is Great Pumpkin LumiNights, included with park admission. If LumiNights is the reason you bought the ticket, do not leave at 5 p.m. Eat in the park or pack a simple cabin breakfast so you can stay through the lights.
Typical park hours during the festival are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. That is a typical value. Recheck the park calendar the week you travel. Shoulder days can close earlier.
Book the cabin 20 to 25 minutes from the gate
Check live dates on this site, then buy Dollywood tickets from Dollywood.
Check AvailabilityDates, hours, and tickets
Verified August 19, 2026
- Festival dates: September 14 to October 31, 2026.
- Typical hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Recheck the park calendar.
- Great Pumpkin LumiNights: included with regular park admission.
- Day tickets: starting at $94.99 Pick-A-Day / $99.99 Good-Any-Day as of August 19.
- Ages 3 and under: free.
Harvey's Boo Bash is separately ticketed
Do not mix this up with LumiNights. Harvey's Boo Bash is a different event on three nights only: October 16, 23, and 30. Enter at 6 p.m. Exclusive hours are 9 p.m. to midnight. Price is $129.99 plus tax, ages 4+. If Boo Bash is your night, that is a late return to the cabin. Plan a sleep-in the next morning, not a 7 a.m. Cades Cove start.
NightFlight Expedition
NightFlight Expedition is open during Harvest Festival, with rides from noon. If that coaster is on your list, do not assume it is running at park open. Build it into the afternoon, then stay for LumiNights.
Nearby pairings
- A leaf-drive morning, then a rest day, then Dollywood. See the fall color stay guide.
- Anakeesta Bear-Varian on a different day. Both are full outings.
- Pigeon Forge dinner if you do not want to recook at the cabin after a park day.
- Our cabins near Dollywood explainer if distance is the only question you have.
Which cabin to book
- Funky Bear Lodge or Big Sky Lodge for a park crew that wants a theater after LumiNights or Boo Bash.
- Dream Big or Million Dollar View for one family of 8.
- Serenity if you want the quietest house after a loud park day.
How we plan a park day from the cabin
Local tip
Grocery stop in Sevierville on the way in. Breakfast at the cabin. In the gate at open. NightFlight from noon. Stay for LumiNights. Hot tub when you get back. That is the day that works.
October Saturdays are the park's busiest stretch of the festival. If your dates flex, pick a Tuesday through Thursday. Book the cabin first on this site, then lock park tickets.
