Winterfest Prep (WOF)

Welcome to HalloWinterfest at Worlds of Fun

Yesterday was the last day of HAUNT but you'd never know that in the front gate courtyard.

Christmas decorations everywhere.

and they were even playing Christmas music over the PA system

Front Street Shops has completely converted over to Mistletoe

Everything inside the store is now Christmas.

Everywhere.

Some of the seasonal shirts.

and a few more.

Apparently the info booth is going to be another store this year.

They have lots of lights in the remaining trees around the Americana Star Fountain plaza

The lights are starting to go up in the Planet Snoopy trees.  There was a big pile of them behind the Snoopy Boutique waiting to be installed.

The 12 Days of Christmas light sculptures have been installed at Le Taxi Tour.

This is new for this year.  Tinker's Toy Shop (which makes sense with the show next door in Moulin Rouge) is taking over what was Mrs. Claus' Kitchen last season.

Christmas light displays behind the pumpkins on the roof of the Europa restaurant.

Light displays on the hill in front of Le Taxi Tour.

A few more on the other side of the tree.

Light displays installed on Falcon's Flight's fence and on top of Autobahn.

It appears that the Crafter Booths will be spread around the park this year instead of hidden in what used to be Bicentennial Square.

Lots of star light sculptures on the fence by Zulu in Africa.

The "not candy canes" have the company of smaller light sculptures on the hill by the Chicken Patio restaurant in Scandinavia.

More decorations waiting to be installed were sitting backstage near Scrambler.

Getting Santa's House set up.

The Reindeer apparently are returning this year near Fjord Fjairlane.

Winterfest opens on November 23rd at Worlds of Fun

Craft and Cowboy Festival (SDC)

Welcome back to Silver Dollar City and to the Final Year of the National Crafts and Cowboy Festival.

Even before you make it into the park, you are greeted with numerous Fall decoration displays

You cannot help but smile when you see the numerous scarecrows on display.

The square is once again home to many different crafters.

The Big Wheel Lathe is once again a fixture on the square.

As is the cornucopia.

Several rows of crafters line all sides of the square.

A long time fixture of the Fall Festival - Bratcher Cooperage is back again demonstrating his amazing skills of creating wooden buckets.

There are additional booths along the Riverfront (which will not occur in the future) and out by the Red Gold Courtyard.

The Pottery Shop has some specially themed items for sale.

The Frisco Barn is once again home to the Cowboy Emporium

Many different artists have their works on display for purchase.

The famous of which is Buck Taylor.

In the Red Gold Courtyard, an original SDC stagecoach is on display.  They do several shows throughout the day telling of stories about the stagecoaches at the park and about stagecoaches in general.

Here is a different angle of the stagecoach so you can see it a little better.

Kent Collins is back with his Chuck Wagon Show, also in the Red Gold Courtyard.

Along with his assistant, he tells stories about live on the drive and share recipes and tips on Chuck Wagon Cooking.

His other assistant doesn't seem to be much help, but is an extremely cute dog.

This particular show featured peach cobbler and it was really good.

Here are some more crafters along the road to the Grand Expo.

The Final Craft and Cowboy Festival runs through October 28th.

New for 2019 (SDC)

New for 2019 - SDC Presents "The Year of Shows and Festivals" (Branson, Mo. 10/19/18)    A hallmark of Branson’s famed tourism industry is live entertainment and production shows, with Silver Dollar City having proven decades-long leadership in presenting great and unique talent.  Today’s announcement of the 2019 lineup strongly builds on that tradition, with Silver Dollar City beginning a new era of even bolder entertainment with “The Year of Shows & Festivals.” The 1880s internationally-awarded theme park is planning millions of dollars in additions with new and original productions, larger-than-life shows and festival adventures. Topline features include a new $1 million, original mega-production show for Summer, Reuben’s Swashbuckling Adventure; and new for Fall, a spectacular evening and nighttime experience, Pumpkin Nights with thousands of glowing pumpkins artfully brought to life throughout the streets of the City, creating the biggest Fall in the park’s nearly 6-decade history. Other large-scale elements include a globally-acclaimed acrobatic French-Canadian lumberjack production show; a slate of evening concerts in the Echo Hollow Amphitheater including Bluegrass Nights in Spring and then, throughout the season, legendary rock, pop and country performers; the new Kid Magicsummer show; plus The Festival of Wonder with visually-stunning, globally-inspired production shows.            Summer Mega-Productions Imagination comes to life on stage in a huge production opening with Star-Spangled Summer -- the all-new, original production, created exclusively for Silver Dollar City, Reuben’s Swashbuckling Adventure.The $1 million Broadway-style musical is a magical journey of discovery with a colorful cast, flying characters, state-of-the-art sets and special effects. Also new for summer is a show featuring the world’s youngest magician and illusionist, Kid Magic, starring Kadan Bart Rockett & Brooklyn, direct from America’s Got Talent.   Supercharging Fall The City transforms into a glowing-orange wonderland in Fall 2019 as Silver Dollar City presents Pumpkins in the City. This evening lighting event with thousands of pumpkin creations and larger-than-life icons includes giant scarecrows, cats, owls and other characters shining in the dark. A new Pumpkin Pathway leads to Pumpkin Plaza with a dance party and fall activities. The park stays open until 9 pm, with rides running too, creating a new nighttime experience for families.    All new daytime debuts a pulse-raising French-Canadian production show -- an acrobatic musical about singing and dancing lumberjacks in a high-energy internationally-acclaimed stage show. Also by day, in a setting filled with colorful pumpkins, Silver Dollar City craftsmen welcome visiting artisans, with select new crafters each week.     Spring kicks off the year with The Festival of Wonder, billed as “A Most Amazing Entertainment Experience,” designed to spark curiosity by presenting several hot-ticket shows such as Phoenix Fire which is a black-light, laser and fire production, and new circus-inspired extraordinary acts for CirqUnique.     New for Bluegrass & BBQ is Bluegrass Nights, featuring nightly concerts with top bluegrass artists in Echo Hollow Amphitheatre. Following Southern Gospel’s 12 biggest days for Southern Gospel Picnic is a new event for September: Country Music Days presents 13 back-to-back days of iconic country music and Saturday Night Celebrity Concerts with classic country stars.   The grand finale to the year is Christmas. The City transforms into one of the world’s most recognized holiday celebrations, An Old Time Christmas, with over 6.5 million lights, the dazzling Christmas In Midtown, Rudolph’s Holly Jolly™ Christmas Light Parade, original musical productions A Dickens’ Christmas Carol and It’s A Wonderful Life, plus a towering Special Effects Christmas Tree – all for a Christmas season bigger and brighter than ever.   “We are, and always will be, respectful to our roots of presenting great crafts, unique music and family-friendly shows,” said Brad Thomas, President of Silver Dollar City Attractions. “This coming year, we will add many colorful layers, boldly building a new era of entertainment into our traditions.  Guests are seeking new adventures and always looking for something they haven’t seen before. We promise we will deliver new experiences while embracing favorites as we support our mission statement of Creating Memories Worth Repeating,” Thomas said.

Fright Fest Shows (SFSTL)

SHOWS

On the Palace Front Porch is Deadman's Party

A troupe has been taken over and transformed into marionettes of a rather demented nature.  These human puppets have no strings to hold them back.

At the Batman Stage, Will Rotten Presents Freakout Circus is performing.

The show features everything from sword swallowing to telepathy

You'll definitely leave the show with looks of disgust and puzzlement.

At the Axis Games Stage is Dead Beats

This unique group comes together to deliver some high energy drumming

Never mind their unorthodox instruments that they use in this show.

At the Empire Theatre is "REALITY?"

Illusionist Jonny Magic is back with all new feats of magic

Just be sure to pick your jaw up off the floor when you get done watching the show.

In the Palace Theatre is Love at First Fright

Will Jack and Katie escape the monsters again this year?

or will Witchie, Frankie, Wolfie, Riff, Vampira and the rest of the gang succeed in stealing a human brain?

This musical review is popular so make sure you get there early for a good seat.

It would be frightening if you didn't get a chance to see this show.

Check out all 3 parts of our 2018 Fright Fest Coverage.

[PART 1]  [PART 2]  [PART 3]