Here's Why Dolly Parton's Smoky Mountains Park Is the Ultimate Spring Getaway

While Dolly Parton has brought her fantasy world to life in the form of her Tennessee theme park Dollywood, the iconic singer is bringing "many colors" of spring back to the park with its Flower and Food Festival.

And right at the center of the blooms and blossoms? A floral sculpture inspired by her 1971 hit "Coat of Many Colors"

The spring festival held from April 22 through June 5 features more than 500,000 flowers in colorful displays throughout the park, including the "Mosaiculture" floral sculpture of Parton's own mother sewing the coat mentioned in the famed song.

The maternal theme is also captured with a work called "Mama Bear and Cubs," while another standout work is the 10-foot-tall "topsy-turvy umbrella that reminds us all that after April's showers come spring and summer flowers," the site describes. That message is emphasized further with a stunningly vibrant umbrella sky hanging above Dollywood's Showstreet.

"When I was a little girl, I loved springtime because everything seemed so bright with color," Parton said in a statement shared with Travel + Leisure. "It started to get warm outside and you just felt like you could finally get out of the house after being cooped up in there for so long, which is something I know we're all feeling right now. But the thing I remember most about those spring days were the flowers that would start blooming all over the hills. So, the Smokies really were the inspiration for this festival."

New for this year are displays of a floral peacock, duck, and a beekeeper.

Along with the colorful displays will be culinary treats using seasonal ingredients, as well as live musical performances in the theaters, stages, and walkways.

The Flower and Food Festival is just the first of the 160-acre theme park's seasonal events, as it's followed by the Smoky Mountain Summer Celebration from June 18 through August 7, highlighted by the "Gazillion Bubbles Show: Aurora" (Parton herself stepped inside a bubble on opening day this month as a preview!), as well as extended evening hours for the Sweet Summer Nights light show, starring hundreds of drones and fireworks.

When fall rolls around, the park celebrates the season with its Harvest Festival from Sept. 23 through Oct. 29 with the return of the night-time experience called Great Pumpkin LumiNights where thousands of carved pumpkins are lit up in impressive displays, as well as the debut of Hoot Owl Hollow with owl-themed exhibits.

Finally, the seasonal fun gets into the holiday spirit with the Smoky Mountain Christmas from Nov. 5 through Jan. 1, 2023, with more than five million holiday lights, themed performances, and fireworks.

The popular theme park in the Great Smoky Mountains' foothills has more than 50 rides and attractions, from thrilling roller coasters to family-friends fare, and of course, plenty of live music which is just one part of Parton's area attractions, which also include Dollywood's Splash Country Water Park; Dollywood's DreamMore Resort and Spa; and Dollywood's Smoky Mountain Cabin, with a new Dollywood's HeartSong Lodge and Resort in the works for 2023.