One of the most fun events that I attended while in Branson, MO was Dolly Parton’s Stampede. I was in Branson for the Blogging Branson event. It was a trip where I was with a large group of bloggers who attended many events over a few days. I paid my way to get there, but once I got there my lodging, entertainment and food were taken care of completely. At Dolly Parton’s Stampede Dinner Attraction we had a special reception just for the bloggers and it was so much fun.
When you arrive at Dolly Parton’s Stampede they have entertainment for the crowd to enjoy prior to the dinner show. There are three levels in a round because there can be as many as 1500 people in attendance. I can hardly believe that they can do up to five shows a day. That is incredible. It is, however, not unbelievable after witnessing the efficiency with which Dolly Parton’s Stampede takes care of business. First patrons warm up with pre-show entertainment. We got to hear Christmas songs in the Carriage Room from a trio of musical brothers, the White River Wranglers.
The pre-show is an hour and then patrons head into the 35,000 square -foot arena. We were seated in a section where we were all able to look down into the theater. As we were seated the serving staff came through to feed us a delicious four course meal. The meal consists of a whole rotisserie chicken, hickory-smoked barbecue pork loin, herb-basted potato, buttery corn on the cob, creamy vegetable soup, homemade biscuit and special holiday dessert. It was the best meal of the trip. I could not get enough of those biscuits and lucky my friend Becky gave me hers.
This feast is being served as the show is happening down in the arena. There is a friendly rivalry between the North and South sides of the arena. To show your support you stomp and clap and cheer then your side’s champions win any of the games happening below. There is barrel racing, and many other equestrian feats. There is also comedy, music and audience participation. Later on there were even trained dogs that performed stunts of their own. The dogs that are trained for Dolly Parton’s Stampede are all rescues. The dogs of Canine Capers only perform at the Branson location. There is also the additional location at Pigeon Forge, TN.
You can see examples of some of the amazing things that we saw in the arena in the images and videos below. Christmas at Dolly Parton’s Stampede is a fantastic family event. I know that when we go back to Branson we’ll be taking the kids to see this. If you missed the show before Christmas, don’t worry, it is playing until January 5th. This show starts before Halloween and ends after Christmas and it is always a packed house full of excitement, music and laughter. The living nativity was a particular highlight along with the toys coming to life.
While we were at Christmas at Dolly Parton’s Stampede we learned about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. It is an amazing program that provides free books to kids. Books are incredibly important in our home and hearing about kids being able to get free books where otherwise they would have none is fantastic.
About Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth until they begin school, no matter their family’s income.
After launching in 1995, the program grew quickly. First books were only distributed to children living in Sevier County, Tennessee where Dolly grew up. It became such a success that in 2000 a national replication effort was underway. By 2003, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library had mailed one million books. It would prove to be the first of many millions of books sent to children around the world.
Dolly’s home state of Tennessee pledged to pursue statewide coverage in 2004 and global expansion was on the horizon. After the United States, the program launched in Canada in 2006 followed by the United Kingdom in 2007 and Australia joined in 2013.
Christmas at Dolly Parton’s Stampede
Christmas Show Dates for Branson, MO:
October 25, 2018 – January 5, 2019
To get tickets for your family and for more information please visit the Dolly Parton’s Stampede Website.
Dolly Parton’s Stampede is located at:
1525 West Highway 76
Branson, MO 65616
United States (US)
Phone: (800) 520-5544