Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, is a theme park success story for several
reasons. Besides having one of country music’s most iconic personalities as co-owner,
the park is a well-chosen mix of traditional thrill rides spiced with crafts and culture, a
successful recipe of entertainment that attracts nearly 3 million guests a year.

Each fall, Dollywood holds a popular Harvest Festival and this year sought a family
friendly, fall-centric addition to the autumn event. Park leadership decided on a
pumpkin-themed evening concept to support the park’s “Year of the Family’ theme.
The new experience, “Great Pumpkin LumiNights,’ is an outdoor installation of
thousands of illuminated jack-o-lanterns, artistic sculptures, playful scenes, pumpkin-
themed food and entertainment.

Theatrical approach to lighting

Since lighting would play a vital role in the evening event, Elation Professional dealer
StudioVibrant of Lexington, Kentucky, was asked to join the “Great Pumpkin
LumiNights’ design team from the initial conceptual discussions. “Early in the process,
I determined that a theatrical approach to illuminating the show sets was important,’
stated Matt Cooper, principal lighting designer at StudioVibrant, who was key in
specifying both Elation and Acclaim lighting on the project. “Most pumpkin events we
researched tended toward interior illumination and negative space but focusing on
only interior illumination misses the opportunity to highlight the form of a pumpkin. It
became clear that sidelight, uplight and washing the exterior of the show sets would
be critical not only in setting LumiNights apart from other events but in conveying
Dollywood’s unique identity and history.’

SixPar and SixBar

As conversations evolved, it became apparent to Cooper that the area of
the park designated for the event contained several permanent structures that were
rich with opportunity for illumination. The project focused on both supporting
temporary show-specific sets (a giant pumpkin spider, among others), as well as
illuminating several permanent elements, specifically two roller coasters, the park’s
250’ tall Drop Line tower ride and several themed structures.

“Because of Dollywood’s tradition of live shows and a polished theatrical presentation,
I was very sensitive to the need for a strong color mixing system to reproduce the
amber and pastel tones that are central to the park’s palette,’ Cooper said, explaining
that for building wash duties he selected the Elation SixPar 300™, an LED Par light
with six-color LED chip, including UV. “The colour mixing system was advantageous for
washing the Mystery Mine building, and the dedicated UV element was critical in
rendering the eerie tone of the structure and related show sets.’

Each jack-o-lantern within the “Great Pumpkin LumiNights’ show sets contains
individual pixel-mapped RGB diodes and each decorative set vignette receives a wash
treatment to highlight the scale of the set and communicate the unique form of a
pumpkin to guests. “We used a combination of SixPar 100™, SixPar 200™ and SixBar
1000 IP™ fixtures for exterior wash,’ Cooper says, “often leaning heavily on the color
mixing capacity of the SixPar series for contrasty sidelight to accentuate the forms
and translate the playful, fun, upbeat tone of the event.’ Additionally, SixPar 200s
with custom top hats were used to help wash the tree canopy and uplight specific
themed characters.

Acclaim Lighting

Lighting from Elation’s sister company, Acclaim Lighting, also played a key role as
Acclaim DynaDrum HO fixtures took a prominent role in illuminating permanent
structures. An array of 16 DynaDrums illuminated the Thunderhead wooden roller
coaster while six DynaDrums illuminated the Drop Line structure. “The integrated Aria
wireless DMX transceiver was a huge asset in facilitating placement of the fixtures
within ride enclosures and landscaping where hardwired solutions would have been
impractical,’ the lighting designer explains. “I also appreciated the capability to swap
filters to vary beam angle which helped our team dial in focus and coverage in the
field. The sheer output of the DynaDrum is also very impressive, and the illuminated
Drop Line tower is now visible from Dollywood’s main parking lot. The output capacity
for the dollar is nothing short of impressive.’

To facilitate control of both the fixtures on the temporary show sets and fixtures
associated with permanent structures, the StudioVibrant team developed and
deployed an extensive control network. Over 40 universes of sACN form the backbone
of the control solution including three discrete universes via Aria wireless transmitters.
Transmitters were fed from sACN nodes with antennas placed in inconspicuous
locations on existing structures. Cooper calls the Aria solution an asset, specifically
when coupled with receivers integrated in fixtures.

Product support on the project was provided by Elation manufacturer rep firm Five
Lakes Marketing, who Cooper was more than happy to work with. “Ed Cheeseman at
Five Lakes was instrumental in the process, aiding us in securing demo fixtures for
on-site evaluation with the design team and in coordinating arrival times of a great
deal of equipment with a non-negotiable opening date,’ he said, adding that
Dollywood was a tremendous partner to work with. “Their team is world class,
dedicated and tenacious,’ he concludes.

The largest addition ever made to Dollywood’s fall festival, “Great Pumpkin
LumiNights’ ran from September 29th until October 28th and was a great success,
helping set park records for fall attendance on several occasions.