| 2010 brings festive events to Tennessee |
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Posted: Monday, January 4, 2010 1:49 pm
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The year 2010 brings several significant additions to the tourism industry and some important historical milestones to Tennessee.
One of the most important milestones is the 75th birthday celebration of Elvis Presley that will take place on Jan. 7-10 at Graceland in Memphis.
Another important 2010 milestone is the opening of Titanic Pigeon Forge, a 30,000-square-foot, ship-shaped structure that rests on 5.69 acres. It will hold 20 galleries with hundreds of artifacts from the Titanic. The galleries are set to open April 2010.
Also notable is the 100th birthday of the Hermitage Hotel in downtown Nashville. The hotel began celebrating in September 2009. The Hermitage is the only five-diamond hotel in Tennessee and boasts the famous Capitol Grille, one of Tennessee’s finest dining experiences.
Here’s a brief summary of what’s new in 2010.
East Tennessee
America’s legendary Delta Queen, the last fully operational, overnight passenger steamboat in the country, is now docked in Chattanooga and functioning as a boutique hotel.
A new first-class exhibition opened at the East Tennessee History Center in Knoxville entitled “Voices of the Land: The People of East Tennessee.” The exhibition tells the story of three centuries of life in the region, from the Cherokee to the 1982 World’s Fair. East Tennessee’s Historical Society had been preserving the region’s history for 175 years.
Middle Tennessee
Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2010. To kick off the celebration, Cheekwood will offer a special 50 cents admission charge for the entire month of January. “Nashville Memoir: Photographs by Greg Miller” and “New Direction: Video Artists Explore Southern Identity” will be among various exhibits on display at Cheekwood throughout the year.
Cumberland Caverns will celebrate as 2010 marks 200 years since its discovery. The caverns are open year-round for guided walking tours. The site is also known for Bluegrass Underground, a radio show taped 333 feet below ground level in the Volcano Room.
The James K Polk home will have a new museum, the Polk Presidential Hall, which will be an exhibit and program hall hosting four exhibits per year, some from the Smithsonian. www.jameskpolk.com/new
There will soon be a lot more to love at the Loveless Cafe. The Loveless Barn is scheduled for completion by January 2010. It will be an exciting new venue space located on the historic Loveless Cafe property. www.lovelessbarn.com
Frist Center for the Visual Arts will host Medieval Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art possesses one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of early Christian, Byzantine and medieval European art in the world.
The Frist Center will also present Georgia O’Keeffe and Her Times: American Modernism from the Lane Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston from Oct. 2, 2009–Jan. 31, 2010. In the 1950s, William H. Lane (1914–1995), the owner of a small Massachusetts manufacturing plant, began assembling an extraordinary collection of American modern art, which in 1990 was donated to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. With major paintings by O’Keeffe, Arthur G. Dove, Stuart Davis, Charles Sheeler and many other artists, the exhibition shows the collector’s passion for art that reflects the diversity and dynamism of American modernism. The exhibition was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts. www.fristcenter.org
West Tennessee
International Rockabilly Hall of Fame Festival in Jackson reaches a 10th anniversary milestone in 2010.
The Memphis Zoo, named the No. 1 zoo in America by TripAdvisor, recently added Teton Trek, a four-acre exhibit featuring grizzlies, timber wolves, elk and trumpeter swans.
The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development strives to maintain an up-to-date listing of new events and attractions across the state. Updates to the list are made throughout the year.
For more information, visit tnvacation.com.
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