I live in Sevierville.T.N. and love it here.A lot has changed over the years at the car shows here.Now the shades of the past is held on Veterns Blvd. A good idea easier to get in to .Its right next to DOLLYWOOD. I took my 1956 chrysler windsor down real early to get a spot on the Parkway and while i was parking.I saw cops and santation men picking up peoples chairs who leave them out to save their spots for them and their car and tossing them in the back of their trucks I SAW THIS.We always used to do that now its changed.Also if you leave your car for more than 24 hours after the car shows over they stick a red tow sticker and if its not removed Karrs towing will get it and its big bucks to get your car back. There has been a lot of theifs and cars stolen.Dont get me wrong i still love it here and the car shows.I still cruise the shows but would not leave my car over night.{i used too} just be careful.Where you park and have fun.Bruce.
I don't see the problem. Park you car , not your chair. It annoys the hell out of me when I go to a show and parking is a problem beccause chairs and cones are everywhere Its a stinkin car show not a chair and cone show. Does your car not run so you have to leave it for over 24 hours? These "changed rules" sound reasonable to me.
Seems like a lot of people like to 'power-park' by leaving their chairs and cones to 'save' their spot - or even leaving their car to do the same.
Last time I checked it was a car show, not a chair show. If you want to park there get your butt up and bring your car. If not ,you snooze, you lose.
I live here also. The chairs are on the sidewalks, not in parking lots. There are some chairs in private business parking lots. This is a cruise through the center of town. The big time is Labor Day weekend the rods start to show up for the Shades of The Past the following weekend. The chairs are then starting to show up blocking the sidewalks. This continues for 2 solid WEEKS. The weekend after the Shades is the Grand Run.
i watched the police doing this last year and a smartass came up and started arguing with them the officer tried in a nice way to explain that was state and county right of way not private. the guy kept on, they throwed his ass in the car, and kept loading chairs. very good intertainment. i agree, this is a car show and i get ticked with grabbers that think they own the real estate
I also live here and I will say I refused going to the Rod Run for many years. Last time I went in 2004 I wasn't on the strip for more than 1/4 mile with traffic moving 5mph or less and I got a ticket for the guy in the back of my station wagon not wearing a seat belt. The officer also warned me that he couldnt read my tag since my back door was down. I turned around and went home and haven't been back til 2yrs ago. I went in 2011 and 2012 and must say I now know why the cops are so hard on everyone. It is getting out of control. I had my 11yr daughter w/me and it was pretty embarrassing trying to turn her head or strike up a quick "hey look at that" everytime the beads would come out and girls would lift their shirts for them. Tons of people were more than intoxicated, don't get me wrong I will throw a couple down, but I don't do it while yelling "do a burnout and pouring beer in the street or on someones car because I'm to drunk to pour it on the tire. The chairs on the sidewalk I agree you should take them back to your room at the end of the evening and the cars that usually are staying in parking lots for more than 24hrs are for sale and sit there for the solid 2wks. I say spend the money and put them in the swap meet at the show! That is the place for them. They tie up a lot of parking spots and that makes it tough for the folks that are not part of the event to have a good time. Plus it gives funds to the events which will help them grow. I remember as a kid my dad would take me to these shows and it seemed like a much more family environment compared to what is going on now. I hope it does get better and I do not think that these shows will ever leave Pigeon Forge.
Good... I wish other venues would do the same. Last year at the Nashville Goodguys show we pulled up at about 8 a.m. Saturday morning to the same spots we'd parked in on Friday - only to find folding chairs 'saving' the spots for someone else. We moved them up the curb a few feet and parked. It was after 2 P.M. before the chair's owner showed up to claim 'his' spot...
The thing that pisses me off the most at the Shades is the way motels triple their prices for Friday and Saturday nights. What a rip off. We now stay in a rental cabin. Way better then a cheesy motel room for about the same price.
I was a state director for Kustoms Of America and remember when we did shows in Pigeon Forge. Their whole attitude was give us your money and go away. Haven't been back in years and don't miss the place one bit.
Most of the people that live in Pigeon Forge know that their city depends on our tourism dollars. Lord only knows how much I have spent over the years both in Pigeon Forge and Gatlingburg back in the old days of the outlaw runs. And for a local to complain about traffic,,I can go anywhere I want to go without driving on the main drag and get there pretty quick. HRP
You still have that vib, but I don't think either of these shows will ever leave. Most of the other shows are gone. Moved either to Bristol, Sevierville, or Maggie Valley, NC(which is very nice and welcoming place I will add.)
Ive been going to the shows in pigeon forge for 25 yrs.Its easy for the us who have went for for a long time to complain because we remember when it was fun.I can't understand why everyone sets along the street now no one rides there cars anymore its just a parade of mini vans etc. but its their choice.Once it became a used car lot instead of a rod run it died.Everyone associated with the shows Shades or the Grand is older now and just want the money and will milk it till its dry.Nothing stays the same no matter how much we want it to.We just have to find places where it fun again.I ve always said if the would just go a year and have NO CAR SHOWS in P Forge ,and started over it might be different .But jst look at the town compaired to years ago.It has been taken over by food,hotels and other forms of revenue so the car shows aren't the only money makeer for the town by a long shot.Sadly its just a hassle to go down there.But its still fun and new for some to enjoy.Sorry for the long winded rant but those shows hold fond memories for me and i guess I just wish it could be the way it was .
......Cabins are a good option, but folks should maybe consider motels in nearby Dandridge or Newport to save some money. Both are a short drive away and are usually cheaper on show week-ends. It is a crime that the local motels in town jack their prices just to rip off the attendees. Unfortunately it happens everywhere, check the prices motels charge when a NASCAR race is in their particular town. It's not like the motels in Pigeon Forge don't have opportunities almost year round to make a buck. Greed is pervasive..................My rant.....Don.
I miss Gatlinburg in the 70s. Police dogs,helicopters,kids in riot gear riding around in flatbed trucks,overturned police cars,massive burnouts on Airport Road. Tried to get out of town one Saturday night when it looked like it was really gonna get ugly,and the crowds in the street made driving through almost impossible. I've always wondered how many feet I ran over that night in my '39. Actually,that was early 80's,too
I was a regular at the pigeon forge car show weekends for many years until just recently. Never left my car sitting overnight when I found a good spot to park cause it was never where I was staying at the time. It was almost easier and just as fun to take the family cruiser and spend all day of every day riding bicycles around town and that way you saved your feet the walking and could bypass the traffic when necessary. Saw a lot of cars that way too! Going to be down there and try it again this year during the shades weekend. Probably the most annoying "chair show" has got to be the Ducktail Run in Gas City, IN during the James Dean Festival weekend. People think they have the right to save a spot or whole row of spots and not show up all day at all, and if and when they do, they may only stay an hour or two and leave for the day! Every year we find a nice parking spot, look around...clearly no chairs saving it, only to have somebody show up hours later whining about us stealing their spot they saved last week or something like that. We just stay put and let them act like babys, lol.
I was in Gatlinburg in the 70's in my 55 Chevy. Remember it was way out of hand. Guys would bleach your tires on the main drag for burnouts. I left when the police broke out the fire hoses
I got wet in the Gatlingburg Hose Down!,,Funny, I went for years and don't remember overturn police cars but I do remember the burn outs on Airport road. HRP
I live here too, wouldn't drive 40 minutes to get there. just a big traffic jam and hotel and a very small club putting on a runs to make money
Police car shenanigans weren't around Airport Road,but were along the parkway going out of town towards PF.. Based on which girl was with me,I'm thinking mid 70's is about right..
i'm over the chairs, i'll move them in a heartbeat to park. sometimes if i like the chair i will keep it lol i have seen them on a sun morning when the show is over drive down the strip with a dump truck and load up chairs. ya'll need to go to the rednck rumble instead of the fall grand-run. btw did you kno the Grand hotel has been shut down? its also fun to put a crazy low price tag on a car and not but a number on it and sit back and watch the dealers go crazy trying to find out who owns it.
Yeah we did the price tag thing to a buddy's impala and put his phone number on it. That what he gets for going to play putt-putt w/his girlfriend instead of hanging out w/the guys... ...and YES redneck rumble is a must!
tried to sell a 57 chev truck up there in about 06 .truck was ruff but ran good with a 235 3spd .We drove & sat all day saturday with $2500 on the windshield with no interest, so on the way home about dusk I cleaned an 0 off the windshield leaving 250----people were running down the sidewalks trying to buy it.The few that managed to catch us we told that we just bought it and asked if we got a good deal or not
I love Gatlinburg and surrounding areas, but I only go when there's not a show now. I did it for years and that place just isn't made for that kind of traffic. I've seen many cars and bikes get hot from sitting in the traffic.
I was in Pigeon Forge with my buddy SOTA in my 56 f100, and got pulled over for "malicious destruction of public highway". We were going at a snails pace and I let the front bags down to where the bumper would touch the pavement enough to make noise. Us and the spectators would laugh and have a good time. Then It was blue lights and loud speakers telling me to pull over. As I was pulling over, I hit the controller a little at a time to raise the truck. I did my best song and dance to the officers and avoided going to jail.I still have always had a good time down there.
Thank for the thread. After reading I know that is one car show I will not go to. I understand that 20 year ago it was the place to be.
I will be in the minority and say that I have been going to gatlinburg and now pigeon forge shows since the late 70's and I still like it! Yeah, the traffic is bad but there are back roads to get around on if you are in a hurry. The local cops are jerks, Just don't do anything stupid,Yes, I have paid tickets there. I have sold a lot of cars there and see some old friends every year. The shades run in sept. is still one of my favorites. But the local cops do suck!
One cop was giving out hundreds of tickets the sat I was there trying to sell my shoebox. If you blocked the road because the light changed to red while you were trying to move on down the road...you got a ticket...my friend and I were amazed...he must have written over a hundred tickets that saturday as everyone blocked the red light for the others who were trying to go thru their red light.
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