300 Performances Featured August 30 – September 9

Contact: Martha Bohner, Silver Dollar City, 417-338-8207, mbohner@silverdollarcity.com

Photo: The Booth Brothers at Silver Dollar City

BRANSON, Mo., Aug. 24 /Christian Newswire/ -- Southern Gospel music takes center stage – on seven stages – as Silver Dollar City dedicates an entire festival to glorious gospel music and great harmonies in its "Southern Gospel Picnic."  Presenting the top names in Southern Gospel music, along with a picnic feast of "chicken & fixin's," the Branson, Missouri theme park features Dove Award winners, Hall of Famers and top recording artists, with 60 Southern Gospel acts performing during the festival, running August 30-September 9. 

Featured artists range from the traditional to the contemporary, including 2006 IBMA* Gospel Recording of the Year winners Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; Dove Award winners The Isaacs, Brian Free and Assurance, Jeff and Sheri Easter, Gold City and The Kingsmen; and Southern Gospel News Male Group of the Year for 2006 and 2007 The Booth Brothers. Performances throughout the day are followed by Southern Gospel Nights concerts each evening in the park’s 4,000-seat amphitheatre.

"With 60 of the country's top acts on seven stages and more than 300 performances over 11 straight days, it is one of the nation's largest Southern Gospel events," said SDC entertainment coordinator, D.A. Callaway. 

Along with Southern Gospel music, the festival features the home-cooked spread of an old-fashioned gathering with apple-glazed chicken, fried chicken and barbecue chicken with picnic-style fixings from au gratin potatoes and coleslaw to apple pie.

Silver Dollar City, an 1880s-style theme park located near Branson, Missouri, presents six world-class festivals from April through December. The park also features over two dozen rides and attractions including the new $6 million ride The Giant Swing, a dozen restaurants and over 100 demonstrating craftsmen.

Throughout the Southern Gospel Picnic festival, the park is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (9:00 a.m. – 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 1-2, and 9:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8).  For festival and ticket information, call 1-800-831-4FUN. Information/performance schedules can be found at www.silverdollarcity.com.     
* International Bluegrass Music Association