Pigeon
Forge, TN – September 2014 / Newsmaker Alert / The attention
of the Southern gospel music industry will be on Pigeon
Forge, Tenn., from Sept. 21-27 when hundreds of performers and upwards
of 40,000 fans unite for the National Quartet Convention (NQC).
“When the first song is sung
in Pigeon Forge, the NQC will open another chapter in its long history
because it will mark our return to the state where we started almost 60
years ago,” said Clarke Beasley, executive vice president.
J.D. Sumner, a gospel music
legend and former backup singer for Elvis Presley, founded the NQC in 1957
in Memphis, co-producing it with James Blackwood. It later moved to Nashville
and has been in Louisville, Ky., for 20 years.
Its Pigeon Forge home is
the LeConte Center
at Pigeon Forge, a $45 million special events facility that opened
in 2013. The center’s primary space will be configured for nearly 12,000
seats for the NQC, with no seat more than 150 feet from the stage.
Featured artists are a “Who’s
Who” of Southern gospel music, and nightly concerts feature up to 20 acts.
Among them are the Booth Brothers, Greater Vision, the Hoppers, the Kingdom
Heirs, Triumphant and the Collingsworth Family, as well as prominent soloists
such as Guy Penrod and Grammy Award winner Jason Crabb.
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The Kingdom Heirs
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Special events during the
week include the Singing News Fan Awards, a fan-voted program of Singing
News Magazine, on Sept. 25, the keynote address by Dr. David Jeremiah on
Sept. 26, the Cathedrals’ Family Reunion featuring several alumni of gospel’s
most celebrated group and a 5K run on Sept. 27 that benefits the Southern
Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which is located in Pigeon Forge
at the Dollywood theme park.
“The NQC is the biggest prolonged
group event in Pigeon Forge’s history, and everyone in the tourism and
hospitality industry is geared up and ready,” said Leon Downey, executive
director of the Pigeon Forge Department
of Tourism.
The NQC already has booked
a return to Pigeon Forge and the LeConte Event Center. Dates are Sept.
27-Oct. 3, 2015.
Admission information for
2014 concerts is available online at www.NQConline.com,
by calling toll-free 800-846-8499 and at the door.
Visitor information about
Pigeon Forge is available online at MyPigeonForge.com
and by calling 800-251-9100.
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Media Contact:
Tom
Adkinson, APR
for Pigeon Forge Department
of Tourism
615-341-8796 |