It’s bright lights and thrills in Tennessee, with or without the kids

Tennessee family holidays offer up adult playgrounds and kid wonderlands aplenty, as Harriet Mallinson found out for herself. So whether you’re after wilderness or whiskey, there’s something for everyone in the gang.

Anakeesta’s Astra Lumina night walk experience is magical. Credit: Tennessee Tourism

I’m not saying fairies exist but this is the closest I’ve come to believing in them. Laser rays are crisscrossing through treetops above us like high-speed sprites, colours pirouette on our skin and somewhere nearby a hummingbird buzzes.

The Smoky Mountains’ magic has many forms on Tennessee family holidays

Nope, I’ve not been hitting up the local ayahuasca – we’re on an immersive “night walk experience” in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains adventure park, Anakeesta (Cherokee word, keep up). Pixie dust made real, this Astra Lumina light show imagines if stars visited Earth: decorative globes glow pink and white amid the leaves, oversized nests glow ethereally, and some wizardry sends misty waves undulating past ancient trunks. Like if Steven Spielberg teamed up with Christmas at Kew…

Not that Anakeesta needs to inject this woodland disco with man-made magic. Climb up the observation tower and the majesty of the Smokies unfolds like a storybook, candy floss-like clouds dancing at dusk on the forested slopes rolling into the distance. The pleasure ground aims to become one of the USA’s most Instagrammable parks, Austin Martin, Director of Communications tells me – and nature is certainly pulling its weight. (Although the garlanded arches, bluebell ice cream and friendly Willow Troll also make for perfect feed fodder.)

Tempted down by the promise of s’mores toasted on the fire pit, we caper on the 30ft high trampoline in the aviary-inspired adventure zone, clamber through giant birdhouses and career down slides, before braving the Hellbender coaster that whips around the mountain. What’s that about big kids at heart?

Anakeesta adventure zones are made for adults and children alike. Credit: Tennessee Tourism

Bold Nashville is THE place for Country music fans

Of course, Tennessee family holidays have been doing thrills and bright lights for decades – as evidenced by capital Nashville, 3.5 hours drive west of Anakeesta. Its downtown Broadway strip is one giant, illuminated slot machine of music-pumping bars, neon signs jutting out of brick buildings like festive earrings. It’s a veritable advent calendar of live Country tunes as bands play on window-front stages, luring punters in – the promise of an unforgettable, toe-tapping night dangling like lollipops at a funfair.

Much like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get behind each door of melodies on a virgin visit. We unearth Classic Country in Americana-adorned Robert’s Western World, Country Rock in Kid Rock’s Big Honky Tonk and Pop-Punk in The Stage, to describe just a fraction of this rhythmic buffet (an all-you-can-eat one, too – they’re free to enter).

Of course, this part of town is an adult’s playground, with cowboy boots to, well, boot, so if you’ve managed to ditch the kids: have at it, if not, a PG Country experience is available by way of various family-friendly sites in Nashville.

Nashville’s Broadway strip is famous for its Country music bars. Credit: Tennessee Tourism

Star quality makes museums even more attractive in Nashville

The Country Music Hall of Fame brims like a Bourbon pour with activities for children as it examines the history of the genre. The museum boasts artefacts ranging from rhinestone-encrusted suits and vintage cowboy action figures to banjos and Elvis’s gold-plated Cadillac.

Raising Taylor fans? Swifties can get up close to the star’s own dresses, boots, guitars and even graduation gown on display. If you missed the Eras Tour, nearby celebrated concert hall, the Ryman Auditorium, has seen Tay-Tay perform live, as well as countless other celebrities such as Miley Cyrus, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran and more – and you can head backstage on a tour for further fan-girling.

…plus Country music sure does speak to the teens!

To enjoy live music for yourselves, head to The Listening Room where under 21s are guaranteed entry. Here songwriters to the stars (Earth-born, often-beardy ones, that is) perform their own music as well as the popular hits. The night we swing by, four men troop on stage brandishing acoustic guitars – three trucker caps and a cowboy hat between them – and the stereotypes of Country escalate from there.

Shocker: whiskey features heavily in the lyrics – “Every superman’s got his kryptonite but Jack Daniels kicked my ass again last night” – as does lost love: “I did it for the girl, dancing on the front porch”; and sometimes religion and exes: “If God was more like me, he’d just bring you back again.” From curfews to first kisses, I’m not sure there’s a musical genre better suited for teen ‘hard-relate’ vibes.

Swifties can admire Taylor’s dresses, boots & guitars. Credit: Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Immerse your family in the wonderful world of Dolly Parton

Back east in the Smoky Mountains, along the borders of Tennessee and North Carolina, youngsters will find their own Broadway equivalent at Pigeon Forge. This resort city’s main road is chock-a-block with attractions, from Ferris wheels and wax museums to outdoor gravity parks. There’s even a holiday-themed hotel where it’s Christmas every day (heaven help us).

Should that all sound a bit super-sized Blackpool, this neck of the woods is also home to Dollywood – a family theme park half-owned by Dolly Parton. If you’re a hard-core fan of the singer-songwriter, then, excellent – you’ll love the newly-opened Dolly Parton Experience overflowing like BBQ sauce from a hot chicken burger with stories, costumes and memorabilia. If not, how about seasonal festivals, crafts and the US’s largest presentation of non-releasable bald eagles (take that, Thorpe Park)?

And rides, obviously. Younger kids can enjoy such sedate thrills as a merry-go-round of acorns or a cheery bear family trail, while the up-a-notch Big Bear Mountain ride issues loud roars for added kicks. Before we board, a child’s panic-stricken voice behind me begs not to go too fast – but within moments of hurtling forwards he’s yelling, “Now I’m having fun!”

Big Bear Mountain ride is for the brave! Credit: Dollywood

Dollywood’s coasters and treats are guaranteed crowd-pleasers

Older children and exhilaration-loving adults certainly aren’t short of adrenaline spikes: the Lightning Rod rollercoaster leaves some of us wide-eyed and eager for more, while loop-the-loop Wild Eagle renders others hoarse from screaming.

Once you’ve had your coaster fill (and crucially not before), chow down on Dollywood’s famous cinnamon bread. The hyper-sugary, squishy treat – best eaten with buttercream icing and/or apple butter – is possibly the best thing to have ever passed my lips. I like it all the more when a guide notes: “You’re at a theme park so there are no calories.”

Those bears, though? Not just plastic and smiling in the Smokies. There are 1,500 black bears in the National Park and on the way back from a day out we spot two of them raiding bins like kids in the kitchen after football practice. I stare in mute wonder, but the hicks sporting MAGA caps in the back of our coach show no such speechlessness; they pump their fists and excitedly chant “Bear! Bear! Bear!” The animals scarper. Perhaps they voted for Kamala.