KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Update (11/28): Fantasy of Trees welcomed more than 61,000 guests and raised over $400,000 towards East Tennessee Children's Hospital's Lifeline Ambulance this year.
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One of Knoxville's biggest events of the holiday season is now welcoming people into a wonderland of holiday magic during the week of Thanksgiving. The theme is "Christmas in the Pines."
Between Nov. 23 and Nov. 27, the Fantasy of Trees host visitors in the Knoxville Convention Center. The annual event raises money for the East Tennessee Children's Center, and it's usually one of the hospital's biggest fundraisers of the year.
When people first enter the Knoxville Convention Center, they will see Village Market Shops and have a chance to take holiday photos. Then, they will be able to stop by an area for children's activity before encountering a carousel. Then, they will be able to grab a treat at the Cookie Corner before visiting the Designer Promenade and seeing tons of decorated Christmas trees.
There is also a Raffle Tree drawing, where people can enter to win one of two gift packages from Walmart and Home Depot. Each package is worth thousands of dollars and the Walmart package includes a Playstation 5, an Apple Watch and tons of toys. There will also be four gift cards for runners-up.
Money raised during the Fantasy of Trees will be used to benefit East Tennessee Children's Hospital. Specifically, they hope to buy a new Lifeline ambulance which will function as a pediatric intensive care unit on wheels.
They said it is specially designed to care for babies and children, including life-saving equipment built at their size. Previous events helped fund equipment for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and a body cooling system to transport kids to the unit. The Fantasy of Trees has been an East Tennessee tradition for more than 30 years.
The schedule for this year's Fantasy of Trees is listed below.
- November 23: 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
- November 24: 3 p.m. - 8 p.m.
- November 25: 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
- November 26: 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
- November 27: 12 p.m. - 6 p.m.
The raffle drawing will be on Sunday at 5 p.m. Anyone who wants to volunteer to help out at the event can register online. Adult tickets are $8, and children between four years old and twelve years old can get in for $4. Children under three years old can enter for free.
Visitors can also buy first-look tickets to stop by the event on November 22 between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. No children's activities will be available for the first-look event.