Branson’s Silver Dollar City hosts major musical event

Branson’s Silver Dollar City hosts major musical event

By Staff

BRANSON – Color of Mercy was one of 49 music groups performing at the Southern Gospel Picnic Aug. 31-Sept. 10 at Silver Dollar City. There were more than 500 Gospel performances in all as about 120,000 people flowed through the theme park.

“We were incredibly pleased from a Silver Dollar City perspective that Southern Gospel fans from all over the heartland enjoyed 11 days of the top names of Southern Gospel,” said Brad Thomas, general manager of Silver Dollar City and a member of Second Baptist Church, Springfield, who teaches Sunday School there. “The numbers were great, but more importantly it was just great to see fellow Christians having fun.”

Peter Herschend, co-founder of Herschend Family Entertainment Corp. which runs Silver Dollar City, estimated that perhaps as much as 30-35 percent of the crowd on the Saturday before Labor Day was Southern Baptist. He noted that Southern Gospel music, marketed as a Southern Gospel Picnic, is “very, very meaningful to a significant audience out there.”

The Echo Hollow Amphitheater at Silver Dollar City was filled with the sounds of featured groups every night during the event.