Smoky Mountains Winterfest—a winter tourism event with activities in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Sevierville, Tenn.—is fourth on a list of the nation´s top 10 holiday light shows.

The list appears on the America's Best & Top 10 Web site. The Web site features more than 50 "Top 10" lists that are based on travel and industry publications' "best of" lists and the input of a panel of experts. Dow Scoggins, author of "America's Best National Parks" and "America's Best Lighthouses," oversees the project. He started posting lists in 1996.

"This is a great endorsement of the significant work our area has done to make winter a popular tourism season. Our communities´ lights are one reason winter has gone from the slowest time of year to a very busy time," said Leon Downey, executive director of the Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism. "The list has some very impressive light displays, so we´re in some great company."

Ahead of Smoky Mountains Winterfest on the Top 10 list are Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo., the Oglebay Festival of Lights in Wheeling, W.Va., and Fantasy of Lights in Pine Mountain, Ga.

"The Oglebay Festival of Lights was one of our inspirations. We're in our 19th season for Winterfest, and it's exciting to be on a list that includes the place that helped us get started," Downey said.

Looking ahead to the winter of 2009-2010, the Pigeon Forge portion of Smoky Mountains Winterfest has been named one of Top 100 Events in North America by the American Bus Association.

List-maker Scoggins said a lifelong "desire to know what's local, what's best and what's worth seeing" motivates his list-making work.

The rest of the holiday lights list is the Trail of Lights in Austin, Texas; Magic Lights of Night in Lake Lanier, Ga.; Holiday Festival of Lights in Charleston, S.C.; Enchanted Garden of Lights at Rock City Gardens near Chattanooga, Tenn.; Southern Lights in Lexington, Ky.; and the light display at Mission Inn, an historic hotel in Riverside, Calif.

Other Tennessee citations at the America´s Top 10 Web site include Fall Creek Falls Resort State Park on the state parks list, Bonnaroo on the music festivals list and Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the fall foliage list.

Pigeon Forge Winterfest continues through February with a variety of special events and displays showcasing five million lights.

Information courtesy of Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism