Silver Dollar City celebrates 50th season

Branson's most popular theme park offers an exceptional opportunity to experience a fun-filled journey back in time, with traditional 1880's-style Ozarks food, festivals, music, costumes and atmosphere. But you'll also enjoy modern day thrills thanks to more than 30 state-of-the-art rides and attractions, including the Wildfire roller coaster, the explosive PowderKeg, and all new for 2010, RiverBlast - America's biggest water battle!

Silver Dollar City celebrates its 50th season in 2010. The park also presents four seasonal festivals throughout the year, including World-Fest, America's largest international festival, KidsFest, Southern Gospel Picnic and an Old Time Christmas.

Beginning April 8 and running through May 9, World Fest brings international performers from around the world to Branson in a celebration of global proportions.

The event features some traditional favorites and some all new performers and groups, each ready to extol the beauty and cultures from countries and continents around the world with stirring performances of music and dance.

WorldFest performers scheduled to appear include Fiery Fiddles, featuring acclaimed Janice Martin - the world's only flying fiddler - and Nova Scotia's premier fiddle champ, Jennifer Roland. Also new in 2010 are Calpulli, a Mexican dance troupe and Footprints Diego Martin, Trinidad Drums & Dance.

In addition to the fabulous entertainment, WorldFest brings a wide variety of savory specialties and tempting desserts from around the world at Tastes of the World. There is also a Culinary and Craft School offering recipes with an international flavor.

Of course, regardless of the seasonal festival happening at Silver Dollar City, there's always plenty of excitement on the rides and attractions. The new RiverBlast offers guests a real Tom & Huck river adventure. Both passengers and spectators are armed with super soaker water guns, creating the perfect storm for an all-out water war.

There are also plenty of thrills with attractions like WildFire, a high-flying, multi-looping coaster that hits speeds of 66 mph; PowerKeg, an explosive roller coaster that launches riders from 0 to 53 mph in just 2.8 seconds; Fire-in-the-Hole, an indoor coaster with high speed drops and thrilling surprises; Thunderation, an 80-foot tall, high speed coaster with spectacular views of the Ozarks; and American Plunge, a wet and wild log flume ride climbing five stories in the air with splash down speeds reaching 35 mph.

Despite all those thrills and many other rides for all ages, the heart and soul of Silver Dollar City's music can always be heard throughout the park. From traditional tunes to favorite melodies, the park offers up scores of talented singers, dancers and musicians on stage. There are more than 40 shows daily and Silver Dollar City's shows were rated among the best in the theme park industry at the 2009 Golden Ticket Awards.

Don't miss out on Silver Dollar City's special 50th anniversary celebration. It's a great start to any Branson vacation package. For more information on Branson's theme parks, attractions, live shows, lodging and more, visit www.ticket2Branson.com or www.WestgateReservations.com.