Gospel music’s largest event to stay in Pigeon Forge 10 more years

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Nearly 40,000 gospel music fans are in Pigeon Forge this week for the National Quartet Convention.

As attendees arrived on Monday, they learned that the convention and the City of Pigeon Forge have signed an agreement that would extend the event’s contract 10 years. The LeConte Center will host the NQC fall event until 2031.

Clarke Beasley, with NQC, says the event has grown since it moved to Pigeon Forge in 2014. He’s excited about the future for the next 10 years.

“It’s been so beneficial for NQC over the last eight years and we just don’t think there’s a better home that we could find in Pigeon Forge, so we’re, we’re excited to make it official that we’re going to be here for the at least the next 10 years,” said Beasley. With the improvements made to the LeConte Center over the past few years both inside and outside and the facility’s continued commitment to excellence, we are confident that NQC attendees and participants will have wonderful experiences in the coming decade.”

This event has brought more than $7 million in economic impact to Pigeon Forge annually.

“Also the atmosphere, the quality of events that we’re able to get after that people see NQC they say hey, what’s going on down there? Let’s go look at that event center let’s see what they’re doing and vision forwards, because NQC is a big deal, national quartet convention is world famous,” said Mayor David Wear.

National quartet convention moved from Louisville, Kentucky in 2014. Participants account for nearly 17,000 room nights each year of the seven-day event.

As part of the extended agreement, the LeConte Center also will host the NQC’s Spring Break event (March 3-4, 2022) which includes two nights of Southern gospel concerts.

JD Sumner, a gospel music legend and former backup singer for Elvis Presley, founded the NQC in 1957 and co-produced it with James Blackwood.

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