Quartet Convention suspended

The 2020 National Quartet Convention in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, has been suspended due to Coronavirus regulations, “in regard to social distancing and crowd limits,” the organization has announced.

“It breaks our heart that, after 63 straight years, NQC will not occur in 2020,” said Clarke Beasley, executive vice president of the National Quartet Convention, Inc. “Though we are saddened by this, we are thankful that existing orders will allow us to do an alternate Fall Festival event for the benefit of the artists and gospel music fans who still plan to come to Pigeon Forge from all over the country.”

The Fall Festival is planned from September 27 – October 3 at the LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge.

The LeConte Center will be set with 1,500 chairs socially distanced six feet apart, by pairs. The main stage of the Fall Festival will be set up at one end instead of in the round.

Tickets are currently on sale, and the festival will be a general-admission event. NQC customers may either have their admission for NQC 2020 refunded or applied toward next year’s convention.

Artists who perform in the Fall Festival will have displays set up in the Greenbriar ballroom sufficiently distanced apart. “There is plentiful space in the Greenbriar to allow for distancing between and in front of the displays,” organizers said.

A complete schedule of the Fall Festival, and paid options for online streaming, are available online.

The National Quartet Convention was founded in 1957 and co-produced by J.D. Sumner, a gospel music legend and former backup vocalist for Elvis Presley.