Zoo Fall Festival now reset for Saturday Oct. 17, 24
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Some of the goats at the Little Ponderosa Zoo and Wildlife Rescue in Dutch Valley get some much-sought-after attention from a visitor to the zoo’s Fall Festival in October 2025. - G. Chambers Williams III
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At center is Anderson County homeschooled student Sadie Gray and her Overall Champion Market Turkey Snots at the 2026 Anderson County Fair. Pictured with her are Donnie Gray and Sadie Gray. The 4H program is part of the University of Tennessee Extension Office which recently got funding for experience based salary increases from UT rather than the county. - G. Chambers Williams III
After a rainout last weekend, this year’s Fall Festival at Anderson County’s Little Ponderosa Zoo and Wildlife Rescue in Dutch Valley will be held on two successive Saturdays, Oct. 17 and 24, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
On Oct. 24, the festival will take place before the zoo’s annual Trick or Treat event. The last festival tickets sold at 4 p.m., then the zoo will close at 5 p.m. and reopen at 6 p.m. for Trick or Treat.
The Fall Festival is an important fund-raising event every fall for the Little Ponderosa, helping the zoo to buy the necessary feed and supplies to keep its animals warm and happy over the coming winter.
Besides the many animals on display both inside and outside the zoo’s buildings, there will be vendor booths set up throughout the property, and several food options to keep visitors fed, including a Kona Ice truck.
“We will have live music, vendors, face painting, games, pony rides, inflatables, great food, buckets of food to feed the animals, and a gift shop,” zoo officials said.
A bounce house and inflatable slide will be set up to keep kids entertained, and pony rides will be available for children, as well.
The zoo’s animals will be the real stars of the show, including plenty of baby goats, many of whom will be roaming the grounds and making friends with the visitors; and Baby Cash, a curious, friendly young camel that the zoo acquired two years ago as a rescue.
There is a marmoset monkey exhibit, built by zoo directors Cade and Corbin Cox.
Little Ponderosa’s Cookshack will also be open, offering food and ice cream treats.
School buses will be on hand to ferry visitors to the zoo from remote parking areas, and the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office will direct traffic and help keep visitors safe.
Little Ponderosa is at 629 Granite Road, in the Dutch Valley community of northwestern Anderson County between Clinton and Rocky Top Clinton.
Regular zoo operating days and hours are Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday from noon-5 p.m.