Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede, a dinner show performed in various cities across the country, will be dropping the word “Dixie” from its name amid “concerns” and changing cultural attitudes.
WRCB reports World Choice Investments has been planning to expand the Dolly Parton dinner show outside of Tennessee and Missouri. However, in order to make the move, Parton and World Choice Investments made the decision that the word “Dixie” needed to go. In a statement, Parton said the name change will “remove any confusion or concerns” about their shows:
Our shows currently are identified by where they are located. Some examples are Smoky Mountain Adventures or Dixie Stampede. We also recognize that attitudes change and feel that by streamlining the names of our shows, it will remove any confusion or concerns about our shows and will help our efforts to expand into new cities.
According to WATE, World Choice Investments media relations director Pete Owens said the name “Dixie” was impacting business and creating a “misconception” about the show.
Knoxnews reports the CEO of World Choice Investments, Jim Rule, also chimed in by saying the name of the show is changing so it can “stay relevant”:
We provide spectacular family entertainment at a great value. We continually listen to our guests, and our desire to expand coupled with our desire to stay relevant in today’s changing world led us to simplify our shows’ names.
In August, Slate writer Aisha Harris reviewed the Dixie Stampede show at the height of the anti-Confederacy mania. The media team for Dixie Stampede reportedly responded to her email about whether the show was going to change the show because of its lack of focus on slavery (and in the light of Charlottesville). According to Harris, she received an email back saying they would “evaluate” her criticism.
Despite ending its association with the word “Dixie,” the website for Dolly Parton’s Stampede says the show will still feature a competition between the North and the South:
Dolly Parton’s Stampede is an extraordinary dinner show with thirty-two magnificent horses and a cast of top-notch riders. They will thrill you with daring feats of trick riding and competition, pitting North against South in a friendly and fun rivalry.
The Dixie Stampede was reportedly running for nearly 30 years.
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