The Dixie Carter Performing Arts Center will be featured as “Official Best Performing Arts Center” during a half-hour television program that will air Saturday, October 3, at 1:00 p.m. and again Saturday, October 24, at 1:00 p.m. on ABC Channel 2 in Nashville.

The Dixie will join other “Official Best of Tennessee” recipients such as the Tennessee State Fair (Best Family Event), Chapel at the Park - Gatlinburg (Best Wedding Chapel), Paris (Best Town Square), and Tennessee Fitness Spa (Best Fitness Spa). Each recipient receives a two-minute segment on the television special “The Official Best of Tennessee- 2009” and on the “Official Best Of” Internet travel site www.OfficialBestOf.com. The television program and Web site will feature no more than 12 Tennessee attractions, each in a different best of category.

The “Official Best Of” receives nominations for the www.OfficialBestOf.com Web site after they have searched online travel resources to determine which nominees will be named “best of.” No attraction can contact “Official Best Of” for inclusion. The selection process is rigorous with extensive research that requires positive reviews from a minimum of three independent sources. The Web site receives over 75,000 visitors a month and traffic on the website surges after each TV airing of a new state. “Official Best Of” is currently working its way through all 50 states. On January 22, the New York Times published an article entitled “Online Reviews of Hotels and Restaurants Flourish” about the rising importance of online sites that filter through thousands of restaurant, hotel and attraction reviews. These sites, such as “Official Best Of”, condense this information into organized categories.

Besides inclusion into the 30 minute television special, titled the Official Best of Tennessee -2009, The Dixie will receive a three year promotion of the two minute video segment on the travel site www.OfficialBestOf.com. Visitors to the site can easily access The Dixie’s featured video along with a direct link to The Dixie website. The Dixie’s feature will also be placed on www.youtube.com, www.Google.com, and other video Web sites.

The “Official Best Of” logo will be placed on The Dixie Web site, highlighting the award of distinction and identifying The Dixie as the “Official Best Performing Arts Center.”