Outdoor drama, including historical plays, Shakespeare festivals,religious plays, and pageants, is performed each summer in 28 states,from St. Augustine, Florida to Kodiak Island, Alaska. Last year, morethan 2,000,000 people attended outdoor drama productions in the UnitedStates, representing a total economic impact of nearly $6 billion.The annual Conference is the only national meeting for thoseinvolved in the production, management, or planning of outdoorhistorical drama. The meeting features panel discussions and workshopschaired by leading theatre and travel industry professionals.Interspersed with working sessions will be tours of local historicattractions, an evening of live theatre performance, an authenticIndian feast, and informal social events.Highlighting this year�?os Conference will be a 3-hour tour of themajestic Mountainside Theatre, home of Kermit Hunter�?Ts long-runningdrama, UNTO THESE HILLS. Built in 1949, and extensively renovated inthe late 1980s, the Mountainside Theatre is an outstanding example ofan older facility which has been maintained in excellent condition.The tour will include front-of-the-house and backstage areas,company housing (dormitories and cottages), dining facility, canteentheatre, and the new administration building, which houses historicalexhibits of the Cherokee Historical Association,Delegates may also tour the adjacent Oconaluftee Indian Village, are-created early 18th-century community featuring Cherokee in authenticcostume demonstrating an ancient way of life, and the CherokeeCyclorama, an exhibit portraying 300 years of tribal history. Bothattractions are owned and operated by the Cherokee HistoricalAssociation.