ABA's Top 100 Events in North America is an annual compendium of the best events for group travel in the United States and Canada. Each spring, a committee of ABA-member motorcoach and tour operators selects the Top 100 Events for the subsequent year; the list is unveiled in September. Winners are chosen from hundreds of celebrations, festivals, fairs, commemorative events.
Speedway In Lights garnered the prestigious award after the Bristol Convention and Visitors Bureau, a member of the ABA, used its nomination to submit the holiday lights show for the honor.
Speedway In Lights was one of only two events named among the ABA Top 100 from the state of Tennessee. The other was Fan Fair, nominated the Nashville CVB.
"It's truly an honor for Speedway In Lights to be chosen by the American Bus Association as one of the premier events in North America," said BMS President Jeff Byrd. "The ABA has a tremendous reputation and for them to put their seal of approval on Speedway In Lights and recommend it to travel groups is an enormous honor for us."
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Speedway In Lights, a spectacular drive-through holiday light experience that begins this year on Nov. 17. The light show features more than 200 displays and in excess of 1.5 million lights showcased on a 4.5-mile route around both Bristol Motor Speedway and Bristol Dragway.
In the last nine years of Speedway In Lights, approximately one million spectators have enjoyed the light show while also helping to raise money for Speedway Children's Charities. Speedway In Lights serves as the chief fundraiser for the Bristol Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities and has raised more than $2.8 million for children's agencies in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
Peter J. Pantuso, ABA's president and CEO, unveiled the 2007 Top 100 Events at ceremonies in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on Sept. 6. The 2007 Top Event in the United States is the Oklahoma Centennial, statewide through Dec. 31, and the 2007 Top Event in Canada is the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, July 1-8.
During the past 25 years, ABA's Top 100 Events publication has become an internationally recognized event directory for bus and tour operators, the travel industry and the general public.
