By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–The Eiffel Tower Park Splash Pad will be transformed into a Winter Wonderland for the 2026 holiday season. It will be called ‘Splashing Through The Snow’ and the Paris Parks and Recreation Department staff will be setting up a synthetic ice rink, beautiful illuminated holiday scenes, Santa’s workshop crafts, snowball fight, firepits with s’mores, and much more.
Admission will be free to the event, which is planned for December 5-19 and parks staff plans for it to be an annual event. It will be sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Department and the Paris-Henry County Chamber of Commerce.
The event was approved unanimously this morning by the Henry County Tourism Authority with a grant of $50,000.
Parks Director Tony Lawrence told HenryCountyNow that the proposed event has been on the department’s wish list for quite awhile, but everything finally came together for it.
“We want to transform the Splash Park into a winter wonderland Christmas destination,” he said. Lawrence said in the proposal that the event will provide larger city pizazz in the comfort of a small–town setting. “This will be affordable, family–friendly entertainment with visual displays and interactive activities for all,” he said. It will appeal to kids, families, retirees, holiday-enthusiasts, couples, visiting Christmas shoppers and out-of-towners visiting local friends and family.”
The grant request would cover the cost of the synthetic ice rink rental for 14 days. Size of the rental rink is 3,300 sq ft, and it is estimated to allow 60 skaters at one time.
In other business the HCTA also approved two fishing tournaments: Championship Week,four tournaments over 11 days starting in April 2028, which organizers said will bring over 1,000 to town. They requested $40,000. And Tennessee Bass Federation Tournament, $6000, with prizes and awards, for April 2026.
Photo: Fascimile of what ‘Splashing Through The Snow’ will look like.