PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. — Dolly Parton is a hugger.

As her down-home image and self-deprecating humor suggest, Dolly is genuine. She’s “regular folk,” and no amount of fake fingernails, wigs or bright lipstick will convince any of her fans that there’s any artifice about her.

She welcomed guests into her dressing room Friday at Dollywood, where she was appearing to promote a new cookbook and to kick off a 12-day Bluegrass and BBQ festival at the theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

After greetings and hugs, Parton, wearing her third outfit of the day, sat on a sofa and talked about her remarkable longevity as a movie star, television veteran and recording artist in almost every genre of music from country to gospel to pop.

“I think people do feel like they know me,” she said. “I’m from such a big family, I never meet a stranger. I feel like I know everybody and I always think of my fans as a big family. I think that‚s one of the reasons I’ve stayed around so long.”

Born in January 19, 1946, in Sevierville, Tenn., one of Robert Lee and Avie Lee Parton’s 12 children, Parton said she began performing when she was 10, and soon embarked on a career in country music unrivaled by any other artist. She has won too many music awards to count, and she has been nominated for two Academy Awards for “9 to 5” in 1980 and “Travelin’ Thru,” from the film “Transamerica” last year.

When she made her debut in the Nashville music scene, she created her now iconic look.

“My look was based on a country girl’s idea of glamour,” she said. “Then I got to likin’ it.”

The look was also utilitarian, she said, helping the tiny country girl feel bigger than she looked. She’s petite (5 feet, 1 inch tall), so she is never seen without her trademark five-inch heels. She has small hands, so applied fingernails add length.

“And my hair never would do right,” she said to explain her penchant for big blonde wigs. “I’m a very outgoing person, so it fit with what I felt like inside.”

At 60, her “look” stands up to close scrutiny; she is as glamorous as ever. She can still dance and sing while wearing those heels — and she doesn’t have plans to trade them for anything that might be called “sensible.”

“Honey, I’ll be wearing my shoes when I’m 90, if I have to sit in a wheelchair to wear them,” she said with a laugh.

And though she doesn’t tour as much as she once did, Parton has dozens of projects in the works.

Her appearance at Dollywood takes the place of one of her annual benefit concerts there, where she raises funds for the Dollywood Foundation. The foundation provides health and education programs for area children to “get them ready for life,” she said. Along with a scholarship program she began decades ago, the foundation is Parton’s way of giving back to the mountain community where she knew poverty and love as a child.

This year, her fund-raiser for the foundation is a cookbook, “Dolly’s Dixie Fixin’s,” which was to be unveiled Friday but publication was delayed. The book, which should be available in a few weeks, will be $24.95 and available at the park, at Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede dinner show, or at www.dollywood.com.

Waving to enthusiastic park visitors as she entered the outdoor stage area to announce the cookbook, Parton sported denim capris with hot-pink-bandana trim, a pink bandana blouse and a pink bow in her platinum hair.

She took the small stage where a bluegrass trio dressed in overalls played strains of her tune “9 to 5,” and she began singing along.

Later, in her dressing room, she said of the musicians: “I think I scared ’em. I don’t think they knew I was going to sing.”

On stage, Parton assisted a chef who demonstrated how to prepare two dishes offered in the cookbook, Country Potato Salad and Southwest Chicken with Cocoa Rub, (“I guess that’s southwest Tennessee, right?” Parton asked the chef), all while joking with the crowd of journalists and bluegrass fans.

Saying it had been a good summer for her park despite record heat and gas prices, she said, “I just want to thank y‚all. I believe you know I need the money. You know why I need the money, right?” she waited a beat before completing her now famous quip, “ ’Cuz it takes a lot of money to look this cheap!”

Parton then announced the winner of a contest offering her presence at a backyard cookout with up to 100 guests, which she described as “taters, beans and me instead of coffee, tea and me.” Mark Walbolt of Gatlinburg, Tenn., was announced the winner.

The day also marked the start of Bluegrass and BBQ at Dollywood, a festival where visitors to the park can eat barbecue and a variety of side items, as well as hear concerts by more than 250 bluegrass performers, including Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Marty Raybon, The Peasall Sisters, The Del McCoury Band and Riders in the Sky.

Concerts are free with park entry and last until Sept. 27. Visit www.dollywood.com or call (865) 428-9488 for a schedule or ticket information.

About a half hour after the cooking presentation and dressed in a gold-fringed, figure-hugging dress, Parton made a surprise appearance during Skaggs‚ performance in the Celebrity Theatre in the park. She sang her most famous song, “I Will Always Love You,” which is also the one most recorded by other artists, most notably by Whitney Houston.

Back in her dressing room, Parton said the song was unplanned and though Skaggs‚ band Kentucky Thunder knew how to play it, they did not rehearse and she had planned to hit a high note at the end unbeknownst to them. Her audience, thrilled with the surprise, noticed nothing but the fact that they had witnessed a legend perform one of her most legendary songs.

Parton’s future projects include a new show, a new CD, a children’s book called “I am a Rainbow,” and writing songs for a Broadway version of the 1980 film, “9 to 5,” in which she starred with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. She is not expected to appear in the play.

She said she will likely plan a limited tour with her live stage show, though she now mostly performs in venues such as casinos and fairs.

“I have a lot of projects I want to do so I don‚t want to tour all the time,” she said.

The show will feature two things none of her previous ones have — a dancer and a Kenny Rogers puppet.

Based on a song she wrote called “I Dreamed of Elvis,” containing vocals from an Elvis vocal imitator, the show will feature an Elvis impersonator, which Parton said she can also envision as a country music video.

The song will be featured on her upcoming CD “Country Is as Country Does,” due out in spring.

The live show will also include an act in which Parton sings her famous “Islands in the Stream” duet with a Kenny Rogers puppet. Rogers recorded a voiceover for the act, she said.

Touching generations of fans across all genres and mediums, Parton’s career has brought with it fame.

But Parton does not use celebrity to distance herself from others. Instead, she embraces her family of fans.

“I used to dream of being a star,” she said. “People are never a bother to me. I wish I had time to talk to everyone…I love my work, I love my life. Every day, I pray God will let me touch somebody’s life.”