Considering it’s the Year of Alabama Food, the third annual Wetumpka Wildlife Arts Festival (WEWA) is amping up its flavor game as it again celebrates the beauty of wildlife and one of the South’s most historic pastimes—field sports—through the arts. What began as an idea between the Smoot Harris family, which has deep roots in […]

Strike up the oompah band and break out the lederhosen. It’s time to tap into the world’s best beer party, Oktoberfest. Originating in Munich, the two-week celebration has become one of Germany’s greatest exports, celebrated worldwide in festivals filled with beer and sausages. The funny thing is, very little of Oktoberfest is observed in the […]

The Yellowhammer State’s cultural and culinary diversity is showcased in food festivals throughout the fall, with some also offering tours of ornate churches built by congregations that started settling here some 130 years ago. Music and dance also will play major roles in upcoming events honoring immigrants and their offspring from Greece, the Middle East, […]

A four-day celebration of Birmingham’s rich history of cuisine and culture returns this fall with some of the city’s top chefs and cooks, from food icon Frank Stitt to the Greek restaurateurs who had fed the city throughout its history. Early-bird tickets go on sale July 10 for the second annual FOOD+Culture Festival, highlighting the […]

The 26th Annual Sidewalk Film Festival (Sidewalk) presented by Regions Bank proudly announces its initial lineup, spotlighting the power and creativity of women in film. For the first time in the festival’s history, Sidewalk is leading with six captivating titles, all directed by, led by and focused on women. For more than two decades, Sidewalk […]

Springtime is prime time for festivals celebrating Alabama food and drink. Whether it’s Middle Eastern food, Southern barbecue, or good old gumbo, you won’t leave hungry. There are gatherings to enjoy chocolate, grits, wings, tacos, and even poke salat. Quench your thirst with margaritas, beer, wine, and mimosas. You’ll find something to tickle your tastebuds […]

When looking for the first signs of spring, some folks point to early flowers—blooming peach and cherry trees, daffodils, hyacinths, and the lot. For me? The first fresh-picked, perfectly ripe Alabama strawberries mark the transition from dreary winter to the bounty of spring and summer. From south to north, strawberry plants are now in full […]

Spring festivals celebrating Alabama food and brews start up at the beginning of March, with events in Theodore, Evergreen, and Birmingham. March food festivals will celebrate collard greens, German sausages, barbecue, and Cajun food. Folks are cooking chili for a cause at another fest. A couple provide the chance to decide what goes better with […]

Rock The South has become one of the nation’s most anticipated annual festivals. Affectionately known as the “Biggest Party in the South,” thousands will flock to Cullman, Alabama to experience Pepsi® ‘s Rock The South 2024 festival. The three-day festival will take place from Thursday, July 18th through Saturday, July 20th. “Crafting the lineup for […]

Thousands of Alabamians gathered in the fall of 2021 for the wildly successful Rock The South festival, and it has been a highly anticipated event ever since. In an exciting development, the producers of the Rock The South festival have just announced their most recent venture, Rock The Country – a festival for the people. […]

Located in the Southeast corner of Alabama sits a town called Dothan. The city may be similar to other Alabama towns in many ways, but its resounding characteristic is its rich history with peanuts. Founded in 1885, Dothan began to flourish as a city due largely to Dr. George Washington Carver’s experiments with the now […]

The second annual Wetumpka Wildlife Arts Festival (WEWA) features a fun-filled day designed to celebrate wildlife art and the Great Outdoors. Presented by the Kelly Fitzpatrick Center for the Arts, known to locals as “The Kelly,” the festivities begin Saturday, Nov. 11 at 9:30 a.m. and run through 4 p.m. on the banks of the Coosa River in […]

Bucky Bowles is an acclaimed wildlife and sporting artist living outside of Columbus, Georgia whose work is currently featured in the “Art Gone Wild’ exhibit at the Kelly Fitzpatrick Center for the Arts in historic Downtown Wetumpka, Alabama.  Raised in Southwest Georgia, Bucky grew up fishing and hunting and developed a love for the outdoors. […]

The Kelly Fitzpatrick Memorial Gallery, known to locals as “The Kelly,” has worked together with the Smoot Harris family and the City of Wetumpka to offer their second annual premier wildlife arts festival in downtown Wetumpka next month. The Wetumpka Wildlife Arts Festival (WEWA) is a cumulation and celebration of wildlife and field sports through […]

The Airing of the Quilts Festival will be taking place in Gee’s Bend this weekend and attendees will come from throughout the Southeast to enjoy the festival. See below from The Airing of the Quilts Festival site for more on this incredible annual event. Join the Gee’s Bend community in this annual celebration of its […]

That fast-food chain with the excitable, deep-voiced pitch man has nothing on these fall festivals in Alabama. WE have the meats – in this case shrimp, barbecued chicken, smoked pork, and sausages. All of these festivals are fun ways to fill your belly and have a good time with the fam. And you’ll get to […]

Explore and celebrate the natural world this fall with festivals around Alabama honoring honey, homegrown mushrooms, and hominy grits. Butterbeans and peanuts also get in on the act with their own long-running fall festivities. The National Peanut Festival in Dothan, set for early November, dates to 1938 when the guest speaker was George Washington Carver, […]

Oktoberfest, which originated in Munich in 1810, has become the world’s largest beer party. It even has its own signature beer style. Last year in Munich, attendees quaffed 5.6 million liters of strong locally-made Oktoberfest lager – and those numbers were down due to rainy weather over the 18-day festival, according to the website, Oktoberfest.de. […]

Alabama is a colorful tapestry of cultures, woven in part by people who have moved here from other countries and made the Yellowhammer State a better place. Over the years, Mobile’s ports, Birmingham’s early 20th-century steel mills and mines, farms statewide, today’s University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Huntsville’s military and tech industries have attracted people […]

Clocking in at one square mile in size and a population of 665 in the 2020 census, the tiny town of Leighton, Alabama leaves a BIG footprint. City leadership, led by Mayor Derick Silcox, wanted a way to celebrate all that Leighton has produced. Thus, they created Sledgefest, a music festival named after award-winning R&B, […]

Fall is full of festivals devoted to specific foods or beverages. But some cities and counties plan parties that showcase the breadth of their local restaurants, caterers, food producers, breweries, and distillers. Shelby County and the cities of Hoover and Opelika will dish local specialties in September and October. Birmingham’s first Food+Culture Fest, also in […]