Nestled between the sound of the flowing Tennessee River waterway and wide-open green spaces fit with wrap-around porches and momma’s home cookin’ is Downtown Decatur.

Celebrate those dears who have departed and enjoy a fiesta of Mexican culture at Birmingham’s 20th Dia de los Muertos gathering, set for Wednesday, November 2, at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark. The Day of the Dead observance will include parades, music, dancing, colorful costumes, crafts, personalized altars to ancestors, and a memorial roll call. Food trucks will dish street tacos, tamales, pupusas, and other snacks both savory and sweet.

Owners of the well-respected and incomparable Wildrose International, it’s hard to imagine how Mike and Cathy Stewart find time to sleep at night. Kennels, trainings, events and seminars, videos, a […]

A look into the future of small-town Alabama has taken us back in time to our roots of Southern hospitality.   Everywhere you look small towns are being romanticized. From […]

A home that will become the hub for connecting the North Alabama region Singing River Trail is now calling Mooresville home base thanks to a generous Limestone County family. The McCrary […]

Fall in Alabama is settling in and so is the outdoor scenery on Birmingham-Southern College’s campus. As the beautiful leaves change to reflect the University’s bright and proud yellow, there’s never been a more perfect time to visit the grounds and meet the award-winning staff. Whether a prospective student, parent, or proud alum hoping to leave a legacy, there are a couple different ways you can learn more about “the Hilltop” in-person this November.

Get in the spooky spirit in South Alabama with a host of special events and festivals happening all October long. From haunted houses and fall festivals to a boat party […]

  Traditions, they inspire connections between families, friends, and even strangers. The wonder of meals shared, crafts created, service given, and community started by the generations before us is not […]

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If you’ve ever seen the giant blue robot guarding over downtown Birmingham on Morris Avenue, or the three little monkey friends climbing around his legs and shoulders, then you’ve seen the work of John Lytle Wilson. We sat down with the artist to talk about what inspires his work and why he loves what he does.

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From art galleries to sports stadiums and banks to bottling companies, Dirk Walker’s signature style of abstract realism can easily be identified by his untraditional, brilliant, thick and thin brushstrokes. Without question, his technique also puts a fresh spin on a very traditional genre: sporting and wildlife art.

Grits, smoked sausage, and sweet potatoes set the table for a unique lineup of October public gatherings this fall in central and south Alabama that celebrate food and drink. The Alabama Mushroom Society’s first-ever festival will feed budding interests in the fruiting fungi that’s not only essential to nature’s cycle, but mighty tasty as well. Sample beers and ciders in Tuscaloosa and wine in Opelika. Classic Alabama foods—grits, Conecuh sausage, and sweet potatoes—all get their moments in the sun. (October, after all, historically brings the least amount of rain to Alabama).  Here’s what to look for in October across central and south Alabama. 

There’s a little something for all tastes at October food and drink festivals in Alabama’s coastal counties. Many of the gatherings also symbolize how the port at Mobile was the entry point for immigrants who would find the American Dream here. Festivals set for October celebrate cultural and culinary contributions from Alabamians with roots in Germany, Greece, Mexico, and countries across both Central and South America. 

Florence, Alabama doesn’t lack for exciting breakfast dining options year-round, but during ShoalsFest music festival happening October 1st and 2nd, it’s not unusual to find yourself sharing the morning meal across from rock stars. Hazy ShoalsFest mornings bring local love and Nashville star power together at welcoming breakfast tables dotted around the sleepy college town.

Hidden in the shadows of downtown Birmingham is a tiny theater appropriately dubbed The Underground. Home to Birmingham-Southern College’s small but mighty theatre department, The Underground buzzes with action, creativity, and life every September through May, as students direct, produce, rehearse, and perform in up to six productions per year. 

A fun array of festivals built around food and drink are on the menu this fall across northern Alabama. Bacchus, barbecue, and butterbeans are the themes at September and October fêtes in Huntsville, Attalla, Jasper, Madison, and Cullman. Hit ’em all and you’ll be as busy as bees—especially at the fourth Alabama Honeybee Festival outside Huntsville the first Saturday in October. Here are six events where food shares a plate with musical acts, arts and crafts vendors, and runners. 

Celebrating 20 Alabama women in business from Red Land Cotton Founder, Anna Brakefield to Space & Rocket Center CEO, Dr. Kimberly Robinson

Mariachi music swells, salsa dancers twirl in brightly colored skirts, and the smell of freshly griddled corn tortillas wafts through the air. These are the sights, sounds, and smells of Fiesta, Birmingham’s long-running festival celebrating Hispanic culture and heritage. Each year, Linn Park comes alive for the giant party with thousands of locals gathering for the celebration that includes music, arts, dance, food, activities, and education for the entire family. And this year, the festivities will be even grander because Fiesta is celebrating its 20th birthday. 

Birmingham’s demographics go way beyond Black and White, including the Lebanese, Greek, Italian and other European and Middle Eastern immigrants who settled during the city’s early years as a steel boom town, to more recent arrivals with Asian and Latin-American roots. This colorful tapestry is reflected in several food and beverage festivals scheduled this fall in the greater Birmingham area.

When it comes to creating bucolic art scenes of flora, fauna and field sporting traditions, Sue Key enjoys taking time to celebrate: animals, the outdoors, traditions, values and, of course, community. Surrounding herself with a community of people who make or appreciate art means a great deal to the Southern artist. “Those family values are so important, creating memories and bonds and lifestyles that can be shared with friends, draw families together, last for generations, and be passed down to grandchildren,” she explains.