After a 2020 hiatus, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival announced its 50th season earlier this month. What started in a high school auditorium in Anniston in 1972 has grown into a leader in the performing arts with a $21.5 million performing arts complex in Montgomery, a designation as the State Theatre of Alabama, and a loyal following. 

Born in Troy, Alabama, Fred Nall Hollis—known professionally as Nall—is the definition of a renaissance man. The artist has been working across multiple mediums—including paintings, mosaics, line engravings, sculpture, glassware, and jewelry—for the past 50 years.

It’s Saturday morning and while most of downtown Birmingham is still waking up, Pepper Place District is a few steps ahead. One hundred white tents line the couple blocks between 2nd and 3rd Avenues South and 28th and 29th Streets. Live folk music provides the soundtrack to a bustling farmers market where thousands of people meet to buy the area’s freshest bounty and a variety of locally made goods. 

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In the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement changed the course of history in America forever. Many of the places that created the environment for such monumental change are right here in our own backyard. Alabama’s role in the Civil Rights Movement is undeniable. All across the state, our cities and towns became the backdrop for sit-ins, marches, demonstrations, and protests that opened the world’s eyes to the inequality, injustice, and bigotry prevalent throughout our country. Nearly 70 years later, the sacrifices many Americans made to advance the cause for equality are more important than ever. And now more than ever, it’s important to reflect on that history. 

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With more than 1,500 items of space hardware in its permanent collection, as well as several rotating exhibits and dozens of interactive experiences that make you feel like you’re truly out of this world, the Space & Rocket Center is a must-visit for anyone in the area.

After a long year off, the live music industry is back, booming, and singing louder than ever. Beginning in early spring, concert announcements slowly started popping up, which turned into […]

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Is your four-legged best friend the outdoorsy type? Is your pup especially photogenic? Then you should enter them in the Best Black Belt Dog Photo Contest!

A Birmingham-based redevelopment firm is taking its next step toward creating a community gathering spot for fitness, fun, and food in the Magic City’s Parkside District. Orchestra Partners is beginning to lease spaces in the first phase of the Urban Supply buildout, which will combine offices, retail, and a pedestrian area near the 19-acre Railroad Park, Regions Field, and Good People brewery.

If you grew up in Alabama or have spent any amount of time in the state, then you likely know a little about Helen Keller’s life here. After suffering a severe illness at 19 months, she was left deaf and blind. For the next five years, her world was dark, lonely, and utterly silent until Anne Sullivan entered her life. On a spring day in 1887, the teacher made a breakthrough when she successfully taught Helen the word “water” by repeatedly pumping cool well water into her hand while tapping out an alphabet code spelling the word into her other. By the end of the night, Helen had learned 30 words.

Christy and Cal Breed are fluent in the language of fire. In 2002, the couple opened a hot shop and gallery to practice and teach others about the ancient art of glass blowing. Since then, Orbix Hot Glass, located on 26 acres bordering Little River Canyon National Preserve in Fort Payne, has become an established business—attracting visitors from near and far to see Cal’s extraordinary pieces and the fascinating process of creating them. We sat down with Christy to learn more about Orbix, glass art, and the Alabama maker community.  

It may be best known as host to one of the Southeast’s biggest music festivals, but The Hangout in Gulf Shores has been showing crowds a good time for far longer than the Hangout Music Festival’s 10-year tenure.

If you’ve ever visited the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and stared up at the translucent marble ceiling, you’ve witnessed a piece of Alabama history. The ceiling is made of white marble mined in Talladega County’s Sylacauga (appropriately known as the Marble City). 

Hope you’re ready for an extra-long seventh-inning stretch because Minor League Baseball is back after a season off due to COVID-19. This summer brings the long-awaited return of home runs […]

Excited voices and laughter rang in the air as community volunteers, led by Tres Taylor and his paintbrush, transformed a blank white wall in downtown Marion into a magical tale of hope and light. […]

It’s a star turn for Wetumpka as the small town along the Coosa River in Elmore County takes center stage in “Home Town Takeover,” a new HGTV show. Small town revitalization and renovation super heroes Erin and Ben Napier are giving a whole town makeover to Wetumpka in a new six-episode series premiering May 2. 

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines—your boat engines that is. On Saturday May 15, Russell Medical is hosting a scavenger hunt on Lake Martin for anyone who would like to […]

When it comes to artists and makers, there’s no shortage of talent in Alabama. From Huntsville to Mobile and everywhere in between, our state’s rich history in arts and culture is alive and well. In Alabama’s Black Belt, a region traditionally known for its plight due to a lack of education, resources, and socioeconomic opportunity, Black Belt Treasures is working to bring attention to the area’s artists and keep the Black Belt part of the state’s art conversation.

Governor Ivey declared April 11–17 “Embrace Alabama Kids Week,” and communities across the state have stepped up to create a mural to commemorate the occasion. The week, which is an […]