Festivals & Events

Alabama is beautiful throughout the year but especially in the fall. As the greens of summer surrender to glittering yellow poplars, scarlet dogwoods, orange maples and golden hickories, Alabama unfolds its patchwork quilt of color. This blend of brilliant autumn foliage, coupled with cooler temperatures and an occasional gentle breeze, makes for an unforgettable experience. Fall colors will begin showing in the mountains of North Alabama in early October and then sweep across the region. Colors will be at their peak from late October to early November. See website for map with projected color changes.

Suggested viewing areas in Central Alabama:

(1) At Oak Mountain State Park  in Pelham, take in the view from Peavine Overlook and Peavine Falls.

(2) Head north to Oneonta/Blount County and enjoy the color from Horton Mill, Old Easley or Swann covered bridges and Palisades Park. Take the drive on I-59 up Whitney Mountain near Oneonta, and proceed up U.S. 231.

(3) In Cullman/Cullman County, the Ave Maria Grotto and the 277-foot-long, 90-foot-high Clarkson Covered Bridge offer excellent views, as do scenic drives U.S. 31 and 278.

Plenty of activities for kids! And those still young at heart can enjoy sitting under a shade tree listening to music, watching the kids or enjoying any of the wonderful food and sweets from the Red Barn Kitchen or famous Pie House.

Much of the Great Pumpkin Patch has been newly renovated and updated. We have a totally new inflatable park with a Great Jumpin' Pumpkin, incredible Super Slide that is fun for young and a Smaller Slide for those not quite ready for the challenge of the Super Slide. The all new Bungee Run is a great way to challenge friends and family to a competition of strength and skill and provides loads of laughter for those watching the challenge.

The Monster Dash is a 5K virtual run benefiting the Autism Society of Alabama's compassionate programs offered to families on the autism journey. The $30 race fee includes a long sleeve t-shirt which will be mailed to participants. October 31st is the official date, but runners and walkers can decide any day or location during October. Registration is open at runsignup.com or info@autism-alabama.org. https://runsignup.com/Race/AL/Birmingham/AutismSocietyofAlabamaMonsterDash

Join Bare Hands, Inc at ROJO the month of October for a special showing of the masks the 2020 Dia de los Muertos Festival. Each mask is created by a local artist and will be for sale. Proceeds from mask sales will benefit the Dia de los Muertos Fest

BOO! 👻 GUARANTEED SCREAMS! The ePLEX this spooky season has turned into a haunted house...you will either need to visit our bar or potty 😈🍻

We have found ghost... zombies... felt paranormal activity... lost in a terrifying mansion.... experienced terrible nightmares... 🕸🤡🕷

Our haunted house is a 12x12 pod, individual or 2 player playing on our state of the art equipment, which is cleaned after every use by award winning Cleanbox Tech.

Let us SCARE YOU the safest way this Halloween season 💀

OLLI presents Prepare Now for Next Year's Garden with Eric Shavey, Regional Extension Agent.  Eric will discuss what we need to duo now and in the coming months to prepare for the success of our next garden.  Learn more about these tips:  Don't compost our tomato and pepper plants, clean out the weeks from this year's garden, add organic matter now and plant a cover crop.  These steps are great ways to ensure a healthy, productive garden next year without having to use harsh chemicals and fertilizers.

All OLLI classes currently offered thru Zoom technology.  Not familiar with Zoom?  No worries free Zoom training classes are offered as well.  Call 205-348-6482 or  see olli.ua.edu.

4D Farm is a family owned farm located in Cullman, Alabama. We have a corn maze and pumpkin patch in the fall. You will also have a great time on all of our fun activities such as the jumping pillow, play barn, 80ft slide, cow train, rubber duck races, tire mountain, hay jump, pig races, barnyard ball zone, corn box, and more!

The Old Baker Farm stands as a historic marker of days gone by. Homesteaded over 200 years ago, the Old Baker Farm withstood the perils of the Civil War and remains today as a traditional family farm, growing crops from cotton to corn, including pumpkins.

Shootouts, Western Music, Hay Wagon Rides, Hay Mountain, Pumpkin Patch, & More!
Kids, come dressed in your western attire!

Cowboy Weekend - October 10th and 11th
Halloween Barn Party - October 17th
Festival Weekend - October 24th and 25th

Alabama's Premier Haunted Attraction. We are a full-blown indoor haunted house with two attractions plus food, fun & games on our midway.

The largest indoor haunted attraction in the Southeast. 50,000-square-feet of mind numbing terror and over 1/4 miles of twisted hallways and shocking surprises.

Special October Halloween Interactive Paranormal Investigation And Ghost Hunt of the Famous Historic Thomas Jefferson Tower that has been a key building of the Birmingham Skyline since 1929! Exclusive Halloween Event where you participate and are Led by Paranormal Investigator and Medium Lesley Ann Hyde with her team the Southern Ghost Girls Paranormal Investigators . You get to use the most advanced paranormal investigation equipment that you see on TV and see what evidence you can find of any spirits that may still roam the Historic Building. Costumes or Masquerade style dress are optional at this event but definitely dress up if you Dare! A special Halloween Fixe Prix Dinner will be available for an additional cost at the In House Restaurant Roots-Revelry starting at 5:00 pm. Voted 2017 Best New Restaurant in Birmingham it is a total delight to dine at! You will need to make a reservation to dine before the 7:00 pm tour. Make Reservations for the special menu at roots-revelry.com or by calling 205- 730-1907. They also have a fully stocked bar to quench your thirst before the tour. The Thomas Jefferson Hotel opened in 1929 and was a stately presence in Birmingham’s early Cityscape! One of the Country’s Finest Hotels where many famous people Including Marilyn Monroe, Bear Bryant, Ray Charles, & Presidents Calvin Coolage & Herbert Hoover stayed at during its Hey Day! The building even housed children stricken by the polio pandemic in Birmingham one time. In the 1970’s the Tower became known as the Cabana Hotel which many people still remember and then it stayed abandoned for many years until it’s recent multi million dollar renovation . The Building is also one of the only Buildings in the World that has a Zeppelin mooring atop of it that was to have anchored Zeppelins for Futuristic Travel. It’s the Only one left in the World!! Experience this one of a kind Interactive fun Halloween Paranormal Investigation that only happens once a year where you get to decide what spirits may still linger at the building in the Ballroom, Basement, Lobby, Stairs, mezzanine and other haunted hallways and rooms. Every time the Southern Ghost Girls have investigated the building it has yielded incredible paranormal evidence. You can decide if it’s haunted or not but be ready to have a fun night either way! Wear comfortable shoes and of course it will go on rain or shine. It is family friendly but Not recommended for Young children. If you have any questions please reach out to The Southern Ghost Girls.

The Birmingham Ghost Walk – Hotels, Churches, and Riots Tour is our “main ghost tour”,  And definitely the one that we recommend if you have not been on 1 of our tours before or if you are in town for only a single evening,  and wanting to experience tales of murders and murderers, suicides, and spirits of the past.   This 2 hour walking tour cover some of our most spectacular bits of dark history while viewing some of our most historic buildings and standing where history happened and blood flowed.

Comedians will get 3-5 minutes of time depending on the amount of people signed up. There will be a bucket that the audience can throw their name into for a chance to do a spot as well if time permits.
Interested in participating? Email winters902@gmail.com
Our open mic is for both amateur talent, and visiting national comedians to work on their material (...or to help rebuild their confidence)! You will see people doing jokes for the first time, expanding on current jokes, and some times just plain eating it... which is pretty awesome! Regardless, Ferus supports comedy as an Art Form, and as an art form, watch us explore, expand, die, laugh, and strike gold!
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It is Eagle Carnival time!!! We will be having our event on October 30th beginning at 2:45pm and ending with our Annual Basketball Scrimmage in the gym at 6:00pm! Come join in the fun including inflatables, games, cake walk, rock wall and much more. Admission will be $5 per person.

Nightmare at 3008 was created in 2012 and is a top-rated haunted house according to AlabamaHauntedHouses.com. Nightmare moved locations from 3008 Stouts Road to 1731 Decatur Highway in February 2017. In 2018 and again in 2019, Nightmare was ranked by fans as the number 1 must-see haunt in Alabama.

Every year Nightmare donates a portion of their profits to Children’s of Alabama Childhood Cancer Research. Other Haunt Season community events include Sensory Awareness day and Not So Scary Kids Day. During November, Nightmare hosts a food drive for a local soup kitchen, and in December, they host a toy drive for Christmas Visions.

This year, Nightmare is featuring an indoor trail and outdoor trail. The indoor trial consists of 2 haunted attractions including The Nightmare House and The Underground. The outdoor trail consists of Sketchy’s Toxic Candyland.

The haunted house opens on September 25, 2020, at 7:30 pm and will be open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Hell Week will begin on Thursday, October 22nd, and will run until Halloween, Saturday, October 31st. Special events/dates will be announced.

This is our 7th season! Hellbilly Hollow is a swamp trail ride, corn maze & haunted house filled with monsters and ghouls!

Join SEO for a moderate, approximately four-mile, big loop hike on the lovely, well-maintained trails in the 1000+-acre Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve, one of the largest in-city nature preserves in the country.

We’ll see remnants of old iron ore mining operations which took place on the mountain.  We’ll stop by and visit three old iron ore crushers, stop by the entrances to three, different types of iron ore mines, walk around the new wetlands area, see a real artesian well which still emits copious amounts of water, and view foundations for ore car hoists and various water tanks.

Well-behaved, properly supervised children age 7 and up able to walk five miles without complaining welcome.

Note-To view photos of what we will see on this trip, please click on this link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1NPiqRynl15UExl43

Please be sure to click on the link and view the photographs.

This trip will involve some elevation gain hiking between the lower sections of the park to the top of Ruffner Mountain.

Please bring your picnic lunch and drinking water with you.

Meet 9:45 a.m. at the Ruffner Mountain Nature Center Pavilion.  We plan to depart from there at 10:00 a.m.

Info: David Shepherd, davidshep2@yahoo.com or 205/240-4681

DIRECTIONS TO MEETING PLACE

Ruffner Mountain Nature Center—1214 81st Street South, Birmingham. Take I-59 from downtown to Exit #131, Oporto-Madrid Boulevard (which is also 77th Street). Turn right at end of ramp and go about 9 blocks to 4th Avenue South. Turn left. Go four blocks to 81st Street South. Turn right and go to end of road which becomes Ruffner Mountain Nature Center’s driveway. Park in large parking area a little further up hill, to the right of the new nature center building itself and right next to the covered deck with picnic tables. Or from the Eastwood Mall area take Oporto-Madrid north to 4th Avenue South. Turn right. Then follow directions above.

DESCRIPTION OF SOUTHEASTERN OUTINGS

Do you wish you had friends who share your active lifestyle and enjoyment of outdoor activities?  Then become active with Southeastern Outings (SEO), a nonprofit organization committed and created to serve people who enjoy being active in the outdoors.  The organization plans, organizes and leads outings such as dayhikes, easy kayak and canoe trips, stream and waterfall walks, bicycle rides, lake events and other fun activities to beautiful sites in our natural environment.  From time to time we also sponsor potluck suppers and other socials.  All events and activities of the group are open to the public.  Participating in SEO activities is a splendid, simple way to make congenial new friends who enjoy the outdoors.

NO DOGS OR SMOKING ALLOWED, PLEASE, ON ANY SOUTHEASTERN OUTINGS EVENTS.

The organization currently has over 250 members.  We scheduled eighty-seven events during calendar year 2019 for an average of 7 fun events per month.  We enjoy the outdoors in all seasons throughout the year.

SEO does not charge for participation in any of its outings.  You do not have to be a member to participate in one or two SEO activities.  Dues are only $10.  Please contact Dan Frederick, President, 205-631-4680, or seoutings@bellsouth.net for more information and to obtain three free monthly newsletters with membership application and a complete description of all our outdoor events.

Southeastern Outings now has a website.  Just go to seoutings.org to find announcements of all our upcoming outings scheduled plus some brief, general information about Southeastern Outings, a membership application and 1500 lovely photographs from most of our outings.

Thank you.

Seek out the hidden scarecrows displayed throughout the museum grounds and get your tickets to ride not just one - but two - different railroads. Ride behind the full-size, diesel C&S locomotive and, while you’re visiting, be sure to buy a ticket to ride the newly restored Shelby & Southern Narrow Gauge Steam Railroad and get your very own souvenir Golden Spike! Tickets for the Calera & Shelby Railroad Available online prior to the event. Tickets for the Shelby & Southern Railroad are available at the Shelby & Southern Railroad's Depot prior to departure.

Enjoy food trucks, safe, family-friendly games and activities, the huge Great Pumpkin, and more! Put on your costumes, bring your cameras, and come have some fun at the NEW Scarecrow Junction this Fall at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum.

This event is open to anyone who is interested in:

cultivating relationships with local minority business owners,
connecting with local capacity-building business resources and
seeking minority business opportunities in the Birmingham area

Join the Fun Day of the Dead Festival and Party Participating in a Real Interactive Ghost Hunt and Paranormal Investigation at the Saloon . The TV Personalities and Paranormal Investigators Southern Ghost Girls will lead you on the hunt to find the spirits and ghosts at Alabama’s Oldest Saloon The Peerless Saloon & Grille in Historic Anniston, Al. Lead Investigator , Empath & Medium Lesley Ann Hyde Woukd love for you to join the fun! You will dive into the hauntingly interesting and scandalous past when it was a saloon and brothel more than a century ago! There was even a death that occurred at the top of the stairs by a shooting that took place.. Many paranormal occurrences have been reported over the years in the Historic Building. Will you encounter any of the Spirits of the past that are said to still be lingering in the building? You never know what you may see, hear or find. You don’t want to miss this event and the group is limited to Just 25 people for this event! A portion of the proceeds will be donated to The JSU Autism Department. Tickets will sell out fast so don’t delay ! * please note that Face Coverings / Masks will be required to keep Everyone Safe due to Covid and social distancing

A weekly meeting, hosted by Create’s Director of Programs, Jessica Moody, via Zoom, helps local artists, small businesses, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs start the week off with coffee and brainstorming.
This is a time to allow you to share recent challenges and concerns and discuss how to continue adapting their business, organization, or idea.