Festivals & Events

Crisis Center, Inc. is proud to present the sixth annual Just A Call Away. Also, this year the Crisis Center, Inc. is celebrating its 50th anniversary! This year's event will be a celebration of the important work of the Crisis Center, Inc., but as with many other things in 2020, it's going to look different. We have two options for you this year: a virtual challenge and a live chip-timed 5K with a flex start time. You can choose to do the virtual challenge, the live chip-timed option, or BOTH! Runners and walkers of all ages and abilities are welcome.

VIRTUAL CHALLENGE: 50,000 Miles for 50 Years!
Submitting Virtual Miles: You can submit as many miles as you run or walk from the day you register until September 30th to help us reach our 50,000 Miles for 50 Years goal.

All proceeds from the Annual Baby Steps Memorial Run benefit The Amelia Center in Birmingham, Alabama. The Amelia Center offers individual grief counseling to parents and grandparents who have suffered the loss of a child and to children who have lost siblings.

Due to the uncertainty of the spread of COVID-19, we are not able to host the 12th Annual Baby Steps Memorial Run in person. So, this year we will host a VIRTUAL Challenge for the entire month of September. Get out (or in) with your family and walk, run, jog, bike ride!

Keep the tradition and join Laura Crandall Brown Foundation (LCBF) as we virtually host our 11th annual Head Over Teal 5K/10K. Create your own FUNdraising page or lead a team of supporters as you prepare to hit the road in your neighborhood, park, or favorite trail anywhere in the world! Runners can honor survivors and remember those who fought GYN cancer by documenting their race times on RunSignup, sharing photos of family support, and by connecting with other participants and the LCBF staff via social media during race week by using the hashtags #headoverteal and #headovertealgoesvirtual.

Follow us on social media at Facebook @LCBFoundation, Twitter @LCBFoundation, Instagram at lcbfoundation, YouTube at Laura Crandall Brown Foundation, and Flickr at Laura Crandall Brown Foundation to register to win door prizes and engage in fun activities with the Head Over Teal community. Lead race times will be eligible for a Trak Shak gift card. Learn more and register from our website. All proceeds go to support LCBF's mission of early detection research, awareness education, and support services for GYN cancer patients and families.

Be trackside as the train arrives! Board and depart for a rail excursion on Ozan's private air conditioned car! Return for a vineyard walk, and wine tasting! All seating is outdoors on our deck or vineyard overlook courtyard. Indoor seating is not available at this time.

Trackside Spirit Sampling
Train Excursion
Wine Flight Tasting w/ Keepsake glass at the winery
Shared Cheese Plate

Exciting Attractions & Shows. Live Music. All Your Favorite Fair Food. Spectacular Carnival Rides & Kiddie Rides. Safe, Clean Family Fun.!

The Alabama State fair moved permanently to the Birmingham Race Course in 2019.

Do you love Tacos?
Don't miss Birmingham's 4th Annual TACO FEST TACO TRAIL presented by Spire - the whole month of September!
Enjoy tacos at some of Alabama's best taco establishments!! Pick up some great tacos and some ice cold PEPSI, Cold Corona, Modelo and Hornitos margaritas! While you are there - register to win our daily prize pack!

www.bhamtacofest.com
Proceeds from Birmingham Taco Fest benefit the Bare Hands Outreach.

Do you love a cruise in? Do you like helping a good cause? If so, come to The Outlet Shops of Grand River on September 19th from 11am-2pm for the Drive Out ALS Cruise In! Your car can be driven daily or not. It’s going to be a fun day for a great cause! Bring your Jeeps, Trucks, Vintage Cars, or whatever you have in your garage! #stompoutals #driveoutals

September 19th 11am-2pm| Front parking lot at The Outlet Shops of Grand River

$10 entry fee per car | Benefits Alabama ALS Association Community of Hope Fund

3 ways to register: contact@shopsofgrandriver.com  |  Call (205) 702-8360  |  Onsite Sept 19

Khairi (Khi-air-ree) and Little Angels’ Memorial invites you to come out and participate in its "Body, Mind, and Spirit Mental Health Expo 2020 on Saturday, September 19, 2020 from 11:00 am – 7:00 p.m. at the Boutwell Auditorium (main room)!

This is an event for the entire family to come out and enjoy, This event will provide everyone with information about several mental illness, just to name a few depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc. There will be several individual vendors that will be on site to share their products for pampering yourself and relaxing the body. A healthy body is a body that has a free mind, stress free body and a calm spirit that is yearning for the Lord.

Prior to the canoeing and kayaking, boaters and other Southeastern Outings people and guests will get together in the vicinity of the Beaver Pavilion which in turn is in the general neighborhood of the Flip Side Water Sports office, (FS and formerly the Fishing Center), for a group picnic.

Please note that the meeting place pavilion for this outing is different from where Southeastern Outings has usually gathered in the past for this outing!

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

https://photos.app.goo.gl/q22p47EpWdeUi6Xf1

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

Please bring your own picnic lunch and beverage.  We will not have a potluck lunch at this event this year due to the Covid 19 pandemic.  Please bring also $5/person ($2 seniors and children) park admission fee.

Please bring also folding lawn chairs.  We are required to observe social distancing during this outing, so almost all of us will be seated for lunch in our respective lawn chairs.  We will not be seated in or eating in the pavilion.   We will begin eating lunch at 12:00 noon regardless of whether you are there or not!

After lunch you can enjoy boating on the lower fishing lake.  You may bring your own boat (no charge) or you may rent a canoe from the park by paying for your rental canoe at the back gate to the park.  The park says they have 5 tandem canoes for rent.  Two of the canoes each used to have one broken seat in them.  Rental rate for canoes is $14 per hour. Cash only.  No credit cards accepted.  First come, first served.

FS has available for rent 5 solo kayaks and 8 paddleboards.  Rental rate for either is $20 per hour.  Cash or credit cards accepted by FS.

No shuttle involved in any of these boating activities.  Share an adventure!  Bring a friend.

We’ll launch our boats about 1:30 p.m. at the lake shore.

You are welcome to participate in the boating and skip the group picnic; you are welcome to skip the boating and come just for the picnic; or, as most people did the previous five times we have sponsored this outing, you are encouraged to enjoy the outdoor exercise activities AND the picnic.

Meet near the Beaver Pavilion which is almost straight downhill from the back gatehouse entrance to the park.

For more essential information about this trip, please contact Dan Frederick, 205-631-4680 or email seoutings@bellsouth.net and ask for the Note for Kayak and Canoe Trips.

Info: Dan Frederick, seoutings@bellsouth.net or phone 205/631-4680;

DIRECTIONS TO MEETING PLACE

Beaver Pavilion, Near the Flip Side Water Sports office building (formerly the Fishing Center), Lower Fishing Lake (now called Beaver Lake), Oak Mountain State Park-If you choose to drive to the Beaver Pavilion area from the front, main park entrance, enter the main gate of the park.  Then follow the main park road which goes through the main front gate to the park all the way to where the road goes over a bridge across the spillway on the dam between the visible upper fishing lake which is on the right, above the dam, and the larger, lower fishing lake which is probably not visible from the spillway.  Drive on the bridge over the spillway and on ahead to the far end of the dam and turn left.  Park in the parking spaces you’ll see on the sides of the road immediately before you get to the obvious rear gatehouse.

If you choose to drive to the Beaver Pavilion area from the back park entrance which is much closer to the Flip Side Water Sports office and the Lower Fishing Lake than is the front park entrance, take U.S. 31, I-65, or U.S. 280 to Alabama Route 119, Cahaba Valley Road.  Turn left onto 119 if coming from Birmingham on 31 or 65.  Turn right on 119 if coming from Birmingham on 280.  Drive to near the traffic light at the intersection of Caldwell Mill Road and AL 119, Cahaba Valley Road.  Caldwell Mill Road is County Route 14.  It is signed for the county route, but there is no visible sign saying “Caldwell Mill Road”.

See sign on 119 for Oak Mountain Lake where you should turn off of 119.  Turn right at that sign if coming from 31 or 65.  The road off 119 going up into the back entrance to the park turns off of AL 119 5.6 miles east of the I-65 exit for Cahaba Valley Road off of I-65.

Turn left off of 119 if coming from 280.  You’ll drive through and pay your park admission fee at the back gate entrance to the park.  Also pay for canoe rentals at the back entrance gate.  Immediately past the gatehouse turn left and park in the parking spaces you’ll see marked on the sides of the road.  Then walk back to the gatehouse.  Walk left on the downhill-heading driveway which you’ll see close to the gatehouse.  The drive will probably be chained off.  It goes right to the Beaver Pavilion which is the smaller of the two pavilions near the lower end of the driveway.

You’ll also see the Flip Side Water Sports office (formerly the Fishing Center Building) and restrooms to the right of the lower end of the drive you walk on to get to the Beaver Pavilion.

A few years ago when we sponsored this event, three people had difficulty finding the eleven of us who were already at the pavilion where we were meeting.  Please put these detailed directions in your car NOW and BE SURE TO TAKE THESE DIRECTIONS WITH YOU AND READ THEM WHEN COMING ON THIS OUTING!  Go to the Beaver Pavilion which is downhill almost straight ahead of you when you pay your park admission fee at the rear entrance gatehouse.

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.

Unity Market is coming to Unity of Birmingham weekly on Saturday afternoons from 4-7pm starting July 11th! We are located in the Highland Park neighborhood of downtown Birmingham, just 2 blocks from Rojo, and directly across the street from the park.

We are thrilled to host 10+ local food and farm vendors that will include this all-star lineup:
Kind Harvest Farm
Ireland Farms
Walden FARMacy
Wild Violet Gardens
Marble Creek Farmstead
Forgotten Ways Farm
House Plant Collective
Ono Ice
Blissful Heights Integrative Medicine
WildFox tea & apothecary
Last Call Baked Goods
Sorelle

You can expect to find a wide variety of veggies, salad greens, and herbs, farm eggs, meats, cheeses, ready made snacks and meals, breads, pastries, cakes, cookies, shaved ice, medicinal tinctures, body and facial oils, salves, and potted plants!

The market will also be putting together Picnic Baskets featuring an assortment of farm fresh goodies like baguettes, homemade pickles, preserves, sliders, pastries, and fruit from multiple vendors in a CSA-style package presented in an adorable picnic basket that you can easily pop over to the park directly adjacent to Unity to enjoy. Bring the picnic basket back the next week or supply your own to save $4 on your next Picnic Basket.

Unity Market is honored to be partnering with so many local food and farm businesses that all have one thing in common - a passion for sustainable food systems. Unity of Birmingham is a wonderfully inclusive and vibrant spiritual community, and Unity Market's vision aligns with their values of acceptance, diversity, compassion, and sustainability. We believe in taking individual and collective responsibility to make a positive difference through active service. We're excited for this opportunity to connect our community with local food and farm businesses! When we shop local, support farmers, and are engaged in our communities, we create a happier, healthier, and more resilient society - lettuce be a part of the movement that is bringing food back down to the community scale!

The format will resemble a traditional style open air, walk-up market where each vendor handles the sale of their products. We are keeping safety at the forefront of our minds, and we ask that you do too. All market staff and volunteers, vendors, and shoppers will be asked to wear a face mask in accordance with the city-wide ordinance, and practice distancing of at least 6 feet between households. We will provide a hand sanitizing station. If you are exhibiting any adverse health symptoms, we ask that you stay at home in order to protect our communities from illness. We have parking onsite, but we encourage you to walk if possible.

You can follow Unity Market on Facebook or Instagram (@unitymarketbham) to stay up to date with market news.

Can't wait to see you soon!
♥ Unity Market

The Eat.Drink.Ride. Food Tour is back going to 5 local spots in 4 hours. We will have small bites and some cocktails/adult beverage. The new meeting spot is still at Brookwood Mall in the back parking lot of O'Henry Coffee (next to Target).

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.

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.

Samford University's Orlean Beeson School of Education is proud to present Patti Callahan Henry as the 2020 Tom and Marla Corts Distinguished Author.  Henry will speak about her recent book, Becoming Mrs. Lewis, during a live streamed event. This event is complimentary as Samford's gift to the community.

Henry will share insights and stories of inspiration from her book, Becoming Mrs. Lewis, a motivational account of the life of Joy Davidman Lewis, wife of legendary writer C.S. Lewis.

To fully capture and convey the story of Mrs. Lewis, a brilliant and complicated woman, Henry retraced Lewis’s steps from New York to Oxford. Becoming Mrs. Lewis beautifully documents Henry’s extensive research of Lewis’s fascinating life and her unlikely love story.

Prepare to be inspired and encouraged at this 10th anniversary event.

The Regions Tradition and PGA TOUR Champions announced today that the 2020 golf tournament and associated events scheduled for September 23-27 at Greystone Golf & Country Club will be canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis. The decision was made in conjunction with local and state health officials as the climate surrounding the coronavirus pandemic continues to fluctuate.

Next year’s Regions Tradition is scheduled for May 5-9, 2021, at Greystone Golf & Country Club.

Dining Out For Life is coming back to Birmingham for its 11th year! On Thursday, September 24th, you can contribute to the local fight against HIV/AIDS by simply dining out at a participating restaurant and at least 25% of your bill will be donated to AIDS Alabama. All funds raised in Birmingham enable us to continue providing critical services to Alabamians living with HIV and their families. Dine Out. Give Back.

Check back for a complete list of participating restaurants.

Make sure to follow Dining Out For Life- Birmingham's Facebook event page and Instagram page for the latest information about the event!

Feeling the need for an annual or quarterly checkup? This is your chance!

This workshop is an opportunity to establish goals with corresponding tasks and assess current needs for your growing business.

Using the CO.STARTERS canvas as a guide, you’ll determine tasks and milestones over the next 30, 60, and 90 days to move your business or organization forward.

While this workshop uses the canvas as a guide, it is not necessary to be a CO.STARTERS graduate. This workshop is for current and aspiring business owners, entrepreneurs, artists, makers, musicians, and advocates.

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!

Mark your calendars and join the Birmingham Zoo for our new event, Zoo Brews: Drafts at a Distance on Friday, September 25 from 5pm until 8pm! Craft beer lovers will enjoy a fantastic selection of beverages from Alabama Crown’s finest specialty brews and wines. Experience breweries from all over Alabama and the southeast while you safely travel through the Zoo. Perfect for adults 21 and up, this event is a responsible reinvented twist on a signature favorite!

*Please Note: Zoo Brews is a rain or shine event, ages 21+ only, no ticket refunds will be issued. Food trucks will be onsite serving food at an additional cost.

WHEN
Friday, September 25

TIME
5:00pm – 8:00pm

PRICING *Per Person & Plus Tax

General Admission  $30
Designated Driver  $15
Members $25

*Members will need to register or sign-in at the top of ticketing page to access member discounted pricing.

We are so excited to celebrate the release of Aimee Nezhukumatathil's WORLD OF WONDERS, which Ross Gay says "is as good and generous a teacher as one could ever ask for." Kiese Laymon writes "this book is about to shake the Earth," and in its starred review, Kirkus proclaims that "the writing dazzles with the marvel of being fully alive." Publishers Weekly notes that readers of Terry Tempest Williams and Annie Dillard will love Nezhukumatathil's "lyrical look at nature."

Aimee will be in conversation with Birmingham-based writer Alex McDaniel. The event is free but registration is required.

AIMEE NEZHUKUMATATHIL is the author of four collections of poems, including, most recently, Oceanic, winner of the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award. Other awards for her writing include fellowships and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Mississippi Arts Council, and MacDowell. Her writing appears in Poetry, the New York Times Magazine, ESPN, and Tin House. She serves as poetry faculty for the Writing Workshops in Greece and is professor of English and creative writing in the University of Mississippi’s MFA program.

ALEX MCDANIEL is a Birmingham-based writer, editor, and digital strategist with more than 10 years of experience in the journalism industry. An award-winning feature writer and columnist, Alex has spent most of her career covering sports, women's issues, race relations, and Southern culture. She is a long-suffering fan of her alma mater's football team at the University of Mississippi. She has a 7-year-old son who was once retweeted by Lin-Manuel Miranda, making him significantly more accomplished than she will ever be.