Festivals & Events

"Roots and Renaissance: An African American Journey Through Art," is the first Black Art gallery installation curated by the Fairfield Black Art Collective. The gallery will be housed within the C.A. Kirkendoll Learning Resource Center on the campus of Miles College and the exhibit will open in Feb. 2024 and run through

the 2024 Spring Semester. Selected works will be displayed in the physical gallery as well as an online gallery hosted on the Fairfield Black Art Collective website throughout the duration of the exhibit.  We welcome artists within the Fairfield, Birmingham, and surrounding areas to submit original works for consideration to be showcased and sold during this exhibit. Deadline to Submit is 12/11/23 at 11:9pm.

Visit your local store to be one of the more than two million kids and families to take a photo with Santa. Photo sessions will start on Sunday, November 5. Reservations are strongly recommended. To learn more and make a reservation, visit www.basspro.com/santa.

In collaboration with interculturalist & naturalista, Bettina Byrd-Giles, we celebrate National CROWN Day and the CROWN Act of 2022, which prohibits discrimination based on hairstyle or texture. Celebrating the rich diversity of Black hair and culture, this exhibition honors the significance of the CROWN Act and the beauty of self-expression.

An exhibition featuring work created by current and former Alabama artists in a variety of mediums including sculpture, installation, photography, painting, and textiles.

Participating artists are Soeun Bae, Ryan Carlson, Rene Culler, Susan Fitzsimmons, Ryan Foster, Sydney A. Foster, Bryce Lafferty, Sophie McVicar, Elisabeth Pellathy, Renee Hanan Plata, and Chris Boyd Taylor.

Please join us for the exhibition opening Thursday, September 21 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

The exhibition will continue through January 5, 2024 - Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and by appointment

Scrappy and interpretive, Jacqueline Surdell hand-manipulates dock cord — weaving and knotting the line into naturalistic, sculptural installations that are antagonistically positioned between the human body and sculpture. The industrial material and physically demanding process playfully orbit techniques, colors and forms associated with domesticity. The works trace the artist’s family history and private life while fostering discussion around labor, gender, and sexuality.

Surdell’s 2023 AEIVA exhibit, titled Adoration Garden, will explore memory and time as material — transforming AEIVA’s Gallery One into a space of play, contemplation, power, drive and creation.

Jacqueline Surdell is from Chicago, IL.  The city’s history of industry, labor and Midwest grit plays a significant role in Surdell’s work.  She received a BA from Occidental College in Los Angeles and her MFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  Her recent solo and group exhibitions include Devening Projects, Chicago; Library Street Collective, Detroit; Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago; Bedford Gallery, San Francisco and international shows in Japan, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Michael Dixon’s paintings and performances explore the personal, societal, and aesthetic struggles of belonging to both “white” and “black” racial and cultural identities, yet simultaneously belonging fully to neither. For his 2023 AEIVA exhibit, titled The Undeniable Blackness Between Us, Dixon will explore his cultural duality through the lens of his childhood, familial relationships, and his search for a father he’s never known.

Michael Dixon lives in Albion, Michigan and is a full professor of art at Albion College.  He received his MFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder.  Dixon is a recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, Joan Mitchell Foundation Emergency Grant, Puffin Foundation Grant, and the Blanchard Fellowship. Recent exhibitions include the Slocumb Galleries, Eastern Tennessee State; Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art; and international exhibitions in Palestine, the Sarajevo Winter Festival 2022 and traveling exhibitions in Japan and Michigan.

Hapless family man Paul Matthews finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. But when his nighttime appearances take a nightmarish turn, Paul is forced to navigate his newfound stardom

This extraordinary event will be held on select nights from 5:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. during the months of November, December, and January. Watch the Zoo come alive with larger-than-life, jaw-dropping wild animal and sea life lantern creations brilliantly lighting up the night! Spend all winter long with your Birmingham Zoo and GLOW WILD into the new year!

On behalf of the Flourish, we would like to invite you to the 4th annual Word Up! Poetry Festival. This year, we will be featuring schools from both Birmingham City Schools and Jefferson County Public Schools. The event will take place at the Birmingham Public Library Central Branch on Friday, December 8th. Semifinals are at 5pm and the Finals begin at 7pm.
We hope to see you there!

Get ready to see the top youth poets in Jefferson County compete for $5,000 in cash prizes as The Flourish Alabama teams up with the Birmingham Public Library to present the 2023 Word Up! Poetry Festival. The poetry slam, happening 5-9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8 at the Central Library downtown, features 6 teams from Birmingham and Jefferson County: Huffman, Jackson-Olin, Parker, Ramsay, Wenonah and Minor.

"I'm really excited to hear the students express their hopes, dreams and concerns," said Jahman Hill, co-founder of The Flourish Alabama. "We say the children are our future, and this is an opportunity to listen."

As a part of our Holidays at Sidewalk series.

A retelling of the classic Dickens tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, miser extraordinaire. He is held accountable for his dastardly ways during night-time visitations by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

We are thrilled to invite you to opening reception of the second annual exhibition of The Black Cherry Tree Project, an initiative that stands at the intersection of art, history, and healing. Join us in unveiling the creative endeavors of the newest cohort of artists from our community. The exhibition will introduce a diverse group of artists who have been meeting since April 2023, each bringing their unique interpretation to the narratives we are dedicated to telling through various forms and mediums.

What to Expect:
Local Artistry & Historical Archives: A showcase of art inspired by JCMP's extensive victim archives, interpreted by local artists.
Public Exhibitions: Engage with the artworks at no cost, offering a space for confrontation, understanding, and healing.
Living Memorials: Beginning in 2024, witness the planting of cherry trees as commemoratives in public parks, each with markers detailing the victim's story and interactive QR codes.

Be a part of this transformative journey. Stand with us as we reflect on our shared history and partake in a collective movement towards a brighter, more inclusive future.

Stay updated with us:
Instagram: @blackcherrytreeproject
Facebook: /blackcherrytreeproject
Website: blackcherrytreeproject.com

he Second City's What The Elf? features a seasonal blend of hilarious scenes, songs and our trademark improvisation with a sprig of holiday mischief for a night of spirited fun. The Second City has your ticket to all that’s ridiculous about this magical season!
This Show is a Family Friendly Version suited for teens and above.

Top singers, dancers, musicians, and RMT’s Performing Ensembles are all ready to celebrate the best time of the year. From heartwarming moments to hilarious comedy, this show is jam-packed with holiday cheer for the whole family!

RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ accentuates the journey of RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR, from its inception, to the opening in Stockholm, Sweden, to the finale in Kansas City, Missouri. It is about Beyoncé’s intention, hard work, involvement in every aspect of the production, her creative mind and purpose to create her legacy, and master her craft. Received with extraordinary acclaim, Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR created a sanctuary for freedom, and shared joy, for more than 2.7 million fans.

Join us as VST nods to its long history of producing classic plays with the show the New York Times calls “A deliciously wicked character portrait and helter-skelter satire.” Featuring Birmingham’s finest comic talent, Murrell Wilkinson and Jan D. Hunter.

In The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, playwright Jeff Goode told a tale of scandal at the North Pole as one of Santa’s reindeer accused him of sexual harrassment. As mass media descended upon the event, the other members of the sleigh team demanded to share their perspective, and a horrific tale of corruption and perversion emerged. The long-awaited follow-up to The Eight: Reindeer Monologues: This time, it's Santa's turn, and Christmas will never, ever be the same. Scandal erupts at the North Pole when the most powerful man on Earth is sentenced to rehab for a minor traffic violation. But when he finds himself in a detox program run by the estranged Mrs. Claus, Santa's desperate struggle to conceal the truth about his arrest uncovers yet another sordid secret that could mean the end of Christmas-as-we-know-it.

From the author of “The Eight: Reindeer Monologues” comes this twisted Christmas tale. Santa Claus is in rehab following a drunken hit-and-run with the sleigh, and his seven personalities are duking it out for control of his mind. Mrs. Claus steps in as the facilitator of the rehab center, and she has her own candy cane to shove up his chimney.

Content Warning: This show is not the traditional family friendly Christmas show. Seven Santa's is a dark comedy and continues the themes of it's previous work The Eight: Reindeer Monologues. While it is a comedy, this show covers sensitive topics such as alcoholism, sexual abuse, and molestation.

Now, as they navigate adulthood, they’re equally tired of the music institutions telling them what their music should sound like—so they dunked it in patchouli and a skate-and-destroy ethos that brings an enduring sound into the modern age.

All we can tell you is that it's a movie and it's bad.

Join us for our monthly celebration of bad cinema. Surprises + Fun and it's free! Grab a drink at our bar, you're going to need it.

*This event is free and first come, first served. Ticket reservations are strongly recommended.*

We meet on the second Saturday of every month, from 8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. If you’d like to volunteer, plan to meet us at the Rose Garden Pavilion on 40th Street South. Bring your trusty clean-up gloves and we’ll provide the trash bins, garbage bags, and other helpful clean-up tools.

In case of inclement weather, be sure to check the Friends of Avondale Park Facebook page for updates.

Join us for the Red Mountain Cut Litter Clean-Up, a fun and impactful event aimed at keeping our beautiful surroundings clean and litter-free!

We will rally at 8:30am in the English Village parking lot next to Little Hardware (2101 Cahaba Road, Mountain Brook, AL 35223). We will hand out safety gear, go over the zones to be cleaned, answer any questions, split into teams and go clean-up. We should be cleaning by 9:00am and wrap-up by 11:00am.

This event is being organized by the Red Mountain Cut Foundation, an Alabama 501c3 dedicated to improving the beauty and access to the Cut in Red Mountain and adjacent neighborhoods. We are working under the Alabama Department of Transportation's Adopt-a-Mile program in partnership with PALS (People Against a Littered State).

Red Mountain Cut Foundation

Alabama PALS

Let's work together to preserve the natural beauty of our community and ensure a cleaner environment for everyone. Mark your calendars and get ready to roll up your sleeves for a day of litter-busting fun!

Follow young Peter and his friends as they explore the world around them. From learning how to whistle to thrilling encounters with treasure, the delightful moments of childhood are perfectly captured in this imaginative musical play

In the Wee Folks Theatre pre-K and elementary audiences are introduced to structured theatrical performances. Shows in this space often come from the pages of favorite storybooks and classic fairy tales updated for today’s children.

Usually (though not always) musical and/or interactive, audiences in Wee Folks are encouraged to react audibly and help our main characters on their story journey.Audiences sit on carpeted risers in this room created for children to enjoy theatre in a space designed for them. And with our Sensory Room right next door, kids who need a break have an easy place to reset mid-show.