Can’t Miss Alabama has your first fall weekend all covered up
Montgomery Ballet's Ballet and the Beasts program goes "Into the Wild" with a free performance at the Montgomery Zoo. (Montgomery Ballet)
It’s officially autumn, and festive smells and sounds are in the air all over Can’t Miss Alabama.
Toast a great view and a great organization at Birmingham’s Kress Building.
The Alabama CCIM Chapter is pouring some great wines and serving them with delicious hors d’oeuvres tonight on the rooftop of the Kress Building, 301 19th St. N. in downtown Birmingham. Wine expert Scott Jones of Jones Is Thirsty will guide attendees through the evening with his trademark snobbery-free approach. The 7 p.m. event benefits the United Way of Alabama. Tickets are $60 per person or $100 per couple.
Roar your approval on Friday night as the Montgomery Ballet takes its elegance and poise into the wild.
Ballet and the Beasts puts the Montgomery Ballet’s dancers under the stars at the Montgomery Zoo, 2301 Coliseum Parkway, on Friday for a free performance of “Into the Wild,” beginning at dusk. Bring your picnic blankets, lawn chairs and coolers. Gates open at 6 p.m., and while it’s past most of the animals’ bedtime, selected animals will be on hand before the performance for attendees to enjoy.
Face painting is among the activities kids will enjoy at the Homestead Hollow Harvest Festival in Springville. (Homestead Hollow)
Take a step back in time at the Homestead Hollow Harvest Festival in Springville.
There’s nothing like a good harvest festival to give 21st century folks a taste of bygone days. The Homestead Hollow festival this weekend at Murphrees Valley Road and Bradford Road features wagon rides and demonstrations of old-time skills, as well as arts and crafts exhibitors, 20 food booths and live country, folk and Christian music. Admission is $3 to $7, and hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Check out some upscale goodies at Vintage Market Days of Mobile.
Vintage Market Days offers a wide array of treasures, whether edible, wearable, loungeable, collectible or even plantable. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday at 1035 Cody Road N. Admission is $10 for an early-bird three-day pass, $5 for Saturday or Sunday, and free for children younger than 12.
Show off your best polka steps at Dothan’s PorktoberQue, or just sit back and enjoy the brew and barbecue.
It may not be October yet, but in Dothan it’s Porktober, and that means a weekend of music – polka dancing indoors, Evan Barber & The Dead Gamblers in concert at 3:30 p.m. Saturday – and festive activities such as the Ultimate Air Dog Challenge and a car show. But the biggest focus is food, with smoky Southern barbecue stealing the spotlight from standard Oktoberfest fare and serious cooking competitions (barbecue, bacon and steak) on the menu. Craft beer will be in plentiful supply, though, Friday through Sunday at the Houston County Farm Center. Tickets are $5, with children 12 and younger admitted free.
Quaff the wine and stomp the grapes at Huntsville’s annual Big Spring Crush on Saturday.
Homegrown Huntsville’s Big Spring Crush, one of downtown Huntsville’s most popular festivals, offers unlimited tastings of more than 200 wines, plus food trucks, live music, a winery competition and a grape-stomping area. Tickets, available on Squadup in advance only, are $50 for general admission and $125 for VIP with a 5:30 p.m. dinner. 5-9 p.m. Saturday in Big Spring Park.
Enjoy great food on both sides of the tracks at the 25th annual Whistle Stop Festival in Irondale.
After Fannie Flagg spread the fame of the Irondale Café and its fried green tomatoes, the city of Irondale decided an annual celebration of its trackside downtown was in order, and the Whistle Stop Festival was born. A quarter-century later, this year’s festival in historic downtown on Saturday will feature live entertainment and more than 100 vendors selling food, art and crafts. Culinary highlights will include items from the Fish Market Southside, the return of the original Dale’s Restaurant and, of course, the historic Irondale Café, with shuttles available to take festivalgoers across the tracks for a visit. Performances on the main stage begin at 10 a.m., and the day closes with fireworks at 9 p.m.
Bring the kids to Daphne’s Jubilee Festival and you might take home an artist.
The Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce’s annual Jubilee Festival in Olde Towne Daphne is a classic community festival with a variety of vendors, live local entertainment and a traditional food court. One thing that makes it special is Kids Art in the Park, with activities that spark a child’s creativity. A large-screen TV will be set up indoors for football fans. Admission to the festival is free; kids’ art activities have individual charges or $10 for all activities. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Anderson East will be spending New Year’s Eve in Birmingham, and tickets go on sale Friday. (Becky Fluke)
Feast on Jewish kosher food and enjoy some shopping at Birmingham’s LJCC on Sunday.
The community is invited to the Levite Jewish Community Center Sunday for the Friedman Family Foundation’s Jewish Food Festival. Enjoy brisket and kugel, corned beef sandwiches, cabbage rolls, falafel, black-and-white cookies and other kosher treats on the Levite Field, then check out the crafts vendors, live music and children’s activities. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 3960 Montclair Road.
Plan ahead to spend New Year’s Eve at Birmingham’s restored Lyric Theatre.
Anderson East will be playing a New Year’s Eve show at the Lyric with special guest Dylan LeBlanc, ringing in the first new year since the long-awaited reopening of the historic venue. Seats are $25, $35 and $50, and tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. at http://lyricbham.com/.
