Have a great spring weekend in Can’t Miss Alabama with KISS, festivals, plays and warm days
Rock on this weekend with KISS at their final 'End of the Road World Tour' in Birmingham on April 13. There are still good seats at the BJCC Legacy Arena. Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime event featuring Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. (Contributed)
Liven up your weekend with Can’t Miss Alabama.
Don’t miss KISS: The ‘End of the Road World Tour’ is in Birmingham April 13
This Saturday night is your last chance to Rock and Roll All Nite with KISS in Birmingham. The band’s End of the Road World Tour farewell show starts at 7:30 p.m., featuring Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer.
Tickets start at $59.50 for the show at the Legacy Arena in the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.
Make your garden grow with the Birmingham Botanical Gardens plant sale April 12-14
No need for a green thumb when you start your garden with healthy plants from the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The sale features 100,000 plants, including herbs, vegetables, fern, roses, trees, shrubs and more at the upper Macy’s parking lot at Brookwood Village in Birmingham. Botanical Gardens volunteers can advise how to care for your new plants. Hours are 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday.
The address is 789 Brookwood Village. Proceeds benefit the ongoing stewardship and enhancement of the gardens.
Get to opening day at Pepper Place Outdoor Market in Birmingham April 13
Opening day at Pepper Place Outdoor Market is the place to be this weekend. The market is open on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to noon through mid‐December, rain or shine. Find Alabama farmers and food producers, artisans and musicians at the Pepper Place District in Birmingham, on Second Avenue South between 28th and 29th Streets.
You can buy everything you need to feed your family, stock your fridge and fill your pantry. Select from a wide variety of locally grown produce: strawberries, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, collards, fennel and kale, lettuces and herbs, mushrooms, radishes, squashes, tomatoes and gorgeous spring flowers. Pick up your family’s favorite treats at nearby shops. Pets are welcome.
See Disney’s ‘High School Musical’ onstage at the Red Mountain Theatre April 12-28
Go back to high school with Disney’s “High School Musical” at the Red Mountain Theatre. See the basketball team captain join forces with brainiac Gabriella to audition for the high school musical and shake up the status quo of East High School.
Evening shows are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $19. The theatre is at 301 19th St. N. in Birmingham.
Visit the Alabama Wildlife Center in Pelham to see baby birds through Sept. 15
A trip to the Alabama Wildlife Center will delight everyone – especially the kids – with a chance to see baby birds through cameras and one-way glass.
Admission is free after paid entrance to Oak Mountain State Park. The center is at 100 Terrace Drive in Pelham; call 205-663-7930 for more details.
The Taste of Bessemer supplies plenty of good food. (Contributed)
Experience a Taste of Bessemer April 11
Prepare your taste buds for the Fifth Annual Taste of Bessemer and Business Expo at the Bessemer Civic Center on Thursday. Doors open from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Organized by the Bessemer Area Chamber of Commerce, Taste of Bessemer features live entertainment, food and business display vendors. Several restaurants will perform cooking demonstrations and provide free food samples.
More than 100 vendors took part last year. For details, call the Bessemer Area Chamber of Commerce at 205-425-3253.
See ‘Alabama Love Stories’ at Auburn University Theatre April 11-17
Everyone loves a good love story. The Auburn University Theatre players will portray the fierce emotion in its complex glory in “Alabama Love Stories.” The play chronicles Alabama’s Native American roots, moving through critical moments in the state’s history: the Civil War, the fight for women’s suffrage, The Great Migration, World War II and Alabama civil rights. The play weaves through love and connection to the Earth, the longing for family, romantic love, agape love, the fickle passion of young love and a celebration of the legalization of loving who you want.
Attend performances April 11-13 at 7:30 p.m. The Sunday matinee April 14 is at 2:30 p.m. See a sensory-friendly performance on April 16 at 7:30 p.m. The final showing is April 17 at 7:30 p.m. Get tickets online.
Bring an extra plate to the Baldwin County Strawberry Festival April 13-14
Have a “berry” good time at the 32nd Annual Baldwin County Strawberry Festival this weekend, where you can get your fill of luscious strawberry shortcake while enjoying live music from Brandi, Na Na Sha, Tobi Lee, Roland Cobbs and the Tommy Morse Band. Indulge the kids with carnival rides while you peruse the classic car show and antique tractor show. The event is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
The festival is held yearly at Loxley Municipal Park, Highway 595 in Loxley. Free shuttle service is offered from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Baldwin County Board of Education building at 1901 B Ave. in Loxley. Festival admission and parking are free, and there’s a nominal cost for carnival rides, says festival sponsor Greg Walker.
Support furry friends at Art 4 Paws Festival in Madison April 13
Pet lovers, unite! Bring Fido or Kitty to the Madison Arts Council’s Art 4 Paws Festival on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event mixes an admiration of art with love for our four-legged friends. Artists will sell wares ranging from jewelry, garden art and paintings to fun pet items. Enjoy offerings from food vendors, games, children’s activities and interactive pet activities, and arts and crafts booths. Take a moment to talk with representatives of pet rescue groups such as A New Leash On Life.
The event will be held at the Madison Public Library at 127 Plaza Blvd. in Madison.
Watch ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ in Monroeville April 12-May 18
Feel and see history come alive at the performance of “To Kill A Mockingbird” at the Monroe County Museum. The historic Monroeville Courthouse is recreated in the famous play this weekend.
Tickets start at $55; VIP tickets are $100. Attend performances at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Courthouse Square, 31 North Alabama Ave. in Monroeville.
Enjoy the Magic of Marble Festival in Sylacauga April 11-13
Many Alabamians don’t realize that Sylacauga is a rich source of marble for the entire world. Sylacauga’s famous Gantts Quarry supplied the white marble that immortalized the 16th U.S. president with the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. This week, Sylacauga hosts the 11th-annual Magic of Marble Festival. Art lovers can watch numerous sculptors from Pietrosanta, Italy, as they create one-of-a-kind works of art.
Tour B.B. Comer Library on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to see a room of gorgeous statuary and other works sculpted in white marble. Visit Gantts Quarry for a look at the site that produced marble used for numerous famous art pieces.
There’s no admission fee for the festival at Blue Bell Park, North Norton Avenue. For more information, call festival chairperson Ted Spears at 256-267-6655.
