Off to the races in Can’t Miss Alabama for a spectacular spring weekend
Talladega Superspeedway has everything you need for a great race weekend. (Getty Images)
Alabama is packed with great entertainment for a fun-filled weekend.
GEICO 500 Weekend
Enjoy a beautiful spring weekend at Talladega Superspeedway with NASCAR’S Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and the ARCA Menards Series. Family-friendly entertainment includes camping, concerts and more.
Learn more about race weekend at www.talladegasuperspeedway.com.
Magic City Art Connection
Make your way to downtown Birmingham’s historic Linn Park April 26-28 to the Magic City Art Connection (MCAC) for artistic talent, sights, sounds, tastes and aromas. Magic City Art Connection’s 36th arts festival presents 200 juried fine artists from around the country to thousands of visitors for art, culture, entertainment, food and fun. Be one of the art newbies, art-curious or art-collecting festival goers perusing the thousands of works on display.
Complementing the art-buying experience is the food, wine, craft beer, spirits, cocktails and guided tasting seminars and demos of Birmingham’s longest-running tasting event. The 22nd Corks & Chefs: A Taste of Birmingham gathers foodies, tastemakers and more under a 300-foot tent in front of City Hall during festival weekend. Click for the complete schedule.
Enjoy great music and dance performances live on stage, art-making workshops and parades for kids, large-scale art installations and lingering with friends at the Park Place Café or at one of the festival lounges in the beautiful, tree-lined park across from the Birmingham Museum of Art.
Get more information and order tickets: www.corksandchefs.com.
Birmingham’s largest city-center arts festival transforms Linn Park with its blast of fresh artistic talent, sights, sounds, tastes and aromas. (Contributed)
Jazz in the Park
Jazz in the Park will feature North “2unes” Woodall and KB’s Techniques Sunday, April 28. Bring your lawn chairs and blankets to Kelly Ingram Park and enjoy the spring weather over an evening of soothing jazz. Throughout the year, Jazz in the Park will be featured in a variety of community parks including Adamsville, Alabaster, Bessemer, Birmingham, Brent, Brighton, Fairfield, Helena, Hoover, Huntsville, Jasper, Lipscomb, Marion, Midfield, Prattville and Tuscaloosa, and will conclude on Sunday, Oct. 13, in Mountain Brook.
For more details, go here.
Berry Heritage Festival
The Town of Berry will showcase its finest in live entertainment, vintage cars, tractors, motorcycles, arts and crafts, food and a kids’ zone April 26-27.
The festival is just in time for you to see the blooming magnolia trees.
For more information, email townofberry@centurytel.net.
Lebanese Food and Cultural Festival
The wait is over for some of the best Lebanese food in town including grilled chicken, baked kibbee, spinach pies, baklawa and other delicacies at the 21st annual Lebanese Food and Cultural Festival April 26-27.
Follow this link for the complete menu. Live music and dancing will entertain you along with a silent auction, church tours and the Cedar Run 5K.
The festival donates 25 percent of its proceeds to local and national charities. To learn more, visit the website.
Use this form to place your order for deliveries during Friday lunch hours.
The festival is near UAB at 836 8th St. S.
Literary Capital Sculpture Trail Unveiling
Join the residents of Monroeville and their special guests as they unveil a project to celebrate the community’s impact on American literary culture Friday, April 26, at 2:15 p.m. Bronzes created by University of Alabama sculpture students will be on permanent display in the historic downtown district in Alabama’s literary capital. Walk the trail as the city unveils public art pieces representing authors from Monroeville. Honorees include Harper Lee, Truman Capote, Cynthia Tucker, Mark Childress, Marva Collins, Rheta Grimsley-Johnson, Riley Kelly, Mike Stewart, William Barret Travis and Hank Williams.
The ceremony begins on the south lawn of the historic courthouse with a brief welcome. The tour will spend approximately 10 minutes at each piece with the artist.
Monroeville Mayor Sandy Smith, Monroeville Main Street Executive Director Anne Marie Bryan and University of Alabama sculpture student artists will be available for comment at the close of the ceremony.
For more information, visit www.monroevillemainstreet.com.
Gardendale Magnolia Festival
There is much to do and see at the 18th annual Magnolia Festival April 26-27. The festival will feature artisan demonstrators, a potter, a blacksmith, live chainsaw carving demonstrations and Mike Deibert, a Forged in Fire Bladesmith champion. Enjoy live entertainment on multiple stages, a car show, carnival, pooch parade, arts and crafts, a cookie-eating contest, 170 vendor booths, a petting zoo farm bus, pony rides and free art classes for children.
The proceeds will support local charities and scholarships for high school seniors.
The venue is the Gardendale Civic Center.
