16. BUMP ’N GRIND
City: Birmingham, AL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Address: 877 John Findlay III Dr.
Description: It’s hot, sweaty, and buggy, but that’s just part of the attraction of the Bump ’N Grind mountain bike race at Oak Mountain State Park. The course start is easy to find: Head past the beach and canoe rental area to the last parking lot before the road up to Peavine Falls. Exciting changes are afoot as Birmingham Urban Mountain Pedalers (BUMP) expanded Oak Mountain’s mountain-bike trails in early 2010, completing a new 3.5-mile-long singletrack with exciting turns and downhill action. Bump ’N Grind spectators must pay a $3 entrance fee for the park. Race participants must register in advance—there are no race day registrations. Participants are required to hold a USA Cycling license. The racing entry fee for riders is $45 with discounts given for early-bird registrations.
City: Birmingham, AL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
City: Birmingham, AL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
19. TANNEHILL GEM, MINERAL, AND JEWELRY SHOW
City: Birmingham, AL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (205) 477-5711
Address: 12632 Confederate Pkwy.
Description: For those not acquainted with the Tannehill Gem, Mineral, and Jewelry Show, it may seem an obscure, minor side note. Don’t tell that to the Alabama Mineral & Lapidary Society that presents the weekend show (lapidaryclub.com) or any of the zealous collectors on hand for this popular regional event. The 2011 event marked the 38th annual show. Hourly door prizes, gem and mineral exhibits, gemstones, beads, fossils, lapidary working techniques, as well as events and areas just for the children are just a few of the items of interest at the show. In fact, this show is for every young boy and girl who ever brought home a rock to save. The event is free with a paid $3 admission to Tannehill Historical State Park in McCalla. Admission for children ages 6 to 11 is $1.
20. THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN
City: Birmingham, AL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (205) 933-1409
Address: 1701 Valley View Dr.
Description: If it is the evening of July 4th and you are in Birmingham, chances are you are looking up at Red Mountain waiting for the Thunder on the Mountain fireworks display to begin. Under Vulcan professional pyrotechnics set up some $40,000 worth of rockets that blast exciting patterns and colors into the Birmingham sky. Several local radio stations typically broadcast the specially recorded musical soundtrack that accompanies the 20-minute Fourth of July fireworks celebration. Local Fox affiliate station Fox6 WBRC also broadcasts the fireworks show. Just about anywhere in Homewood’s downtown or Southside’s Five Points South offers superb vantage points, as does Highway 31 as it rises uphill into Vestavia Hills.
21. BIRMINGHAM ARTS AND MUSIC FESTIVAL
City: Birmingham, AL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Description: A week-long celebration advancing the city’s cultural and musical arts scene, Birmingham Arts and Music Festival (BAAM) takes place in a wide variety of venues in the city. Modeled on Austin, Texas’ enormously successful South-by-Southwest festival, BAAM draws patrons to art centers, nightclubs, bars, and theaters that expose new audiences to some of the best entertainment Birmingham has to offer. Live music, films, drum and guitar clinics, children’s workshops, open mics, even working seminars on the business side of music are all on display.
City: Birmingham, AL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
City: Birmingham, AL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
24. BIRMINGHAM SHOUT GAY + LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL OF ALABAMA
City: Birmingham, AL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (205) 324-0888
Description: In previous years Birmingham SHOUT Gay + Lesbian Film Festival ran independently of the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, showing features, documentaries, and short films of interest to the GLBT communities. Artists and filmmakers both established and new interact with attendees while panels on subjects such as diversity in filmmaking, documentary filmmaking abroad, digital rights, and more offer substance. But most of all, for fans of cinema, SHOUT offers a fresh look at some of the most innovative new films that appeal to the GLBT communities. Look for special SHOUT opening night parties, award shows, and more. If one wishes to participate, volunteers are always needed.
City: Birmingham, AL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
City: Birmingham, AL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
27. WHISTLE STOP FESTIVAL
City: Birmingham, AL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (205) 297-9897
Description: The 1987 Fannie Flagg novel, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, popularized Irondale, a small railroad town east of Birmingham. Both the book and the movie of the same name are loosely based on the city of Irondale and the Irondale Cafe. The Whistle Stop Festival, set right in the downtown that is split by the railroad tracks, is the kind of small-town gathering most communities would trade their eyeteeth for. Live music, vintage fire engines, funnel cakes, old cars, children’s games, and plenty of good food are just a few of the many attractions and activities in this great little town during the festival. Yes, you can get plenty of fried green tomatoes at the Irondale Cafe!
City: Birmingham, AL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Address: 2612 Lane Park Rd.
City: Birmingham, AL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Address: 6030 Barber Motorsports Pkwy.
City: Birmingham, AL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals