The weekend has arrived, and here are several events happening in and around town:
FRIDAY, NOV. 8:
The Alabama Audubon group is hosting a Nature at Noon walk at the Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest from noon to 2 p.m. Birders and nature lovers can expect to cover a variety of natural history topics, from birds to plants to geological features. The library has walking sticks and binoculars available to check out to enhance the experience. The walk is for people ages 18 and older and will be led by Dr. Lianne Koczur.
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, NOV. 9-10:
There’s a Fall Craft and Vendor Market at the Riverchase Galleria on Saturday (11 a.m.-8 p.m.) and Sunday (noon-6 p.m.). Hometown Vendor Market is hosting the fall market, offering shoppers a variety of options from local, independent businesses. Find fashion accessories, clothing, art, decor, crafts, handmade gifts and more. Visit hometownvendormarket.com/birminghamfall for more information.
SUNDAY, NOV. 10:
The Mountain Grass Unit, a band made of three bluegrass pickers from Birmingham (Drury Anderson, Luke Black and Sam Wilson) is playing two concerts at the Hoover Library Theatre on Sunday at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Expect traditional bluegrass and songs from other musical genres performed with a unique bluegrass twist. Tickets are $38 and can be obtained at thelibrarytheatre.com/mgu. Only a few tickets remained for each show as of Thursday night.
WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY, NOV. 6-10:
The Christmas Village Festival started Wednesday at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex north, south and east exhibition halls and continues through Sunday. Times are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Visitors can shop more than 700 booths, with hundreds of handcrafted artisan items and yuletide food. Families can have pictures taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Tickets are $15 for adults and teens, but children ages 6-12 can get in for $5, but there is a $1.50 service charge per transaction. Children ages 5 and younger are admitted free. For more information, go to christmasvillagefestival.com.
SPORTS
There also are several sporting events happening around town:
Friday-Saturday, Nov. 8-9:
- USA Developmental Wheelchair Rugby Invitational. Visit the Lakeshore Foundation in Homewood on Friday or Saturday to catch a glimpse of the USA Wheelchair Rugby team compete against Canada and Great Britain. The games are taking place at Lakeshore at 4000 Ridgeway Drive, and admission is free. The USA team plays on Friday at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and on Saturday at 1 and 4 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 9:
- The UAB Blazers football team takes on the University of Connecticut at Protective Stadium at 1:30 p.m.
- The Birmingham Squadron basketball team plays the Mexico City Capitanes at 7 p.m. at the BJCC Legacy Arena.
Sunday, Nov. 10:
- The UAB men’s basketball team takes on Southeastern Louisiana at 2 p.m. at Bartow Arena.
WEEK IN REVIEW:
If you think you may have missed out on some of the news this week, here’s a recap of some of our stories from Nov. 1-7:
Dave’s Hot Chicken is officially opening in the Vestavia City Center on Friday.
The Vestavia Hills City council approved new sidewalks between the Avia Apartments and the Vestavia Hills Civic Center and Wald Park.
Vestavia Hills retailers are gearing up for the holiday shopping season, though some experts are wondering how the election and inflation will impact buying this year.
Plans are moving forward for a new veterans memorial at Altadena Valley Park.
The next generation of Vestavia Hills firefighters recently completed training to become qualified for full duty.
Nealey Towns Alonso is carrying on her family’s legacy at the Jackie O’Neal Dance Studio in Rocky Ridge.
The Vestavia Hills Rebels football team knocked off the Region 1 champs in the first round of the playoffs Thursday night.
