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The Shoals has a full
calendar of festivals
and events for Shoals
residents and visitors
to the area to enjoy. A
number of the major
events are listed below.
Alabama Renaissance
Faire
Arts Alive
Festival of the Singing
River
Helen Keller Festival
NCAA Division II
National Championship
Game
Spirit of Freedom
Celebration
Trail of Tears
Commemoration
W.C. Handy Music
Festival
Alabama Renaissance
Faire
The official
Alabama
Renaissance Faire is
held annually on the
fourth weekend of
October in Florence. It
features authentic
costumes, medieval
games, musicians playing
authentic instruments,
artisans and merchants,
public lectures, and
dance programs.
For more information, e-mail
Billy Ray Warren:
bwarren@fcs.k12.al.us
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Arts Alive
Arts Alive
is an annual
fine arts and crafts
festival held at the
Kennedy-Douglass Center
for the Arts in
Florence. It features a
juried art show as well
as artist booths, which
are set up in beautiful
Wilson Park.
Phone: (256) 766-1445
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Festival of the Singing
River
The Festival of the
Singing River is an
annual festival held in
mid-October in McFarland
Park in Florence. It
celebrates Native
American culture through
ceremonial dances, story
telling, and arts and
crafts.
Phone: (256) 760-6416
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Helen Keller Festival
The
Helen Keller
Festival is an annual
festival held each
summer in honor of Helen
Keller, whose
birthplace, Ivy Green,
is located in Tuscumbia.
The festival includes
arts and crafts, a
parade, concerts,
athletic events, a car
show, and The Miracle
Worker, a play
dramatizing Anne
Sullivan’s efforts to
help Helen Keller
communicate with the
outside world.
For more information,
send an e-mail to
info@helenkellerfestival.com
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NCAA Division II
National Championship
Game
The Shoals is proud to
be the host of the
NCAA Division II
National Championship Game. Since 1986, Braly Stadium in
Florence has been the
site of exciting
gridiron clashes as
teams have battled for
the right to be number
one.
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Spirit of Freedom
Celebration
The annual Spirit of
Freedom Celebration is
held on the 4th of July
in Florence. The
celebration features
live music and a large
fireworks show on the
banks of the Tennessee
River in McFarland Park.
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Trail of Tears
Commemoration
The
Trail of Tears
Commemoration is an annual
motorcycle ride from
Chattanooga, Tennessee,
to Florence to
commemorate the journey
of American Indians who
were forced to move from
their homelands in the
Southeast to
reservations in Oklahoma
in 1838. It attracts
tens of thousands of
motorcyclists each year.
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W.C. Handy Music
Festival
The
W.C. Handy Music
Festival is a week-long
tribute to Florence
native, W.C. Handy,
known as the “Father of
the Blues.” The
festival, which began in
1982, offers more than
200 events, including
musical performances of
rhythm and blues, jazz,
soul, gospel, and
contemporary music. Past
performers at the
festival include Dizzy
Gillespie, Roberta
Flack, Manhattan
Transfer, Nancy Wilson,
Diane Schuur, Percy
Sledge, Ellis Marsalis,
and others.
Phone: (256) 766-7642
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Visit the
Colbert County Tourism
and Convention Bureau's
website
or
the
Florence/Lauderdale
Tourism
website for more
detailed information
about these and other
attractions in The
Shoals.
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