The first days of November bring a beachfront chef showdown, a Tillman’s Corner festival tradition, a zoo art auction and a full slate of veterans and community events across the region. Here’s what’s ahead.
Beachfront Cook-Off Kicks Off the Month
The Hangout in Gulf Shores turns into a battleground Nov. 1-2 as Food Network and Bravo celebrity chefs and pitmasters face off at the annual Hangout Cook-Off, with music from Jimmy Hall & The Muscle Shoals All-Stars adding to the weekend.
Closer to Mobile, the Alabama Pecan Festival opens Friday, Nov. 1, at 5 p.m. around Griggs Elementary and the Tillman’s Corner Community Center, bringing live music, rides, games and crafts with free admission and parking — fitting for the heart of Alabama’s pecan country.
Gardens, Art and Animals
Bellingrath Gardens begins its November mums display Nov. 1, billing it as the nation’s largest outdoor showing of the season’s signature bloom: hundreds of four-foot cascades of chrysanthemums draped across bridges and balconies through Nov. 30.
Saturday, Nov. 2, brings Animal Art Safari to the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo in Gulf Shores, where visitors can buy original artwork painted by the zoo’s animal residents, with live music from the Platinum Premier Band. The Environmental Studies Center on Girby Road holds its fall open house the same day with craft vendors and its Raptor Road Show.
Fundraising Front
Soul Kitchen hosts Shirah-Palooza Saturday night, a $20-ticket benefit featuring The Cheesebrokers for young Briley Shirah and his family. Downtown, Truman’s Diner and The Music Box team up Sunday, Nov. 3, for a block-party fundraiser with barbecue chicken dinner and live entertainment supporting the Midtown Mobile Food Pantry Cooperative.
Bay Area Brunch Fest lands Saturday, Nov. 9, in Bienville Square, with brunch samples from more than 14 local restaurants and caterers plus sets from Roman Street and Symone French; tickets are $15 in advance benefiting Lifelines Counseling Services.
History, Heritage and Green Living
A standout for history buffs: Foley Public Library hosts “Clotilda: Preserving History” Saturday, Nov. 9, at 10 a.m., where Darron Patterson of the Clotilda Descendants Association discusses efforts to preserve the story of the last slave ship and Africatown, and to connect with other survivors’ families.
Veterans Day week also fills up: the Mobile County Chamber hosts a cleanup Saturday, Nov. 9, with a free lunch after; Griggs Elementary pairs free document shredding with electronics recycling that morning for America Recycles Day; and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab brings touchable marine specimens to the West Mobile Library the same day.
Culture rounds out the calendar: the Mobile Symphony Youth Orchestra opens its season free of charge Sunday, Nov. 3, at the Alabama School of Math and Science with Beethoven, Bizet and Berlioz; 5 Rivers screens conservation filmmaker Ben Masters’ “The River and the Wall” Tuesday evening; Iron Hand Brewing opens its doors for Learn to Homebrew Day Nov. 2; and Blues Angel Music offers free ukulele lessons at the Eastern Shore Center.