TUSCUMBIA-The Helen Keller Festival kicks off on Thursday, June 27 with a parade down Main Street in Tuscumbia that begins at 6 p.m. Dr. Kenji Hamada of Oregon is this year’s grand marshal. A concert by The Velcro Pygmies will follow the parade at 7 p.m. in Spring Park.
“The Miracle Worker” play will be performed on Friday and Saturday nights at Ivy Green, the Home of Helen Keller. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. and the play gets underway at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 for reserved seats and $10 for general admission. Purchase tickets at Ivy Green or by calling 256-383-4066.
A marketplace, featuring more than 70 vendors, will be at Spring Park throughout the festival
More details about the festival are available by downloading the Helen Keller Festival app for Apple or Android devices or by calling 256-383-0783.
Visitors to the Helen Keller Festival should bring a lawn chair to most Festival events. A first aid tent and cooling station will be located on the east side of Spring Park. Coolers and alcohol are not permitted in Spring Park. In case of medical necessity, one cooler no larger than 12″ x 12″, is accepted. All bags and coolers can be security checked by appropriate authority. Parking in Spring Park is very limited. There will be no public parking inside the park! There will be limited handicapped parking which can be accessed by entering at Main Street next to Coach’s Steakhouse. Please consider riding the FREE festival shuttle buses that are handicapped accessible as well.
Tanya Tucker
2019 Helen Keller Festival schedule of events
- TOURS OF IVY GREEN, Helen Keller Home
Monday – Saturday, 8:30 – 4:00 pm
Sunday, 1:00 – 4:00 pm
See the home where Helen Keller lived and the cottage where Anne Sullivan took young Helen to teach her to communicate and the famous well pump where the “miracle” occurred. For more information, visit www.helenkellerbirthplace.org. Admission: $7 (adults), $6 (seniors & AAA cardholders), $4 (children)
- HISTORIC GLENCOE CEMETARY TOUR, Keller & McDonald Family Cemetery Monday – Friday, 9 a.m.4 p.m. The resting place of Keller family members located at Vulcan Rock Quarry, Highway 72 West.
For more information please contact 256.383.7884
Sponsored by Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation and Vulcan Materials
- THE HELEN KELLER ART SHOW, Tennessee Valley Museum of Art
Monday – Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Sunday, 1 – p.m.
Helen Keller proved that a disability can’t be defined or limit the expression of mankind. Following in her footsteps are the children who participate in the annual Helen Keller Festival Art Show. The show features 28 pieces of artwork by visually impaired, blind or deaf/blind Alabama students of all ages. This exhibit will include the Purchase Award Winner, sponsored by the Colbert County Tourism office.
For more information call 256-383-0533.
- TUSCUMBIA RAILROAD DEPOT MUSEUM, 204 West Fifth Street, Tuscumbia
Tuesday – Friday, 9 a.m.- 3 p.m.
Admission: $2 For more details call 256-389-1357.
- “ART OF THE DISH” Antique & Vintage China Exhibit at Belle Mont Mansion, 1569 Cook Lane, Tuscumbia
Thursday – Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Admission: $6 (adults), $5 (seniors, military & college students), $3 (children ages 6-18)
Antique & vintage china displayed in tablescapes with crystal, glassware and accessories. Alabama 200 Bicentennial Event.
For more information visit facebook/bellmontmansion or call 256-381-5052 or 256-383-0783.
- Book Signings at Coldwater Books, 101 West 6th Street, Tuscumbia
Thursday – Sunday, during business hours
For more information visit our Coldwater Books Facebook page or call 256-381-2525.
Tuesday, June 25
- Kids On Commons, Ivy Green
- Time: 5-7 p.m.
Admission: FREE Attention all kids….face painting, bouncy houses, Lego building, robots, and so much more! Come join us on the Commons in front of Ivy Green, birthplace of Helen Keller where you can have fun and learn too. Home Depot will also be joining us for a really cool activity. Some events may charge a fee.
Thursday, June 27
- Keller Kids, Multi Purpose Center, North High Street, Tuscumbia
Saturday, 8 a.m. – 3:30 pm
Keller Kids is the disability education outreach of the annual Helen Keller Festival. This program offers elementary school children (3rd-6th Grade) the opportunity to learn about the everyday life of persons who are hearing impaired and/or blind. This fun filled day of hands on educational experiences includes a Keller Kids T-shirt and lunch. Keller Kids graduates may participate in the Festival Parade (info below).
- “The Tuscumbia I Know / A Talk by Captain Keller”, Helen Keller Library
Time: 4 p.m.
Admission: $5 (adults), $3 (students)
A solo performance created by and starring Ronald Rand, International Goodwill Cultural Ambassador, from the words of Captain A.H. Keller, U.S. Marshall, Northern District of Alabama; editor of “North Alabamian” Newspaper; and Father of Helen Keller.
For more information visit facebook/bellmontmansion or call 256-381-5052 or 256-710-9081.
- Helen Keller Festival Parade
The Helen Keller Festival Committee is now taking applications for the 40th Annual Helen Keller Festival Parade. The parade will be held on Thursday, June 27th, 2019 at 6 p.m. in downtown Tuscumbia
- Music in the Park, Spring Park, Tuscumbia
The Velcro Pygmies 7 p.m.
$5 admission
- The Marketplace, Spring Park, Tuscumbia
5:30 – 8 p.m.
Featuring arts and crafts, boutique, retail and food vendors from throughout the Southeast.
Friday, June 28
- Helen Keller Library Annual Book Sale, Helen Keller Library, 511 N. Main Street, Tuscumbia
Friday, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.
Be sure to visit the library for great deals on books. Funds support library events. Sponsored by: Friends of the Helen Keller Library. For more information contact 256-383-7065.
- The Marketplace, Spring Park, Tuscumbia
Friday, noon – 8 p.m.
- Box Lunch on the Belle Mont Mansion Courtyard, 1569 Cook Lane, Tuscumbia
Noon
Admission: Requires $20 ticket. Purchase ADVANCED TICKETS at Colbert County Tourism, Florence-Lauderdale Tourism or Belle Mont Mansion.
Luncheon on the courtyard is followed by a program on 19th Century Hospitality and includes Collector led exhibit tour. “Art of the Dish” antique and vintage china displayed in tablescapes with crystal, glassware and accessories. Alabama 200 Bicentennial Event.
For more information visit facebook/bellmontmansion or call 256-381-5052 or 256-383-0783.
- 23 Mile & 5 Mile Family Bike Ride, Spring Creek Golf Course
Sponsored by Helen Keller Hospital
Registration from 5 p.m. – 6 p.m. Ride starts at 6 p.m.
Entry fee includes a t-shirt: $10 if postmarked by June 21st and $12 after.
Register at Keller Well-care Center or online: www.helenkeller.com.
Additional info: 256-386-4747 or Candy.Bratcher@helenkeller.com
- Music in the Park, Spring Park, Tuscumbia
- Electric Zen 6 p.m.
- CC Jags 7 p.m.
- Mixtape 8:30 p.m.
- $5 admission
- Daniel Wallace and His Cast of Southern Characters, Helen Keller Library, 511 N. Main Street, Tuscumbia
6:30 p.m.
A reading and discussion with APTV Bookmark host Dan Noble. 2019 Harper Lee Award Recipient Daniel Wallace has published six novels and one children’s picture book. Wallace’s Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions was adapted to feature film and stage, and his most recent work is Extraordinary Adventures. A Birmingham native, he is the J. Ross MacDonald Distinguished Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Don Noble, Professor Emeritus of English at UA, is the popular host of the Emmy nominated literary interview program Bookmark on Alabama Public Television. Noble reviews fiction and nonfiction regularly on Alabama Public Radio.
The Miracle Worker, Home of Helen Keller, Ivy Green
- Gates Open: 6:30 p.m.
Show Time: 8 p.m.
Reserved Seating: $15
General Admission: $10 - William Gibson’s powerful drama depicting the early life of Helen Keller and the “miracle” that occurred at the pump. The production is in its 56th year at Ivy Green, Helen Keller’s home, Tuscumbia. The gates open for a tour of home and grounds. Each performance is signed for the hearing impaired. For ticket information contact 256-383-4066.
Saturday, June 29
- Car & Truck Show, Main Street, Tuscumbia
Hosted by Shoals Car & Truck Club
Registration: 8 a.m. – noon
$1800 in cash, plus prizes will be awarded.
Registration fee is $18, if paid by June 9th (includes extra grand prize ticket), and $20.00 after that date.
Mail fee to: P.O. Box 3672, Muscle Shoals, AL 35662
For information: Terry Mashburn / 256-366-0564
www.shoalscarandtruckclub.com
- Golf Tournament, Spring Creek Golf Course
8 a.m.– 3 p.m.
3-man scramble
Entry fee is $67 per person.
Fee includes cart and Mulligan’s for both days.
Prizes will be awarded to the top 3 places in each flight, as well as long drive and closest to the pin each day.
Lunch will be provided on Saturday @ 12:30 p.m.
For more information, or to sign up, call Spring Creek Golf Course at 256-386-5670. All teams must be paid in full by Wednesday, June 20th. A practice round will be given when all team members have paid.
No practice rounds can be played on Friday, June 22nd.
- 5 Mile & 1 Mile Fun Run, Colbert County Courthouse, Tuscumbia
Sponsored by Tuscumbia Kiwanis Club
5-mile Run begins at 7 a.m. / 1 Mile Run at 8:30 a.m.
Pre-registration fee due by June 20th – $15 (5 mile) / $10 (1 mile).
Entry Fee after June 19th is $20 (5 mile) / $15 (1 mile).
For information and a registration form: Candy.Bratcher@helenkeller.com
- The Marketplace, Spring Park, Tuscumbia
9 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Featuring arts and crafts, boutique, retail and food vendors from throughout the Southeast.
- The Log Cabin, Coldwater Stage Coach Stop
10 a.m.– 4 p.m.
Tour this pioneer log building, which dates from about 1815 and is one of the town’s earliest structures located at 302 South Dickson Street. Free
For more information contact 256-383-0783 or 256-710-9081
Sponsored by Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation
- Box Lunch on the Belle Mont Mansion Courtyard, 1569 Cook Lane, Tuscumbia
Noon
Admission: Requires $20 ticket. Purchase ADVANCED TICKETS at Colbert County Tourism, Florence-Lauderdale Tourism or Belle Mont Mansion.
Luncheon on the courtyard is followed by a program on 19th Century Hospitality and includes Collector led exhibit tour. “Art of the Dish” antique and vintage china displayed in tablescapes with crystal, glassware and accessories. Alabama 200 Bicentennial Event.
For more information visit facebook/bellmontmansion or call 256-381-5052 or 256-383-0783.
- Music in the Park, Spring Park, Tuscumbia
Katlyn Barnes 5 p.m.
Outlaw Apostles 6 p.m.
Joseph Baldwin 7:15 p.m.
Tanya Tucker 8:30 p.m.
$5 admission
- The Miracle Worker, Home of Helen Keller, Ivy Green
- Gates open: 6:30 pm
Show Time: 8 p.m.
Reserved seating: $15
General admission: $10
William Gibson’s powerful drama depicting the early life of Helen Keller and the “miracle” that occurred at the pump. The production is in its 56th year at Ivy Green, Helen Keller’s home, Tuscumbia. For ticket information contact 256-383-4066.
Sunday, June 30
- The Marketplace, Spring Park, Tuscumbia
5-8 p.m.
Featuring arts and crafts, boutique, retail and food vendors from throughout the Southeast.
- The Log Cabin, Coldwater Stage Coach Stop
1-4 p.m.
Tour this pioneer log building, which dates from about 1815 and is one of the town’s earliest structures located at 302 South Dickson Street. Free
For more information contact 256-383-0783 or 256-710-9081
Sponsored by Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation
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Music in the Park, Spring Park, Tuscumbia
Jason Crabb 7 p.m.
Free admission
