Nearly every weekend in October will present locals with tons of choices when it comes to finding fun fall-themed things to do — beginning this weekend with a pair of in-town events in Hanceville.

Hanceville’s downtown streets will shut down to welcome pedestrians for the Mud Creek Arts and Crafts Festival Saturday, while the city simultaneously hosts the day-long annual Mud Creek marching band exhibition at Hanceville High School.

This year’s arts and crafts event along Commercial Street and adjoining blocks should be a busy one, with all the available slots for street vendors now filled, plus all the food, games, hat-tips to local history and music on tap in Hanceville’s historic downtown district. The festival kicks off at 8 a.m., running through lunchtime (the Lutheran Church just down the street will host its annual German meal) before winding down around 2 p.m.

While money raised from vendor fees and sales goes to arts and crafts programs at Hanceville High School, admission to the arts and crafts festival itself is free. Getting into the marching band festival, meanwhile, costs only $6 per adult (children 5 and under get in free). Funds raised from the band event directly benefit the Hanceville High School marching band.

Now in its 28th year, the Mud Creek Marching Festival begins just before noon, with high school bands from throughout North Alabama filling the stadium with music from 12 p.m. all the way through the final performance of the night, when Hanceville’s band takes the field at 8 p.m. As is tradition, the mighty Heart of Dixie marching band from the University of North Alabama will put on a special exhibition at 5 p.m.

While this weekend puts Hanceville in the spotlight, there’re plenty of other fun stuff across the county that’ll be heading our way starting next weekend. This year’s Peinhardt Farm Day is set to unfold next Saturday (Oct. 19) at the historic Peinhardt Living History Farm in west Cullman, while the Alabama Gourd Society’s annual Gourd Show takes over the Cullman Civic Center on Friday and Saturday.

Admission to the Gourd Show is free, while $7 will get you in for a day-long visit at the Peinhardt Farm (kids aged 5-12 pay $5 per person, while kids aged 4 and under are admitted free.) Visit alabamagourdsociety.org for more information about the Gourd Show, and check out peinhardtfarm.com for the latest information on Farm Day 2019.