Moss Rock Festival to charge an admission fee, add new features

A few changes are in store for the 11th annual Moss Rock Festival in The Preserve subdivision this month.

For starters, festival organizers for the first time are charging an admission fee to help cover their costs. Admission at the gate will be $7 for adults, but people can buy tickets in advance online for $5. Children ages 15 and under are free, and other students and senior citizens can get in for $3, said Alex Kunzman, a co-director of the festival.

Organizers would have liked to keep the Nov. 5-6 event free, but they have obligations and funding challenges and want to make sure the event continues with great programs and experiences, Kunzman said.

The Moss Rock Festival bills itself as an “eco-creative festival” that features environment-friendly art, design concepts and smart living ideas.

One of the main highlights of the festival is the artist expo that includes 100 artists whose works are primarily inspired by nature, depict nature or are created using natural materials such as wood, clay or glass, or recycled and repurposed materials.

This year’s featured artist is Paul Cordes Wilm, a Birmingham painter who creates folk-pop art using 90 to 100 percent recycled materials, from found wood to used house paint, recycled computer ink and junk mail.

Wilm’s art is influenced by Andy Warhol and Mose Tolliver and includes bright colors, satirical juxtapositions, whimsical characters and humor. He has been a frequent exhibitor at the Moss Rock Festival and has art on display at numerous Birmingham businesses and in front of the Legacy Arena at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.

The festival also features innovative yet functional design concepts meant to help people live in a way that promotes the sustainability of the planet.

For the past two years, the festival has featured designs for “tiny homes” that promote simpler ways of life, often in spaces less than 1,000 square feet, Kunzman said. This year, there will be two tiny homes on site, so people can tour the real thing, he said. Many of these “tiny homes” can be hooked up like trailers.

“It’s an interesting way of living and being mobile,” Kunzman said.

One company that will be featured at the festival is Earth Creations, which makes clothing out of sustainable fibers such as hemp and organically grown cotton.

A “smart living” area will include companies such as Sprout and Pour, a Birmingham-based business that turns fresh, local, organic and seasonal produce into fresh cold-pressed juices, and Emerald Coast Perfumery, which develops, blends and bottles handcrafted, all-natural perfumes with no manmade additives or fixatives.

Tameron Honda and Tameron Hyundai will have some of their most eco-friendly vehicles available to test drive on site.

To give festivalgoers a little more bang for those extra bucks they’re spending to get in, the festival this year will include a greenways/pathways expo area that helps people connect with nature and park and outdoors groups such as Red Mountain Park, Ruffner Mountain Park, the Freshwater Land Trust and Zyp BikeShare.

Another new feature will be an aspiring gardeners tent offering tips from gardening experts, Kunzman said.

A WonderKid Studios area gives children a chance to participate in interactive art workshops that use the observation of nature as a starting point for creative projects. That area also will feature sculptures made of recycled materials, crafted by students from six Birmingham area schools.

The festival also includes outdoor activities, such as guided hikes in the adjacent 350-acre Moss Rock Preserve, yoga instruction in quiet parts of the nature park, fly fishing workshops, geocaching and a new rock climbing wall, Kunzman said.

The event also features a beer garden where people can pay to taste craft beers from 22 breweries across Alabama and a few other states, a “sweetery” that includes goodies from eight to 10 bakers and chefs, and a “Café by the Woods” with numerous food trucks. Live music will be provided both days.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Nov. 5; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Nov. 6. Parking is at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, with free shuttles to The Preserve. Alternatively, people are encouraged to ride bicycles to the festival.

For more information, go to mossrockfestival.com.