The August heat swelled as Jimmy and Amy Noe packed their RV with Halloween on their minds.
Even though it was summer, that spooky time of year was slowly approaching and that meant the best campsites at Tannehill State Park near McCalla would soon be gone. Their family loaded into the RV to head to the park. The Noe’s favorite tradition was waiting for them deep in the woods.
They have made this trek from their home in Alabaster for at least 10 years in a row. Their two daughters grew up with this tradition. They started in a tent with two young daughters and eventually upgraded to an RV.
Their youngest daughter, Kayla, is 15 years old now. It’s a tradition the teen said she plans to continue when she is older.
“Kayla was a baby when we first came here,” Amy Noe said, as she scanned the campground and smiled. “Both of my girls learned to ride their bikes right here on this road.”
Tannehill State Park hosts the annual Tannehill Ironworks Halloween Festival, which the park superintendent says draws 10,000 people from the surrounding areas. The morning of the event is a Halloween Fairyland with carnival rides, food trucks and a band. Fairyland is followed by trick-or-treating. It’s advertised as a non-scary event for families and trick-or-treaters on the fourth Saturday of October. This year, on the 29th anniversary, excitement grows as both the event and Halloween land on Oct. 31st.
“It’s a safe, family event that lasts all day. All the trails are open, there are carnival rides and a band,” the superintendent of Tannehill, Lisa Carroll said. “It will entertain someone as young as three years old all the way up to people in their 70′s because there’s a lot to do.”
In the months before Halloween, 300 families bring their RVs to get a good spot for the festival. Some campers come as early as June. Some families are retired, some live close enough to commute to work or school from the campgrounds, but most go home during the weekdays and come back for the weekend excitement.
Although they look forward to Halloween, Jimmy Noe said it’s the football that keeps him coming back to Tannehill. The energy, sharing food and hopping from one RV to another reminds him of tailgating on the Quad for an Alabama football game.
“It’s not just Halloween here, it’s gamedays.” Jimmy Noe said. “Everybody cooks and you can walk around and eat different types of food and homemade ice cream.”
The same people camp for the Halloween festival every year. Because of this, their RV neighbors feel like family.
“This tradition means everything,” Amy Noe said. “Being around friends and family is probably the best thing in the world.”
Over the few months that guests stay before Halloween, orange lights, pumpkins, skeletons, inflatables and other Halloween staples slowly adorn the campground. Tannehill brings in outside judges to rate the campsites, and the winners receive a prize. The campers go all out in decorations to receive the first, second or third prize poster. As the weather cools down, the urgency to decorate grows.
A man a few campsites away from the Noes' builds a small house next to his RV for the trick-or-treaters. A couple of his friends and a dog sit in lawn chairs and watch him. Other families have power tools out to build short fences because, after all, the orange and purple lights must hang somewhere. One family built a square-dancing ring for a couple of skeletons.
“Halloween is like our Christmas,” Carroll said. “There are lights at every campsite. It’s such a good time.”
Due to COVID-19, Tannehill State Park asks that all attendees abide by the CDC guidelines by wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing.
“Most people have been respectful and mindful of everyone else’s space,” Carroll said. “It’s an outdoor event. You’re not enclosed anywhere, and we encourage everyone to follow Gov. (Kay) Ivey’s guidelines.”
The Tannehill Ironworks Halloween festival is on Oct. 31st. Fairyland is from 11 am-4pm. Trick-or-treating is from 5 pm-11 pm. The hiking and biking trails will remain open. Entrance is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $3 for children.
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Campers gather early for Tannehill State Park annual Halloween festival - AL.com
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