"It's a listening room environment and they love that experience," Scott Smith told The Advertiser-Gleam about the Lake City Concerts series he books at Dave's Music Hall. He has a goal for it. He wants touring artists to "go back to Nashville, LA, Atlanta, etc. and spread the word that Lake Guntersville is wonderful place to play."
His sixth show there lands on Oct. 8 and 9. That's the same stretch as Guntersville FallFest, the second Lake Guntersville Uketoberfest, the Witches & Wizards Ride, and a free Thursday concert in Errol Allan Park. Each one has a different organizer and its own calendar, and nobody planned them as a set. Even so, the schedules mostly fit together. Line them up by the hour and the big conflicts come down to two weekday evenings. Saturday runs from morning to night with just one short overlap in midafternoon.
Who Is Running What
Three separate groups put this weekend together. A fourth, the Mountain Valley Arts Council, opens it on Thursday.
| Organizer | Event | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Valley Arts Council | Fall Concerts in the Park, The Soul Flys | Errol Allan Park | Free |
| Scott Smith's Lake City Concerts | Adam Doleac, two shows | Dave's Music Hall, 2320 Taylor St. | From $45 |
| Lake Guntersville Merchants Association | Guntersville FallFest and the Witches & Wizards Ride | Errol Allan Park, Taylor Street, City Harbor | FallFest open to all; ride $30 per adult |
| The Ukesters | Lake Guntersville Uketoberfest | Riverview Campground and Civitan Park | Free |
Two of these happen downtown. Dave's Music Hall sits on Taylor Street, the same street that meets Gunter Avenue at Errol Allan Park. Uketoberfest takes place across town, at Riverview Campground on Cha-la-kee Road and Civitan Park on Sunset Drive. Because of that split, the times on the calendar matter more than they would if everything happened on one block.
Thursday Brings the First Conflict
On Thursday, Oct. 8, The Soul Flys play MVAC's Fall Concerts in the Park from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sand Mountain Reporter readers voted them Best Band in 2025. The arts council describes them as a psychedelic soul fusion band led by Cheryl Christmas, with roots in jazz, rock, funk and classic punk. Lena's food truck, 3 Crows Coffee and Granney D's pastries are scheduled to set up in the park, and MVAC asks people to bring folding chairs, friends and donations.
Adam Doleac's first show at Dave's Music Hall starts at the same time, 6:30 p.m., a short way down Taylor Street. The Advertiser-Gleam calls it the acoustic VIP set he usually plays for special guests at his big shows, in a room small enough for him to stop and take audience questions and visit with fans afterward. Tickets start at $45, include pizza from nearby Pizza Ed, and are sold at lakecityconcerts.com. VIP tables for eight are also available.
Doleac's second night makes Thursday easy. With a Friday ticket, you can catch the free Soul Flys show Thursday and still see the listening-room set the next night. That fix pushes the conflict to Friday instead.
Friday Splits Downtown and the Campground
FallFest starts Friday, Oct. 9. The Merchants Association plans live music in Errol Allan Park all weekend from children's choirs, professional bands and a DJ. The MVAC listing doesn't give hours, so check opening times with the Merchants Association before you plan around a specific set.
Friday evening has the second conflict. Doleac's encore show runs from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Taylor Street. Uketoberfest starts at 5 p.m. at Riverview Campground, 1450 Cha-la-kee Road, with a meet-and-greet, dinner and an open mic. The Chamber's listing describes the dinner as a hot dog supper, with The Ukesters hosting the open mic.
This is the one choice you can't schedule your way out of. If you went downtown Thursday for The Soul Flys, Friday becomes either the Doleac show or the campground. If you choose the campground, you still get the main ukulele performances on Saturday night.
Saturday Fits Together
On Saturday, Oct. 10, the schedules overlap only once, when the Witches & Wizards Ride parade starts during Uketoberfest's afternoon open mic. Here's the order:
- 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. The Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 683 hosts its Pancake Breakfast and Fly-In at Guntersville Airport.
- 10:00 a.m. Uketoberfest opens at Civitan Park, 1100 Sunset Drive, with ukulele workshops, food vendors and a raffle of musical instruments and other items. Merchandise vendors include Terry's Aloha shirts, Moolie Moo's tie dye apparel, Jim Behrend's cigar box instruments and Uke Republic ukuleles.
- Midday downtown. FallFest closes a block of Taylor Street for its artisans market, with arts and crafts, food trucks and children's games. That includes pumpkin painting at MVAC with help from the Lake Guntersville Lady Civitans. More games and carriage rides are planned at City Harbor, and a children's train runs in the Municipal Building parking lot on Gunter Avenue. Merchants will have sales, and there's a children's costume contest and a scarecrow contest among downtown businesses.
- 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. Witches & Wizards Ride riders line up at STACH & Co.
- 3:00 to 3:45 p.m. Uketoberfest holds its second open mic at Civitan Park.
- 3:30 p.m. The Witches & Wizards Ride parade rolls through downtown Guntersville.
- 6:00 p.m. The Jeff Cook Stage at Civitan Park opens its evening lineup with the Ukesters, followed by Diego Cotabato, Ukulele Gent and the Webb-Tigert Duo.
The ride is more than a costume parade. Riders pay $30 per adult now that the $25 early-bird price ended Sept. 30, and tickets are sold at Baker's on Main. All proceeds go to Lake Guntersville Veterinary Services to treat abandoned animals. The Chamber lists the ride from 2:30 to 4 p.m., which overlaps the Civitan Park open mic. Choose one for midafternoon. Either way, you can still make the 6 p.m. stage show at Civitan Park.
The evening lineup at Civitan Park is worth staying for. The Webb-Tigert Duo, Lisa Webb and Bob Tigert, is a Nashville act that recently played the Czech Ukulele Festival in Prague and the Strathmore Uke Fest in Maryland. They plan to release a Christmas album, "So We Sing…," during the Guntersville festival. Diego Cotabato, also from the Nashville area, arranges rock and pop songs for the ukulele. Greg Gent, who performs as Ukulele Gent, comes from Orlando and took up the instrument at 50. "We love playing in Guntersville, because of the beautiful setting, because of the reception that our music always gets, but most of all, because of the absolutely wonderful people we have met and worked with every time we're here," Webb told The Advertiser-Gleam.
Sunday Morning Belongs to the Ukuleles
Uketoberfest is the only event that runs into a third day. On Sunday, Oct. 11, the main performers lead a hymn sing in the Civitan Park pavilion from 9 to 10:30 a.m. The festival is free, and you can register at lakeguntersvilleuketoberfest.com or get details at 256-259-7856. The Ukesters, Guntersville's own ukulele ensemble, held the first festival in October 2024, and The Advertiser-Gleam calls this year's event the second bi-annual festival.
Getting Between the Stages
Going between Civitan Park and downtown may mean driving US-431, and this fall that comes with a construction caveat. In March, ALDOT announced painting and repairs on the US-431 Veterans Memorial Bridges over the Tennessee River in Guntersville. Lanes are shifted for the length of the project. All lanes are open most of the time, and some single-lane closures happen outside peak travel hours. The project page still shows the job as active, with completion projected for Dec. 1, 2026. That's the latest published plan, not a confirmed finish date. Gunter Avenue is also Highway 431 South, which matters when the children's train is running in the Municipal Building lot on FallFest Saturday.
What Comes After
The Ladies Civitan pumpkin patch next to Rock House Eatery runs all month. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. Sunday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays, with carving and decorative pumpkins, cornstalks and hay bales. If FallFest sends you home wanting a scarecrow of your own, the patch has the materials. Guntersville City Schools' fall break runs Oct. 12 to 16, right after the festival weekend. MVAC's Thursday concerts also continue through the end of the month, with Country Case on Oct. 15, Tequila Falls on Oct. 22 and Tosha Hill closing the season on Oct. 29.
Smith books one show at Dave's Music Hall each quarter. He told The Advertiser-Gleam he'd like to book more, given strong community support.
Having family in for FallFest weekend, or just curious how downtown Guntersville has changed since you bought? Jeri Franks has spent 15 years working in Marshall County and is glad to talk about the town between festivals as much as during them. Let's Connect.
