Vulcan is turning 114! Get your tickets for the Birthday Bash on June 3
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It’s the event of the year for family fun at Vulcan Park and Museum! Help Vulcan blow out his candles at his 114th Birthday Bash, along with “V” (Vulcan’s six-foot plush mascot), Birmingham City Mayor Randall Woodfin and City Council President Valerie A. Abbott as well as other city officials. Ice Cream from Piggly Wiggly and Bud’s Best Cookies will be handed out after V blows out his candles!
The deets on Vulcan’s 114th Birthday Bash
- June 3, 2018, noon to 4 p.m.
- Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for children.
- FREE for Vulcan Park and Museum members and children 4 and under. (A few activities are extra.)
Bring out the family for drums and Blues music, clowns, face painting, a climbing wall and virtual games sponsored by GameStop. Bonus: There will be a popcorn machine provided by America’s First Federal Credit Union.
A kid’s fun run hosted by Boost Kids Occupational Therapy and Yoga has been added to this year’s many kid-friendly festivities! You can spot the WAY FM dot and hang out with UAB’s Blaze, Birmingham Barons characters and Dr. Wags from Main Street Family Urgent Care. See the WIAT 42 Weather Truck! PLUS! You can get bubbly with Birmingham Parent, check out a vintage fire truck and see some cool critters, including birds from the Alabama Wildlife Center and animals from the Birmingham Zoo. There also will be a live radio remote with La Jefa.
“Birmingham families look forward to Vulcan’s Big Birthday Bash every year! With the addition of the new Kiwanis Centennial Park and the Kiwanis Vulcan Trail, adding a Boost Kid’s fun run to our event this year. We hope everyone joins in the fun to help Vulcan blow out his candles!” – Darlene Negrotto, President and CEO of Vulcan Park Foundation
No gifts, please. Vulcan already got the best birthday gift a colossal iron statue could ask for.
Vulcan Park and Museum got a major upgrade this year when the Kiwanis Centennial Park and Vulcan Trail opened in March. The $5.8 million park expansion was a community gift from Kiwanis Club of Birmingham, with the assistance of the Freshwater Land Trust and Vulcan Park, to commemorate the club’s 100 years of service. If you haven’t checked it out, all the more reason to come to Vulcan’s 114th Birthday Bash.
Here’s what’s new at Vulcan Park and Museum:
- Kiwanis Centennial Park Plaza, featuring a fountain as its centerpiece, is an ideal outdoor event space.
- A 2.2-mile trail is open for jogging, hiking and biking.
- Stone steps lead from the new Vulcan Trail up to Vulcan Park and Museum.
- Views, views and more views. Vulcan Park already offered some of the best vistas in town, but with the plaza and trail, visitors can expect even more opportunities to take in the scenery from Red Mountain.
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Vulcan history is Birmingham history
Brush up on some fun facts before you head out to Vulcan’s 114th Birthday Bash on June 3. Here’s what you need to know about Birmingham’s resident burly mountain man.
- Vulcan represented the city of Birmingham in the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.
- The statue was cast in none other than Sloss No. 2 pig iron—100,000 pounds of it. It stands 56 feet tall.
- Iron is the raw material that drove Birmingham’s quick industrial rise in the second half of the 19th century. The growth was so fast it seemed magical, leading to the nickname the Magic City.
Vulcan is the Roman god of fire and forge. (Iron. Sloss Furnaces. The Bessemer process for making steel. See how it all comes together, Birmingham?
- Vulcan’s preferred choice of H20 is water from the Cahaba River. Its waters christened him at the 1904 World’s Fair, and again at the 2004 opening of the Vulcan Park and Museum, when the statue re-entered the public sphere after an extensive restoration.
- Vulcan is an award winner. The statue won a Grand Prize in the mineral department at the 1904 World’s Fair. In 2006, Vulcan Park and Museum won a National Trust for Historic Preservation Honor Award.
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Pop Quiz
Over the years, Vulcan has held which of the following in his hand?
A) a giant ice cream cone
B) a Coke bottle
C) a light that glowed
Answer: All of the above. He also wore Liberty overalls and was painted in flesh tones at one point. We all make fashion mistakes.
But seriously, come to Vulcan’s 114th Birthday Bash on June 3
In addition to the fun family activities, Vulcan Park and Museum offers a first-rate, nuanced interpretation of Birmingham’s history through an industrial lens. It’s a must-visit Birmingham attraction.
Vulcan’s Birthday Bash is sponsored by America’s First Federal Credit Union with support from Coca Cola, ARC Realty, Boost Kids Occupational Therapy and Yoga, Top Golf, Main Street Family Urgent Care, GameStop, Mountain High Outfitters, Piggly Wiggly, Bud’s Best Cookies, La Jefa, Birmingham Parent and WAY FM . To keep up with future Vulcan events, follow Vulcan Park and Museum on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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