IMG 9565 Three festivals you missed this weekend if you weren't in Birmingham, including the famous Greek Food Festival — Folks came from far and wide for their Greek food fix. Photo by Jacob Blankenship of Bham Now

October is FINALLY in full swing. This means pumpkins galore, spooky movies on you TV, and (theoretically) cooler weather. It’s also the perfect time of the year for festivals, and Birmingham always brings their a-game when it comes to having plenty to choose from on any given weekend. We highlighted all of these local festivals here, but here a couple you missed from this past weekend that kicked off October in a festive way.

The Birmingham Greek Food Festival

greek Three festivals you missed this weekend if you weren't in Birmingham, including the famous Greek Food Festival — Remind me to learn this jig for next year, y’all. Photo by Hilary Meares of Bham Now

Birmingham’s oldest and most anticipated festival, by far. The Birmingham Greek Festival is all about delicious Greek cuisine, lively music and an inviting familial atmosphere. Lines were wrapped around the venue (The Holy Trinity Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral), but none of the attendees seemed to mind. Can I get an OPA(!)?

Bluff Park Art Show

IMG 9504 Three festivals you missed this weekend if you weren't in Birmingham, including the famous Greek Food Festival — Artist Jenny Cash displayed some impressive paintings. (Side note: Every single one of these would look beautiful in my house. *hint hint*) Photo by Jacob Blankenship of Bham Now

Over 150 talented artists showed their work at the Bluff Park Community Center on Saturday at the Bluff Park Art Show. The event hosted artists who created everything from paintings, to woodwork, to print photography.

IMG 9430 Three festivals you missed this weekend if you weren't in Birmingham, including the famous Greek Food Festival — Bluff Park Art Show featured over 150 super talented artists. Photo by Jacob Blankenship of Bham Now

The Bluff Park Art Association hosts this event each year on the first Saturday in October. The winning work always gets a place in Bluff Park Art Association’s permanent collection–a huge honor for local artists.

IMG 9508 Three festivals you missed this weekend if you weren't in Birmingham, including the famous Greek Food Festival — Eric Johnson was one of the vendors at the Bluff Park Art Show that earned an award ribbon. These pieces are even more stunning in person, FYI. Photo by Jacob Blankenship of Bham Now

Birmingham OktoberFest

oktoberfest Three festivals you missed this weekend if you weren't in Birmingham, including the famous Greek Food Festival — STUNNING Railroad Park towards the end of Oktoberfest. Photo by Hilary Meares of Bham Now

‘Biers’ in hand and pretzel necklaces around necks, the Birmingham Oktoberfest brought out the in all of us at Railroad Park over the weekend. Patrons even dressed up in their traditional German lederhosen. You would’ve thought you were in Munich celebrating the real thing.

pretzel Three festivals you missed this weekend if you weren't in Birmingham, including the famous Greek Food Festival — Event Producer Catie Schreiman poses with our favorite German fare at Birmingham OktoberFest. Photo by Hilary Meares of Bham Now

Personally, I’m devastated I missed the ‘dog costume contest’ held towards the beginning of the fest. But hey, that means one more year to prep my pooch, right?