Thumbnail 6 Airing Of The Quilts Festival 88 1 Airing Of The Quilts, Alabama — Explore handmade quilts. (Gee’s Bend Airing of the Quilts Festival)

The Gee’s Bend Airing of the Quilts Festival is a yearly celebration in a historic Alabama community that celebrates a centuries-long tradition of quiltmaking.

This year’s festival is set to be the biggest one yet—and organizers have a few new features this year.

What’s new: parking + bus shuttles

The biggest change is parking. Gee’s Bend is a smaller community, with only one street in and out. Organizers have arranged for a ferry to take festivalgoers across the Alabama River to the grounds.

Here’s what you’ll need to know:

Where: Earl Hilliard Rd, Camden, AL 36726
How much? Parking is free. Ferry is $1 per person (cash only)

Once inside the town, a “hop-on-hop-off” bus tour will shuttle you around the Gee’s Bend Heritage Trail, stopping at historic markers and festival activities. One $25 pass gets you unlimited access to the bus, so you can utilize it to move throughout the festival, too.

About Gee’s Bend Airing of the Quilts Festival

Thumbnail 1 Airing Of The Quilts Festival 284 Low Airing Of The Quilts, Alabama — This year’s festival is set for October 12. (Gee’s Bend Airing of the Quilts Festival)

The Gee’s Bend Airing of the Quilts Festival celebrates the long-standing tradition of displaying quilts outdoors once complete.

“That legacy can be traced to the people who live in the community, whose families have lived here for over 200 years from enslavement to the present. This is an historically and culturally significant community. People will learn, experience and enjoy so much while they are here.”
Kim V. Kelly, executive director for Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy, one of the organizations coordinating the festival

You’ll get to walk through gorgeous displays of handmade quilts, explore some of the history of Gee’s Bend and maybe learn a thing or two in a quilting workshop.

Here’s everything you’d need to know to visit the festival.