The View from St Francis Cottage - A Chattanooga Bed and Breakfast

SEPTEMBER, 2016 EVENTS 

– All events listed below are FREE to the public.  For a list of many other local September events, please review the Chattanooga Events Calendar .

Reflection Riding Fall Native Plant Sale 2015.  We love this sale and the wonderful plants.

Reflection Riding Fall Native Plant Sale – September 9-10, 2016, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center, located at the foot of Lookout Mountain, will host its Fall Native Plant Sale on Friday and Saturday, September 9-10.  We have purchased numerous plants from Reflection Riding for our gardens, and we are always impressed and pleased with the plant quality.  Check their website for the schedule of interesting and informative presentations available that weekend.

 

Crabtree Farms Fall Plant Sale & Festival – September 10, 2016, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Enjoy a fun day at Crabtree Farms near downtown Chattanooga shopping for sustainably-grown plants while enjoying local musicians, arts and craft vendors, food vendors, and free workshops and activities for the children.  We purchased some of their Gogi Berry bushes last year, which are doing very well in our garden, and they offer a wide variety of plants and shrubs along with friendly staff to answer your gardening questions.

Photo Courtesy of AVA

Gallery Hop – September 10, 2016, 2:00 – 8:00 pm

The Association for Visual Arts (AVA) is sponsoring its tenth annual Gallery Hop, an event that encourages the public to purchase art from galleries and art studios in the downtown Chattanooga area.  Their website provides a list of participating artists and a map showing the locations of the galleries and studios.  Enjoy free demonstrations and refreshments at most of your stops.

Photo Courtesy of Coker Tire / By Tommy Lee Bird

Coker Tire Challenge - September 15-18, 2016

You've probably heard of the Great Race, a 2000 mile antique car, timed endurance rally held each year in June.  But did you know that Coker Tire Company also sponsors a smaller, shorter, but bery similar rally every September right here in Chattanooga, the Coker Tire Challenge?

The three day, out and back rally, features routes including multiple checkpoints located throughout the Tennessee Valley, and sometimes into the mountains of Georgia and North Carolina.  The "Challenge" comes in driver and navigator attempting to match pace with each stage's pre-determined time allowance.  The twists and turns of our back roads provides major demands on meeting that goal of staying on time and on course.  It's definitely not easy, but a whole lot of fun.

Photo courtesy of Hyperflite, used by permission.

Skyhoundz World Canine Disc Championship – September 20-25, 2016  (all day)

Flying dogs chasing and catching flying discs!  What could be more fun to watch!  Or, if you have a great flying dog, what could be a better competition in which to compete.  Sponsored by Hyperflite Flying Discs, this is the largest disc dog competition series in the world.

Last chance qualifiers begin Wednesday, September 21, at Camp Jordan, with the World Championship moving to Coolidge Park on Friday, September 23 and ending on Sunday.  If you've never seen this type of action, come check it out.  There's even a meet and greet for two legged competitors on Thursday evening at Heaven & Ale featuring the music stylings of local artist Old Time Traveler, Matt Downer, a favorite in this area.  Bring the family, bring the dog(s), break out the frisbees, and have some fun!

Hamilton County Fair – September 24-25, 2016, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Whether you're 8 or 80, this event is for you!  With everything that the nostalgic images of county fairs has to offer the Hamilton County Fair brings it all together for the whole family.  There's the baking, canning, sewing, crafts, and youth photography competitions. Or you can show off your flowers, fruits, and veggies. Or if raising chickens is your thing, there's competitions for that.  Model Railroad exhibits, antique cars and farm equipment will all be on display.  

Shopaholics are also welcome with a vast array of items in over 70 booths including jewelry, children's toys, arts & crafts, homemade jellies and preserves, Christmas ornaments, and construction equipment to name a few. There will be over 65 of the finest crafters from Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Kentucky. And don't miss the petting zoo for children of all ages.

And, of course, there's lots of county fair food.  With plenty of picnic table seating you can get your fill of Kettle Corn, chicken and dumplings, barbecued chicken, pork & beef, hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, hush puppies, bloomin' onions . . . and the list goes on!

Best of all, admission to the Fair is free, however, if you take advantage of them, fees for the round-trip bus shuttle are $6/adults and $4/children ages 3-12.

Photo by Wallace Braud

Ironman Chattanooga 2016 – September 25, 2016 at 7:00 am 

Get ready for a weekend in Chattanooga to cheer on the Ironman Chattanooga participants on September 25th.  This full Ironman event offers 40 qualifying slots for the 2017 Ironman Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.  This exciting endurance event is sponsored primarily by McKee Bakery (maker of Little Debbie products) along with other national and local corporate entities.

3 Sisters Bluegrass Festival – September 30 (6:00-11:00 pm) and October1, 2016 (12:00 noon-10:00 pm)  

For many, many years Chattanooga has celebrated Bluegrass music in all its glory.  For ten years one of the best known and beloved venues has been 3 Sisters Bluegrass Festival.  This free festival has been named one of the Top Five Bluegrass Festivals by Great American Country! This year's scheduled slate of performers shouldn't be missed, and you never know who else might grace the stage.

On Friday: Dismembered Tennesseans, Mipso, Gibson Brothers, Greensky Bluegrass.  Then on Saturday: Hamilton County Ramblers, Bluetastic Fangrass, Lone Mountain Band, Beerklee College of Music Fiddlers, Trout Steak Revival, Chatham County Line, Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn, Keller Williams & the Keels.