DeKalb County Alabama Fyffe UFO Days Festival
Every late summer, the small DeKalb County town of Fyffe turns a two-night mystery from 1989 into a full day of music, crafts, balloons and small-town hospitality. The DeKalb County Alabama Fyffe UFO Days Festival celebrates the evenings of February 11 and 12, 1989, when some 50 residents reported strange objects in the sky over their community. Those sightings were reported and alleged, never proven, yet they gave Fyffe a story no neighbouring town could match, and the town has built a festival around telling it.
The wording on the programme has shifted over the years. Sources style the event the Fyffe UFO Day Festival, Fyffe UFO Days and simply UFO Days, and this article’s county title follows the Fyffe UFO Days form. In local usage the letters UFO are often glossed as Unforgettable Family Outing, a friendlier reading that captures the mood of the day better than any talk of spacecraft. A state encyclopedia describes it as the town’s UFO festival and records that Fyffe is billed the UFO Capital of Alabama, a title the community wears with obvious pride.
About the Festival
At its heart this is a hometown gathering rather than a convention about the unexplained. The state encyclopedia summarises the festival’s content as live music, arts and crafts, and hot-air balloon rides, and that simple trio still describes the shape of the day. Families spread across the park, craft stalls line the grounds, bands play through the schedule, and the balloons provide the visual signature that ties the entertainment back to the sky-watching story at the festival’s root.
That balance between the strange and the ordinary is the festival’s defining trick. A visitor who arrives expecting a day devoted entirely to conspiracy theories will instead find a recognisable county gathering, with stalls, stages and fairground food arranged around one extraordinary piece of local storytelling. Children can enjoy the inflatables without knowing anything about 1989, while older residents trade versions of what their neighbours saw, and both experiences unfold on the same patch of grass at the same time.
The gathering is a town festival in Fyffe, promoted over the years by DeKalb County Tourism and the DeKalb Tourist Association, whose releases have carried its announcements. No separate organising body with its own published name appears in the sources checked, so the festival is best understood as a community effort presented under the town’s name with county tourism support. Fyffe itself is a small community in DeKalb County in north-east Alabama, and it is not the county seat; that honour belongs to Fort Payne. Visitors who need county offices or the larger town’s services will find them there, while the festival belongs wholly to Fyffe.
For a useful comparison, see the DeKalb County Alabama Mentone Fall Festival for another county festival.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail |
| Event name forms | Fyffe UFO Day Festival, Fyffe UFO Days, UFO Days |
| Host town | Fyffe, DeKalb County, Alabama |
| County seat | Fort Payne (Fyffe is not the seat) |
| Venue | Fyffe Town Park, also styled Fyffe City Park in 2026 material |
| Published address layer | 398 Paul Benefield Lane, Fyffe, AL 35971 (2025 guide) |
| Usual timing | A Saturday in late August |
| Origin story | Reported sightings over Fyffe, February 11–12, 1989 |
| Admission | Free in the 2022 account; the 5K charges separate race fees |
| Promoters | Town of Fyffe with DeKalb County Tourism and the DeKalb Tourist Association |
| Signature features | Hot-air balloon rides, live music, arts and crafts |
History
The festival’s history begins with the event it commemorates. On February 11 and 12, 1989, roughly 50 Fyffe residents reported UFO sightings over the town, according to the state encyclopedia’s article on Fyffe. Whatever flew over DeKalb County on those nights was never explained to everyone’s satisfaction, and this article treats the episode exactly as the sources do: as reported sightings, alleged and retold, that became part of local folklore. The festival exists because the town decided the story was worth celebrating rather than forgetting.
How the celebration itself began is murkier. One guide states that the festival was kicked off with then-new mayor Larry Lingerfelt in 2004, but that line stands as that single source’s claim, and the edition billings published elsewhere refuse to line up behind it. A tourist association release billed the gathering of August 28, 2010 as the 6th annual, while the local newspaper billed the festival day of August 27, 2022 as the 17th Annual, and county tourism material billed the 2026 edition as the 21st annual. Count backwards from any one of those numbers and a different first year appears, so no founding year is printed here as fact. The honest summary is that the festival was running by 2010 at the latest, grew steadily through the following decade, and reached its twenty-first billing in 2026 without its paper trail ever settling into a single agreed starting point.
What the surviving layers do show is continuity. The 2010 release proves the event was already established enough to carry an annual billing and a tourist association announcement. The 2022 newspaper coverage shows a fuller programme, complete with a school fundraiser race and a car and tractor show. The 2025 guide layer adds settled hours running into the evening, and the 2026 tourism material keeps the same late-August Saturday pattern, so the festival’s recent history reads as one of persistence and gradual polish rather than reinvention.
What to Expect
The 2022 edition, described in detail by the local newspaper, offers the clearest picture of a typical day. Gates opened at 9 a.m. and entertainment began at 10 a.m., with admission free for that edition. The programme mixed hot air balloon rides with arts and crafts stalls, games, inflatables, food vendors and live music, and an antique car and tractor show gave the day a distinctly rural flavour alongside the sky-themed attractions.
Sport had its place too. The Fyffe High School baseball team staged its first annual UFO Days 5K in 2022, charging thirty dollars for pre-registration and thirty-five dollars on race day. Those figures were race entry fees only, and visitors should never confuse them with the cost of walking into the festival itself, which the 2022 account lists as free.
The 2026 county tourism layer sketches a similar day with a few changes of emphasis: hot air balloon rides, arts and crafts, games, bounce houses, free train rides and food vendors. The balloon rides remain the centrepiece in every account, giving festival-goers the rare chance to rise above the same fields where residents once scanned the night sky.
Planning Your Visit
The festival falls on a Saturday in late August: August 23 in 2025, when a guide listed hours of 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., and August 22 in 2026 under its 21st annual billing. Late August in north-east Alabama is hot and humid, so dress for summer, carry water, and plan shade breaks around the music and balloon schedule. Because published details have varied from year to year, checking the newest county tourism listing before travelling is the sensible way to confirm the day’s hours.
Finding the ground takes a little care because the sources publish the venue in more than one form. The local newspaper in 2022 and the county tourism material for 2026 both place the festival at the town park on the corner of Paul Benefield Lane and Church Street, with the 2026 material styling it Fyffe City Park. A 2025 guide publishes the address as Fyffe Town Park, 398 Paul Benefield Lane, Fyffe, AL 35971. An older layer, the 2010 tourist association release, places the festival at Fyffe Town Park on Graves Street. These layers are recorded here unmerged; in practice the park sits within Fyffe’s small street grid, and following the festival crowds and signage on the day resolves any doubt the paperwork leaves behind.
Treat the trip as a rural day out and it will go smoothly. Fyffe is a small town, so facilities cluster close together, but queues for food and rides build at peak moments and shade goes quickly once the sun climbs. Arriving with a full tank, a charged phone and a rough plan for meals removes the few stresses the day can produce, and building in a pause before the drive home matters if your group stays for the evening hours listed in 2025.
A Sample Day at UFO Days
Arrive near the 9 a.m. gate opening to claim a spot with a view of the balloon area before the grounds fill. Spend the first hour walking the arts and crafts rows while the air is still tolerable, then drift towards the stage as the entertainment gets under way around 10 a.m. If you run, the morning 5K belongs early in the day; if you do not, the antique cars and tractors reward a slow lap before lunch.
Midday is for food vendors, games and the inflatables if children are in your party, followed by a shaded pause during the fiercest heat. Save the balloon rides for when your group is ready to queue, and let the late afternoon carry you back to the music. In 2025 the listed hours ran to 10 p.m., so an evening stay lets the festival close under the same darkening sky that made Fyffe famous.
How UFO Days Compares
Most small-town festivals celebrate something a community produces: a crop, a craft, a harvest, a historic event everyone agrees happened. Fyffe’s gathering is unusual because it celebrates something its residents reported seeing, an event that sits permanently in the space between memory and mystery. That gives the day a double character, half county fair and half storytelling session, and the Unforgettable Family Outing gloss shows the town leaning deliberately towards the playful side of its own legend.
The comparison also highlights how loosely documented the festival is beside more formal events. Its name appears in three forms, its park appears under two names, its street address appears in two versions, and its edition count cannot be reconciled with the one published claim about its first year. None of that diminishes the day itself, but it does mean visitors should treat the festival as a living local tradition rather than a tightly administered production.
Planning Checklist
- Confirm the date and hours against the newest DeKalb County Tourism listing before setting out.
- Aim to arrive around the 9 a.m. gate opening for easier parking and cooler browsing.
- Bring sun protection, a hat and more water than you think you will need.
- Carry cash for craft stalls and food vendors in case card machines are unavailable.
- Keep the 5K fees separate in your budget if you plan to run; festival admission was free in 2022.
- Decide in advance whether balloon rides are a priority, and join that queue early.
- Note both published park descriptions, Paul Benefield Lane and Church Street, when setting your route.
- Plan a shade break in the early afternoon, especially with children or older relatives.
Beyond the Festival Grounds
A trip to Fyffe puts you in the heart of DeKalb County, with Fort Payne, the county seat, serving as the area’s larger base for fuel, food and lodging. The county’s plateau country rewards a slower drive before or after the festival, and visitors who come only for the day often find the journey through small farming communities part of the experience. Anyone whose business takes them to county offices should remember that those sit in Fort Payne, not in Fyffe, however strongly the festival puts the smaller town on the map each August.
Why UFO Days Matters to Fyffe
For a town of Fyffe’s size, being billed the UFO Capital of Alabama is a rare piece of identity that no amount of advertising could buy. The festival converts two strange nights in 1989 into an annual homecoming that fills the park, supports local vendors and school causes such as the baseball team’s 5K, and gives former residents a reason to return. Its loose documentation is, in its own way, evidence of what it is: a tradition carried by the community itself, retold each year in the place where the story began. The festival also hands Fyffe a gentle kind of fame that works in the town’s favour, drawing curious travellers who might otherwise pass through DeKalb County without stopping, and giving local makers, musicians and food vendors an August audience they would struggle to gather on their own.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Fyffe hold a festival about UFOs?
The festival celebrates the sightings reported by some 50 residents over Fyffe on February 11 and 12, 1989. The reports were never proven, and the festival treats them as local folklore, leaning on the playful gloss of UFO as Unforgettable Family Outing.
Which of the published park descriptions should visitors trust?
Sources name the venue in several unmerged forms: the town park at Paul Benefield Lane and Church Street in 2022 and 2026 material, a published address of 398 Paul Benefield Lane in a 2025 guide, and an older 2010 layer placing it on Graves Street. The park is easy to find within Fyffe on the day itself.
What did the 2022 edition include?
The local newspaper’s account lists gates at 9 a.m., entertainment from 10 a.m., free admission, balloon rides, crafts, games, inflatables, food vendors, live music, an antique car and tractor show, and the high school baseball team’s first UFO Days 5K.
Can the festival’s first year be worked out from its edition numbers?
No. The billings of 6th annual in 2010, 17th Annual in 2022 and 21st annual in 2026 imply different starting years, and the separate claim that a mayor kicked it off in 2004 is one source’s statement only, so no founding year is treated as settled.
What to Expect From the Next DeKalb County Alabama Fyffe UFO Days Festival
How often is DeKalb County Alabama Fyffe UFO Days Festival held?
The festival returns on a late-August rhythm, with documented editions on August 28, 2010, August 27, 2022, August 23, 2025 and August 22, 2026, each billed as that year’s annual gathering in the sources that cover them.
When is the next DeKalb County Alabama Fyffe UFO Days Festival?
Following the 21st annual billing of Saturday, August 22, 2026, the next edition would be expected on a Saturday in late August of the following year, with the exact date to be confirmed in county tourism listings closer to the time.
Will the dates change?
The day of the week has stayed constant on Saturdays, while the specific August date has moved between the twenty-second and the twenty-eighth across documented editions, so a shift of a few days either way is entirely possible.
Fyffe’s festival asks very little of its visitors: a free day in the park, a little tolerance for August heat, and a willingness to enjoy a story that the town has never needed to prove. In return it offers music, crafts, balloons and a glimpse of how a small community turned two puzzling nights into its most durable tradition.
