Shelby County Alabama Tinglewood Festival
On a September Saturday in Montevallo, the sound of chainsaws becomes music. The Shelby County Alabama Tinglewood Festival fills Orr Park with sawdust, wood smoke and handcrafted art, turning a shaded creekside park into a one-day celebration of everything that can be coaxed out of timber. Billed as Alabama’s premier, all-woodworking art festival, it carries the playful theme “Shavings, Smoke, and Sound,” and it draws visitors who want to watch raw logs become sculpture before their eyes. What makes the day unusual is its setting: the park is already an open-air gallery, because more than fifty carved trees stand along its walking path, and the festival grew directly out of that remarkable collection.
About the Festival
The Tinglewood Festival is an annual one-day event held in Orr Park in Montevallo, in Shelby County, Alabama. Its own site describes it as a free event with no admission charge, held on the Saturday after Labor Day, and every dated edition in the record runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The festival celebrates wood carving and other woodworking crafts, from chainsaw sculpture to fine whittling, and it is organised by the Montevallo Chamber of Commerce, Montevallo Main Street, and the Montevallo Arts Collaborative, working together as a signature event for the City of Montevallo. Releases about the festival describe it as an All Star Shelby County Tourism and Recreation Award winning event, and it also appears on Shelby County’s own calendar. Montevallo is the host town, but it is not the county seat; that role belongs to Columbiana, elsewhere in Shelby County.
The heart of the festival is the park itself. Orr Park sits along Shoal Creek, and its walking path is lined with more than fifty tree carvings created by local artist Tim Tingle. Those carvings began after a fateful ice storm in 1993 damaged trees in the park, and rather than losing them entirely, the damaged trunks were transformed into faces, animals and figures that still watch over the path today. The festival takes its name and its purpose from that legacy: a day honouring the craft that turned storm damage into one of Alabama’s most distinctive small-town attractions.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail |
| Festival name | Tinglewood Festival |
| Host town | Montevallo, Shelby County, Alabama |
| Venue | Orr Park, Montevallo |
| Organisers | Montevallo Chamber of Commerce, Montevallo Main Street, and the Montevallo Arts Collaborative |
| Standing date pattern | The Saturday after Labor Day, as stated on the festival’s own site |
| Hours in dated editions | 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Admission | Free, with no admission charge |
| Theme | Shavings, Smoke, and Sound |
| Billing in 2026 | Eighth year, held Saturday, September 12, 2026 |
| Companion event | Cars by the Creek, billed alongside the festival in some years |
History
The story of the festival begins with the ice storm of 1993 and the carvings that followed it. As Tim Tingle’s carved trees multiplied along the Shoal Creek path, Orr Park gained a reputation well beyond Montevallo, and the idea of a festival devoted to woodworking grew naturally out of that fame. The published record of editions begins with billing language rather than a single agreed founding date. The Shelby County calendar billed the September 10, 2022 edition as being in its fourth year, with hours of 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The City of Montevallo calendar then billed the September 9, 2023 edition as the fifth annual festival, held together with the twenty-first annual Cars by the Creek, and the September 7, 2024 edition as the sixth annual, paired with the twenty-second annual Cars by the Creek.
The sequence continued in the same rhythm. Event copy carried by listing sites billed the September 6, 2025 edition in its seventh year, again from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and a Montevallo Main Street board agenda billed the September 12, 2026 edition in its eighth year. A 2023 city-calendar layer also names Adele Nelson as the Tinglewood Festival Committee Chairman, a contact detail from that year’s listing rather than a change in who organises the event.
For a useful comparison, see the Shelby County Alabama Shelby Iron Works Fall Festival for another county festival.
One separate layer tells the timeline differently. A travel-curiosities publication states that the festival started in September 2018 and is held every year at Orr Park, usually on the first Saturday in September. That account does not square neatly with the fourth-year billing attached to 2022, nor with the festival site’s own description of the date as the Saturday after Labor Day. The honest reading is to let each source speak for itself: the festival’s own materials give the Saturday after Labor Day as the standing pattern, the year-by-year billings run from the fourth year in 2022 to the eighth year in 2026, and the 2018 start claim stands as one publication’s version, recorded here without being forced into agreement with the others. No founding year is derived from the ordinal billings in this article, because the sources themselves do not settle one.
What to Expect
Wood is worked in almost every way imaginable during the day. Live chainsaw carving is the headline spectacle, as sculptors reduce logs to finished forms in front of the crowd, and festival copy from the 2023 through 2026 editions also lists woodworking artist vendors, Tim Tingle’s Whittling Contest, and a wooden boat race. Around those anchor attractions, a secondary travel layer adds a tractor show, live music, art vendors and food trucks, giving the park the feel of a full community fair layered over the woodworking core. The companion Cars by the Creek show, billed jointly with the festival in years such as 2023 and 2024, brings classic vehicles into the same grounds, although it remains a companion event rather than part of the festival’s own name or founding.
Between demonstrations, visitors can walk the Shoal Creek path and study the permanent carvings that inspired everything, comparing the weathered figures in the standing trees with the fresh work emerging from the chainsaws. Because the whole event is compressed into a single day, the atmosphere stays busy from the 9 a.m. opening to the 5 p.m. close, and the free admission means families can drift between the carving areas, the vendor rows, the music and the food trucks without planning purchases around a gate ticket.
Planning Your Visit
The festival’s own site fixes the pattern clearly: one day, on the Saturday after Labor Day, in Orr Park, with no admission charge. Recent editions confirm the shape, with the 2026 edition billed in its eighth year on Saturday, September 12, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Arriving near opening time gives you the best chance to see chainsaw pieces started and finished across the day, and it leaves room to walk the carving path before the midday crowd builds.
One practical complication deserves attention: the published address for Orr Park is not consistent across sources. Event-listing layers carrying festival copy give the address as 108 Park Drive, Montevallo, Alabama 35115. The Shelby County calendar’s 2022 layer instead gives 860 Island Street, Montevallo, Alabama 35115, while a travel-blog layer gives 277 Park Drive, Montevallo, Alabama 35115. All three point to the same park, but because the sources disagree, it is sensible to confirm your route toward Orr Park itself rather than relying on a single printed street number. Montevallo is a small city, the park is well known locally, and the festival is a signature city event, so directions within town are straightforward once you arrive.
Set aside time for the companion attractions as well as the carving. In years when Cars by the Creek is billed alongside, the vehicle show adds its own crowd, and the food trucks and music make it easy to stretch a short visit into a full day. Comfortable shoes suit the creekside path, and anyone hoping to buy from the woodworking vendors should expect one-of-a-kind pieces rather than mass-produced stock.
A Sample Day at the Festival
Begin at 9 a.m. with a slow walk along the Shoal Creek path, studying Tim Tingle’s carvings while the light is good and the crowds are thin. Move on to the chainsaw carving area mid-morning, when the sculptors are deep into their pieces and the shapes are emerging. Late morning suits the vendor rows, where woodworking artists sell finished work and the whittling contest draws its own circle of watchers. Take lunch from the food trucks around midday, then drift toward the live music and, in joint years, the Cars by the Creek display. Leave the wooden boat race and a final pass through the carving competition for the afternoon, and finish with one more look at the permanent carved trees before the 5 p.m. close.
How It Compares
Most Alabama fall festivals lean on music, food or agriculture, but this one is built entirely around a single craft and a single place. The chainsaw sculpture that other events might book as a side attraction is the main event here, and the permanent gallery of carved trees in Orr Park gives the festival a backdrop no travelling show can reproduce. Its one-day length also sets it apart: rather than a weekend-long fair, it concentrates everything into eight hours on the Saturday after Labor Day. The joint billing with Cars by the Creek in some years widens the appeal to vehicle enthusiasts, yet the companion show never displaces woodworking from the centre of the day.
Planning Checklist
- Mark the Saturday after Labor Day, and confirm the year’s date against city or festival announcements.
- Plan for a 9 a.m. arrival to see chainsaw work from start to finish.
- Check which Orr Park address your route uses, since published sources give three different forms.
- Bring cash or cards for one-of-a-kind pieces from woodworking vendors.
- Wear comfortable shoes for the Shoal Creek walking path.
- Leave time for the carved trees themselves, not only the live demonstrations.
- In joint years, allow extra time for the Cars by the Creek show.
- Pack sunscreen and water for a full outdoor day in early September.
Beyond the Festival
A trip to Montevallo for the festival pairs naturally with a slower look at the town. The carved trees of Orr Park reward a return visit at a quieter hour, when the path along Shoal Creek is empty and the figures can be studied one by one. Montevallo’s small-city centre offers the usual pleasures of a college-town main street, and the festival’s organisers — the chamber of commerce, Montevallo Main Street and the Montevallo Arts Collaborative — represent exactly the local institutions that shape the town’s cultural calendar through the rest of the year. Visitors travelling further can treat Columbiana, the Shelby County seat, as a separate stop rather than confusing it with the host town.
Why the Festival Matters
The Tinglewood Festival matters because it converts a local act of salvage into a living tradition. An ice storm in 1993 could simply have cost Orr Park its trees; instead, one carver’s work turned damaged trunks into a landmark, and the festival now sustains that story by putting working wood artists in front of the public every year. It supports practising craftspeople through its vendor rows and contests, it gives Montevallo a signature event recognised with a county tourism award, and it does all of this as a free day in a public park. For Shelby County, it is proof that a festival does not need scale to be distinctive — it needs a genuine local root, and few roots run deeper than trees that were carved rather than felled.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who carves the trees along the Orr Park path?
The carvings are the work of Tim Tingle, a local artist whose more than fifty carved trees line the walking path along Shoal Creek in Orr Park. The carvings began after an ice storm in 1993, and the festival, which also hosts Tim Tingle’s Whittling Contest, grew out of the fame those carvings brought to the park.
What happens at the wooden boat race?
The wooden boat race is one of the attractions listed in festival copy for the 2023 through 2026 editions, sitting alongside the live chainsaw carving, the woodworking artist vendors and the whittling contest. It fits the festival’s all-woodworking theme, extending the craft from sculpture into small handcrafted boats.
Is Cars by the Creek part of the Tinglewood Festival itself?
No. Cars by the Creek is a companion car show that has been billed jointly with the festival in some years, as the twenty-first annual show in 2023 and the twenty-second annual in 2024. It shares the grounds and the day, but it is not part of the festival’s own name or founding story.
Which address should drivers use for Orr Park?
Published sources give three different forms: 108 Park Drive and 277 Park Drive in listing and travel layers, and 860 Island Street in the Shelby County calendar’s 2022 layer, all in Montevallo, Alabama 35115. Because the sources do not agree on one settled address, drivers should navigate to Orr Park itself and confirm the final approach locally.
What to Expect From the Next Shelby County Alabama Tinglewood Festival
How often is Shelby County Alabama Tinglewood Festival held?
The festival’s own site describes it as a one day annual event, and the dated record supports that rhythm, with editions billed in successive years from 2022 through 2026. Each of those editions ran on a single September Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
When is the next Shelby County Alabama Tinglewood Festival?
Following the 2026 edition, billed in its eighth year on Saturday, September 12, 2026, the next festival would fall on the Saturday after Labor Day in the next cycle, in line with the pattern the festival’s own site states. The exact date is best confirmed through the City of Montevallo and the festival’s organisers once the new year’s announcements appear.
Will the dates change?
The standing pattern has been consistent across the 2022 to 2026 editions, each held on a September Saturday, and the festival’s own description anchors the day to the Saturday after Labor Day. One publication has described the timing as usually the first Saturday in September, which shows why checking the official announcement for the specific year remains worthwhile.
The Shelby County Alabama Tinglewood Festival is, at heart, a thank-you note written in sawdust: a town honouring the carver who saved its storm-damaged trees by inviting every kind of woodworker to share the park for a day. Whether you come for the chainsaws, the carved faces along Shoal Creek, the whittling contest or the wooden boats, it offers something no generic fair can copy — a festival that could only happen in this one park, under these particular trees.
