On a Sunday evening in mid-October, the streets of Bluff Park will fill with an unusual sight: a parade of witches, many of them wearing towering blonde wigs and rhinestone-studded costumes, rolling through the neighborhood on bicycles and golf carts while flinging candy and books to the children lined up along the curb. It is called the Bluff Park Witches Ride, and this year's edition carries the theme "Hallow Dolly" -- a mashup of Halloween and Dolly Parton that lets riders channel the country music icon while raising money to put books in kids' hands.
The ride is set for Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026, beginning at 5 p.m. Riders will gather at The Electric, at 2146 Tyler Road in Hoover, starting at 4:30 p.m., then set off across Shades Mountain Plaza and through the surrounding neighborhood before looping back to The Electric for an after-party. Spectators can simply show up along the route and watch for free -- and catch whatever gets tossed their way.
The event has become a fixture in Bluff Park, a neighborhood perched atop Shades Mountain in Hoover, just south of Birmingham. But it did not start out as a Dolly Parton tribute. The ride was launched by two Bluff Park mothers, Laura Powell and Katie Dixon, who had watched similar witches rides take hold in other communities and thought their own neighborhood was overdue for one.
"We had seen it done in other communities and thought it would be a fun and festive event for Bluff Park while we also raise money to support local charities," Dixon told Over the Mountain Journal, which covers the Birmingham suburbs.
That first ride was a hit, and by its second year the organizers were already thinking bigger. In that early edition, the festivities began at Shades Cliff Park at 3:30 p.m. with food trucks, bounce houses, face painting and music, before the witches "took flight" at 5 p.m. That year's proceeds went to United Ability of Birmingham, a disability services organization located near Bluff Park. Dixon pointed to a child in the community, Shep Maddox, born with cerebral palsy, whose motor skills and balance had improved through therapy at United Ability.
"They offer so many amazing services to people all around Birmingham, and we felt like this was a great way to give back and support their efforts," she said.
Dixon also described what the ride does for the women who take part. "Getting a group together to get dressed up in crazy costumes is something most of us haven't done since college or high school," she said. "The kids get a kick out of seeing their moms, teachers, friends, and even grandmothers dress up and ride bikes."
Over the years the beneficiary has shifted -- one recent edition supported The WellHouse, a Birmingham-area organization that serves survivors of human trafficking -- but the through-line has stayed the same: a neighborhood costume party that doubles as a fundraiser. The 2026 edition's literacy focus fits neatly with the Dolly Parton theme, since Parton is as famous for her Imagination Library as for her songbook. The program mails free books to children every month, and it has a substantial footprint in Alabama: according to Gov. Kay Ivey, roughly 116,000 Alabama children receive a free book each month through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Alabama, and more than 3 million books have been mailed to children across the state since the statewide program launched.
This year's ride is being staged in partnership with the Bluff Park Women's Rec League, which stepped in to help keep the event going in the neighborhood. The league notes that 2026 brings a new route, with riders meeting at The Electric and traveling across Shades Mountain Plaza before heading through the neighborhood and back.
The mechanics of a witches ride are simple and a little chaotic by design. Participants walk, pedal or drive golf carts, and they throw candy to onlookers as they go. Some decorate their rides elaborately; the Birmingham area now hosts a whole circuit of these events each October, from Hueytown and Cahaba Heights to Homewood, Trussville and Hoover's Star Lake, each tied to a different cause. What sets the Bluff Park ride apart is the books -- and the Dolly impersonation.
For anyone who has never seen one, the appeal is easy to grasp. It is a parade with no floats and no marching bands, just a few dozen or a few hundred adults in absurd costumes, moving at bicycle speed through residential streets while children scramble for candy. The addition of books means some of what lands on the pavement is meant to be taken home and read.
The ride begins at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026, at The Electric, 2146 Tyler Road, Hoover, Alabama. Spectators watch free from the sidewalks along the route.