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Magic City Flow Fest has changed its location from Legion Field to Sloss Furnaces, organizers announced this week.

The new hip-hop festival, planned for Oct. 18 in Birmingham, has a high-profile lineup that includes Mobile native Flo Milli, Rick Ross, Waka Flocka Flame, Ying Yang Twins and more.

“The location change brings BIG opportunity: TWO stages, more space for vendors, and, most importantly, a chance to showcase the incredible local talent Birmingham has to offer,” the festival team announced on social media.

“We’re incredibly grateful to the City of Birmingham and the Parks & Rec Department for their time, support, and collaboration throughout the planning process,” the announcement said. “Their partnership has been invaluable, and we’re excited to continue working together on Magic City Flow and across future events. We’re confident this move will take Magic City Flow to the next level.”

Magic City Flow originally was scheduled for a venerable stadium known as “the Old Grey Lady” at 400 Graymont Ave. West. Legion Field is an iconic landmark in Birmingham that will celebrate its 100th year in 2027.

It’s also the traditional location for the Magic City Classic, the annual HBCU game featuring Alabama A&M University and Alabama State University. This year’s Amazon Magic City Classic is set for Oct. 25 at Legion Field, according to the event website.

In an April news release, organizers from Iron Hills Productions called Magic City Flow Fest a “kickoff party for Magic City Classic Week, in partnership with the City of Birmingham.”

The move to Sloss Furnaces, about 5 miles east of Legion Field at 20 32nd St. North, shifts the event to another Birmingham landmark — a former ironworks that covers 15 acres and already has permanent stage in a shed on site.

The City of Birmingham owns both Legion Field and Sloss Furnaces.

Iron Hills Productions will use Sloss Furnaces for two other festivals in October, Furnace Fest and the Iron Hills Country Music Festival.

Furnace Fest, a three-day event that focuses on heavy rock, thrash, punk and metal, is scheduled Friday through Sunday, Oct. 3-5. Iron Hills, a two-day festival featuring country artists, is set for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 11-12.

With the location change for Magic City Flow on Oct. 18, the team at Iron Hills Productions will present three music festivals on three consecutive weekends at Sloss Furnaces.

“Iron Hills Productions is committed to making Birmingham a destination for live music in the South,” Allena Beall, COO of Iron Hills Productions, said via the April news release. “We’re excited to partner with the City of Birmingham on Magic City Flow to kick off Magic City Classic Week. With three back-to-back festivals this October — Furnace Fest, Iron Hills and Magic City Flow — we’re not just throwing festivals. It’s about building culture, growing community and helping put Birmingham on the map as a destination for live music.”

Tickets for Magic City Flow Fest are on sale via the festival website. Prices are $109.95 for Early Bird General Admission, $139.95 for Early Bird GA+, $249.95 for Early Bird VIP, $999.95 for a Boss Pass (called the “ultimate VIP experience”).

A Student Bundle costs $109.95, and includes general admission tickets to Magic City Flow Fest and the Magic City Classic. A student ID is required for entry, organizers said.

The Birmingham Stallions play against the Houston Roughnecks in a UFL game today. The matchup will begin at 11 a.m. CT on ABC. Fans can watch this game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV Stream and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.

The Stallions enter this matchup with a 4-2 record, and they are coming off a 26-3 win against San Antonio.

During the victory, Birmingham racked up 313 total yards. Notably, the team threw for 245 yards in the game. Birmingham’s quarterback Case Cookus completed 16-23 passes, and he threw for two touchdowns last week. If Cookus performs similarly this morning, then Birmingham will be a difficult team to beat.

The Roughnecks enter this matchup with a 3-3 record, and they have won back-to-back games. In their most recent game, the Roughnecks defeated Memphis 21-20.

During the victory, Houston’s quarterback Jalan McClendon played well. He completed more than 71% of his passes for 149 yards and a touchdown, so he will look to continue his offensive success today.

Fans can watch this UFL game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV Stream and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.

It’s a new week in The Magic City, and that means a new roundup of businesses popping up across town.

From a new Tex-Mex restaurant coming to Lakeview to the highly-anticipated new Trader Joe’s location, here are five openings you need to know about.

Coming Soon

It’s finally here! (Well, almost.)

The long-anticipated Trader Joe’s Hoover location plans to open on Wednesday, May 14. Located on Montgomery Highway across from the Riverchase Galleria, this 9,500 sq. ft. store will be the third Trader Joe’s in Alabama.

A new Tex-Mex restaurant is set to open this month in Birmingham’s Lakeview district, according to recent announcements on the restaurant’s Instagram page.

Located in the former Carrigan’s Beer Garden (and Brät Brot) space, El Royale Cafe is one of three new restaurant concepts from Miller Mobley.

In addition to El Royale Cafe, Mobley is the owner of New York City-style Slim’s Pizzeria in Crestline and the upcoming George’s steakhouse in Highland Park.

Napoli Pizza in Vestavia Hills is expanding with a second location coming to Liberty Park later this year. Located at Marketplace at The Bray, Napoli specializes in Italian-American favorites from calzones and stromboli to pizza and pasta.

Late last year, Bham Now announced that Andrews Sports Medicine was in talks to take over a portion of the former Brookwood Mall, whose last tenant closed at the end of 2024.

Recently, the Homewood City Council unanimously approved a proposal to convert the former Belk space at Brookwood Village into a new medical facility for Andrews Sports Medicine, an orthopedic clinic headquartered in Birmingham.

Currently, there is no official timeline for when renovations are set to begin.

A music and event venue is coming to Lakeview Marina, the new hub for retail, dining and entertainment that opened earlier this year in Birmingham’s Lakeview district.

According to minutes from the Birmingham Design Review Committee (DRC), the new music and event venue will include:

Follow Bham Now on Instagram and Facebook and sign up for our FREE newsletter to stay up to date on this and many more exciting new additions to The Magic City!

The Birmingham Stallions are back on the United Football League quarterback carousel.

The Stallions aren’t changing quarterbacks this time: Case Cookus will become the third Birmingham QB to start two games in 2025 when the Stallions face the San Antonio Brahmas at 3 p.m. CDT Sunday at Protective Stadium to close Week 6 of the UFL season.

But the Brahmas will have a new quarterback. Kevin Hogan hasn’t thrown a pass this season, but San Antonio’s offense has been dormant. Halfway through the campaign, the Brahmas have the fewest yards, fewest passing yards and fewest points in the league.

A fifth-round selection from Stanford in the 2016 NFL Draft, Hogan spent six seasons in the NFL, appeared on the rosters of six teams and played in nine games, with one start.

New quarterbacks are old hat for the Birmingham defense.

Two weeks ago, Jalan McClendon introduced himself with the Houston Roughnecks trailing 11-0, threw for 236 yards and ran for one touchdown in his first action of the season and made it respectable in the Stallions’ 23-16 victory.

Last week, the UFL’s only winless team tried a new quarterback. In his first action of 2025, Dresser Winn threw for 235 yards and one touchdown and helped the Memphis Showboats pull out a 24-20 overtime upset of Birmingham.

In their previous three seasons, the Stallions have never had more than two losses and lost just five in total across three championship campaigns. But the setback against the Showboats left Birmingham at 3-2 for 2025.

Last year, the Stallions stopped San Antonio 25-0 in the UFL Championship Game. But the Brahmas reached the halfway mark of the 2025 season with a 1-4 record.

Birmingham did make changes at quarterback this week, with Matt Corral going on injured reserve. After starting the third and fourth games, Corral sustained a hip injury late in the victory over the Roughnecks on April 19. Alex McGough started the first two games before being sidelined by a shoulder injury.

With Andrew Peasley in line to back up Cookus again on Sunday, the Stallions have an old favorite to serve as their emergency, third quarterback against San Antonio – J’Mar Smith, the original starting QB for Birmingham’s USFL championship teams in 2022 and 2023.

During an appearance on WJOX-FM in Birmingham, Holtz said Peasley would make his debut at some point in Sunday’s game.

The Brahmas-Stallions game will be televised by FOX.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.