Noble Street Festival and Sunny King Criterium 2026 Guide

If you’re trying to plan out this year’s Noble Street Festival and Sunny King Criterium, here’s the good news. Saturday, April 11 is shaping up to be one of the biggest days of the spring in downtown Anniston. Noble Street Festival runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in historic downtown Anniston, and it’s a free, family friendly event packed with food, shopping, live music, kid activities, and one of the Southeast’s top cycling events right in the middle of it all.

For 2026, organizers are promoting a new festival layout with more room than previous years, which should make it easier for people to move around, shop, grab food, and catch everything going on without feeling packed in. Public festival posts have also highlighted more vendors, more food options, a free Kid Zone, and all the bike race action folded into the same downtown experience.

The basics

Noble Street Festival takes place Saturday, April 11, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in downtown Anniston. The race weekend also includes the Sunny King Criterium on Saturday and the Choccolocco Road Race on Sunday, April 12. The official Sunny King site says the weekend hosts the Alabama State Criterium Championships, master and amateur races, Southeast Collegiate Conference Championships, and serves as the kickoff to the 2026 USA CRITS calendar for the Pro 1/2 men’s and women’s fields.

2026 festival map

One of the most helpful things to have before you head downtown is this year’s festival map. It gives a great look at how everything is laid out, including the Sunny King Criterium race route, music stage, Kid Zone, vendors, food truck area, festival entrance, restrooms, and other key spots around downtown.

If you’re planning to spend a few hours at the festival, it’s worth saving the map to your phone before you go. That way you can pull it up quickly and figure out where to head next once the crowds build.

The map also makes it easier to plan your day ahead of time. If you’re going mainly for the music, food, or Kid Zone, you can get your bearings before you ever get there. If you’re going for the race, it gives you a much better idea of how the course loops through downtown and where some of the main event areas are set up.

What to expect downtown

This is one of those events where there’s something going on all day long. Main Street Anniston and the City of Anniston pages point to food vendors, craft vendors, live music, family activities, and the free Sunny King Kid Zone with inflatables, face painting, Big Sam the Balloon Man, Whit’z Kidz, and more. The city has also said the event typically draws a crowd in the 8,500 to 10,000 plus range, so if you’re coming, expect downtown to be busy in a good way.

Music stage lineup

The music stage will keep things moving throughout the day, so if you want to plan your trip around the bands, here’s the schedule from the lineup graphic:

11:15 a.m. — Kevin Moore Music
12:45 p.m. — Sticky Foot
2:15 p.m. — Reese Burke
4:30 p.m. — Stadium Drive

You can check out a few of the artists ahead of time here:

Sticky Foot: https://www.facebook.com/Stickyfoot
Reese Burke: https://www.facebook.com/reeseburkemusic
Stadium Drive: https://www.facebook.com/stadiumdrive04

Kevin Moore Music: https://www.facebook.com/kevinmooremusic

Race schedule highlights

The Sunny King Criterium brings twenty exciting bicycle races to downtown Anniston, plus live streaming and race commentary throughout the day. The full Saturday schedule starts in the morning and builds into the late afternoon and evening, when the atmosphere usually picks up the most for spectators. The official race schedule lists the YMCA Kids Fun Races at 4:00 p.m., the Women Pro 1/2 race at 4:45 p.m., and the Men Pro 1/2 race at 6:00 p.m., with awards continuing into the evening.

If you’re mainly going for the race side of things, late afternoon into early evening is probably the sweet spot. If you’re going more for the festival, shopping, and food, getting there earlier gives you more room to roam before the bigger race crowds build later in the day.

Kids race details

If you’ve got kids bringing bikes, the Noble Street Festival Kids Race is set for Saturday, April 11 and is open to children in Pre K through 6th grade. Participants need to line up at 3:15 p.m. sharp for a 4 p.m. start, and each child must bring their own bicycle and helmet. Helmets are required. The city says all participants will receive a T shirt and ribbon, and kids in the 5th and 6th grades will ride a 0.7 mile course.

Best way to plan your day

My advice is to come hungry, wear comfortable shoes, and plan to walk around awhile. Start with the vendors and food around lunch, check out the music stage, let the kids hit the Kid Zone if you’ve got family with you, then settle in later for the bike races once the energy really starts building.

That’s what makes this event so fun. You can show up for one reason and end up staying for all of it.

Parking and getting there

The Anniston Cycling site points visitors toward the Noble Street area, with parking near 10th Street and a short walk over to the course and festival area. I have not seen a finalized 2026 public parking map or fresh street closure post yet, so that’s the one thing I’d keep an eye out for as the event gets closer.

Why this one matters

There are a lot of events during the year, but this one always feels like one of the biggest days downtown. You’ve got live music, food, shopping, family fun, local energy, and a race that brings serious speed and excitement right into the middle of Anniston.

If you’ve never been, this is a great year to go. If you’ve been before, 2026 looks like it’s set up to be even bigger.

Noble Street Festival and Sunny King Criterium takes over downtown Anniston on Saturday, April 11, and if you’re looking for a full day of things to do, this is it.