At 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 10, thousands of yellow rubber ducks will go over the top of Helena's dam and float downstream past the crowd. The ducks behave the same way every year. The buildings on the bank have changed.
A year ago, Old Town Helena had lost two of its best-known gathering spots within five months. Both spaces are open again under new local owners. A third storefront on Helena Road opened in August. If you walk up from Helena Amphitheater Park during the festival this weekend, you'll pass a different set of open doors than you did last fall.
Two closings in 2025, three openings in 2026
The first loss came in May 2025, when The Steakhouse of Helena announced it was closing its restaurant after landing a long-term catering contract. The second came that September, when Oversoul Brewing at 4161 Helena Road said it would stop operating at the end of the month after seven years. Oversoul's address sits right beside Helena Amphitheater Park at 4151 Helena Road, which is where the festival takes place.
The table below covers 2025 to 2026, one address at a time.
| Address on Helena Road | In 2025 | In 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 4161 | Oversoul Brewing, closed at the end of September | Rhythm and Rails, soft-launched in June |
| 4085 | The Steakhouse of Helena, moved to catering only in May | Due Amici Italian, opening reported in April |
| 4052 | No 2025 report found | Candle Cow Bar, opened August 1 |
All three of the new operators are independent. Two of them took over spaces that already had a history with Old Town regulars, and the third is the first storefront for a small business that hadn't had one before.
The brewery building is a bar now, and it opened on a concert night
According to the Birmingham Business Journal, new owners bought the former brewery property in February 2026 and planned a bar called Rhythm and Rails. On May 11, the Helena City Council unanimously approved a lounge liquor license for SPE2AR LLC at 4161 Helena Road under the trade name Old Town Bar. The license application names three LLC members, Pragat Kaji Sikrikar, Raj Kumar Manandhar and Bijay Awale. Their primary business is listed as a package store.
The owners chose their first night carefully. On Saturday, June 13, more than 3,000 people came to Old Town for the third Old Town Live show of the season. Tonic headlined and Cowboy Mouth opened. Jeremy Allen, president of the Helena Old Town Board, told the Shelby County Reporter, "The owners of Rhythm and Rails did a soft launch off the back of their deck and had great success."
The application gives a sense of the venue. It describes an 80-seat space with a patio and on-premises alcohol service, and says it has no fully equipped kitchen and no principal food service. A deck-and-drinks bar fits a building next to a park that fills with food trucks on event nights.
The June soft launch is the most recent public sign of activity we found. We found no announced grand opening or posted regular hours, so check the bar's own channels before you plan around it.
Pasta at 4085, candles at 4052
Further down Helena Road, Due Amici Italian moved into 4085 Helena Road, the same address The Steakhouse of Helena used. The Birmingham Business Journal reported the opening in April 2026 and described a menu built around pasta, with seafood and chicken plates as well. That brings a sit-down dinner back to the street. Before the festival, Due Amici is a good place to eat at a table instead of standing near a truck.
Candle Cow Bar opened its first brick-and-mortar shop at 4052 Helena Road on August 1. It sells handcrafted candles, body care products and gifts, and it also hosts candle-making sessions. Bham Now included it among the new Birmingham-area businesses in its August 3 roundup.
Buck Creek Festival weekend, from Friday night to the last set
The festival takes place at Helena Amphitheater Park, 4151 Helena Road. General admission is free. Kids need a $10 all-day wristband for the children's play area. The festival website recommends the free shuttle from the Sports Complex.
Friday, October 9, 6 to 10 p.m. Summer of '77 opens at 6 p.m. and OPOV Band follows at 8 p.m.
Saturday, October 10, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- 10 a.m. Cahaba River Strings
- 11:45 a.m. Helena High School Jazz Band
- 1:15 p.m. Oxmoor
- 3 p.m. Duck Race from the top of Helena's dam
- Later in the afternoon and evening: More Cowbell and the M-80s, who headline
The Reporter didn't publish set times for More Cowbell or the M-80s, so check the stage schedule once you arrive.
The food lineup is mostly trucks and booths. The festival's 2026 roster includes BG's Mini Donuts, Corn King, El Tejano, Get Fried, Kona Ice, Momo Cajun Eatz, Nettie B's Grill, T&A Ohana Made Lemonade, The Bubbly Bean, Uncle G's Pizza, Venice Gelato and Willie & Ola's BBQ. The marketplace has local vendors selling handmade crafts, boutique clothing and artisanal goods.
The festival describes itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that raises money for local charities. Alabama Travel's listing says the profits go back to the community through donations to local organizations and nonprofits.
Here's one way to plan Saturday:
- Late morning: Hear the strings and the jazz band, then walk up Helena Road to Candle Cow Bar.
- Before 3 p.m.: Find a spot near the dam for the Duck Race.
- Evening: Have dinner at Due Amici, or eat from the trucks and stay through the M-80s.
Old Town's calendar after the ducks
Old Town Live finished its 2026 season on September 26. That night was the free Oktoberfest at Helena Amphitheater, with Bavarian Express, Vox Britannica and a dachshund race. That makes Buck Creek Festival the last big amphitheater weekend on this fall's published schedule. After that, the new businesses go back to regular weeknight traffic.
There are still two dated events in October. Helena Market Days holds a pop-up market at Cahaba Lily Park, 3200 Hwy 52, on Saturday, October 17, from 8 a.m. to noon. Helena Hollow's Pumpkin Patch opened October 2 and runs through October 31. As of early October, the city's online calendar had no Halloween-night listings. Keep an eye on it if you're waiting for trick-or-treat details.
At Sold by the Bell, we like keeping track of which Helena Road storefronts have filled up since last fall. If you live near Old Town and want to know what this year of new neighbors on the block means for your home's value, start with our Instant Home Valuation, and we'll see you at the dam on Saturday.
