Editing Dothan, Alabama (section)

==Culture==

===Festivals===

The National Peanut Festival occurs annually in November and attracts up to 200,000 visitors. The festival hosts a wide variety of carnival rides, games, live music, and competitions. A large midway, entertainment by nationally known recording artists, and the largest parade in the area are featured attractions. On the last day of the fair, a peanut festival parade takes place in downtown Dothan.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nationalpeanutfestival.com/p/about#:~:text=Today%2C%20the%20National%20Peanut%20Festival,livestock%20shows%20and%20a%20parade. | title=About }}</ref>

Dothan is also home to two professional [[barbecue]] competitions. The Tri-State BBQ Festival is held the second weekend in April, and is sanctioned by the Florida Bar-B-Que Association. It was begun in 2006 and is currently put on at the Houston County Farm Center. PorktoberQue, an Oktoberfest and Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) sanctioned event, is held the last weekend of September in Dothan at the same location as the Peanut Festival.

===Museums and monuments===

The [[US Army Aviation Museum]], at nearby [[Fort Novosel]], houses one of the largest helicopter collections in the world. The museum focuses on the role of fixed and rotary-wing flight in the U.S. Army. The exhibits depict over 100 years of Army aviation, and include a number of life size [[dioramas]], films, and interpretive material.

The George Washington Carver Museum relates the story of the African-American genius and offers information on African cultures and their influences on the world, prominent African-American scientists, explorers and inventors, and the positive contributions African Americans have made in military affairs and social development.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gwcarvermuseum.org/ |title=George Washington Carver Museum |publisher=Gwcarvermuseum.org |access-date=November 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103001814/http://www.gwcarvermuseum.org/ |archive-date=November 3, 2011 }}</ref>

The [[Wiregrass Museum of Art]], in the city's original power and water plant (1913), features ongoing exhibitions of visual and decorative art. Its permanent collection includes works by contemporary [[Southeastern United States|Southeastern]] artists such as [[Dale Kennington]], Frank Flemming, Dale Lewis and Cal Breed, as well by nationally recognized artists including [[Frank Stella]] and [[Jim Dine]]. The museum was organized in 1989 by private citizens and the City of Dothan; it is operated by the Wiregrass Museum of Art, Inc., a 501(c)3 organization.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://wiregrassmuseum.org/ |title=Wiregrass Museum of Art |publisher=Wiregrassmuseum.org |access-date=November 13, 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Wiregrass Museum of Art, Dothan, Alabama.jpg|thumb|Wiregrass Museum of Art]]

===Art and theatre scene===
Southeast Alabama Community Theater offers live entertainment and theatrical productions for the Dothan community.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seact.com/ |title=Southeast Alabama Community Theater |publisher=Seact.com |access-date=November 13, 2011}}</ref>

Spark Theater Company is a nonprofit theater company and performing-arts educational program. Spark Theater offers several public theater productions each year by Dothan-area youth and teens, an after-school theater program, as well as supplemental theater classes for the public school system.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sparktheatercompany.com/ |title=Spark Theater Company |publisher=SparkTheaterCompany.com |access-date=December 31, 2016}}</ref>

===Notable public art===
The ''Joseph'' statue at Millennium Park is a ten-foot cast [[bronze]] sculpture in the downtown area. It represents the Bible verse "For I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan" (Genesis 37:17), on which the town based its name.<ref name="statue">{{cite web |url=http://www.800alabama.com/things-to-do/alabama-attractions/joseph_statue.html |title="Joseph" Statue at Millennium Park |publisher=800alabama.com |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090320001413/http://www.800alabama.com/things-to-do/alabama-attractions/joseph_statue.html |archive-date=March 20, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

''Peanuts Around Town'' is a public art project organized by The Downtown Group, consisting of {{convert|5|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}}, life-sized peanut sculptures decorated in various fashions and displayed around Dothan.<ref>[http://www.thedowntowngroup.com/peanuts.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121113855/http://www.thedowntowngroup.com/peanuts.html|date=November 21, 2010}}</ref>

"Wiregrass Festival of Murals" is an ongoing project offering historic murals painted by nationally and internationally acclaimed muralists on walls of buildings in the downtown historic district. Guided tours are available upon request.<ref>[http://www.thedowntowngroup.com/tours.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121120741/http://www.thedowntowngroup.com/tours.html|date=November 21, 2010}}</ref>

===Local music===
The [[Dothan Opera House]], built in 1915, features theatre performances, concerts, [[symphony|symphonies]], ballet performances, and other cultural events. Tours are available upon request.<ref>[http://www.dothan.org/depts/civiccenteroperahouse/perfartsopera.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004202201/http://www.dothan.org/depts/civiccenteroperahouse/perfartsopera.htm|date=October 4, 2008}}</ref>

Music South, formerly the Southern Alabama Symphony Association, offers a wide variety of musical performances, from classical symphony performances to jazz, African and other musical styles. "Music by Moonlight" offers four free concerts per year at Dothan's Landmark Park, featuring classical, jazz, Celtic and bluegrass musicians, among others.<ref>[http://www.musicsouth.com/cms/] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722172005/http://www.musicsouth.com/cms/|date=July 22, 2009}}</ref>

[[Patti Rutland Jazz]] is a professional contemporary jazz and hip-hop dance company in Dothan. The company produces two full-length jazz and hip-hop theatrical dance productions yearly (one in late February and one in early June) at its home in the Cultural Arts Center,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theculturalartscenter.com/ |title=Cultural Arts Center |publisher=Cultural Arts Center |access-date=November 13, 2011}}</ref> as well as at Dothan's historical landmark Opera House. Patti Rutland Jazz operates as a nonprofit [[501(c)]](3) organization whose core mission is to offer its dancers to the Wiregrass Region to assist underserved youths with free dance classes. This mutually beneficial program hopes to make Dothan a destination for, and a source of, future professional dance talent in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pattirutlandjazz.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=57|title=Patti Rutland Jazz|access-date=October 18, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213185157/http://www.pattirutlandjazz.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=57|archive-date=December 13, 2013}}</ref>